Home Run Derby Thread

[seawolf17]

Abreu hits a 434-footer to get it started.

[seawolf17]

Wow.

24.

Old record was 15.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Before the start of the home run derby there was talk that the numbers would be down this year because Comerica is such a big, pitcher friendly park. Abreu's onslaught of 24 home runs quickly put an end to that talk. He hit one over the roof in right field. Estimated to have been 517 feet.

He splintered his bat on another drive to center field. I'm afraid he probably wore himself out with that barrage. He may not have enough energy to finish strong.

[soupcan]

And the white guy gets the doughnut.

Jason Bay - 0 homeruns.

Canada is weeping.

[Guest cooby]

That little kid in right field that does that little skip before he throws the ball is cute

[Guest Iubitul]

Rockin' Doc wrote: Before the start of the home run derby there was talk that the numbers would be down this year because Comerica is such a big, pitcher friendly park. Abreu's onslaught of 24 home runs quickly put an end to that talk. He hit one over the roof in right field. Estimated to have been 517 feet.

Was his pitcher wearing a Mets uni?

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

Why do you hate the Mets?

[Guest 86-Dreamer]

I did not see the show, but I read something about "special gold baseballs." What silly marketing ploy was that a part of?

[Guest cooby]

They were some special baseballs sponsored by Century 21- after a guy got to a certain point (I think 10 in a round) they would start randomly mixing in the gold baseballs.
If the gold baseball went out for a HR, Century 21 donated $21000 to a charity (I forget which one, sorry).
The last I knew it was up to $210,000, but it may have gone higher.

Also, you could buy a baseball for yourself, I don't know if the proceeds also went to charity.

[Guest holychicken]

The gold balls were for Century 21. . . every homerun hit with one generated 21000 dollars for charity. . .I think the total was in the mid 200000s by the end.

Funny note: Right after Bay finished someone on the "bench" (the group of chairs where they were sitting) said "well, you can't do any worse than that!" Why? I don't know. . .maybe just to be mean.

[Guest cooby]

cooby wrote: They were some special baseballs sponsored by Century 21- after a guy got to a certain point (I think 10 in a round) they would start randomly mixing in the gold baseballs. If the gold baseball went out for a HR, Century 21 donated $21000 to a charity (I forget which one, sorry). The last I knew it was up to $210,000, but it may have gone higher. Also, you could buy a baseball for yourself, I don't know if the proceeds also went to charity.

Edit:

Here we go, I had the details slightly mixed up, it was after 9 outs, not 10 dingers:

From mlb.com:
Five of the eight participants earned $294,000 for charity on Monday night by knocking out 14 Golden Home Run Balls for homers after nine outs were recorded in individual rounds. By rule, each player was given 10 outs per round. Any ball not hit out of the park was considered an out.

Carlos Lee, the Panamanian from the Milwaukee Brewers, became the first batter to hit out three Golden Balls in the first round, earning the first $63,000 for charity. Each hitter had a chance to add $21,000 to the kitty with each of those shots.

Rodriguez had four on the night for a cool $84,000, Abreu had three, and David Ortiz, the Boston Red Sox star from the Dominican Republic, also hit three. Andruw Jones, a member of the Atlanta Braves and representative of the Netherlands, hit one more.

[Guest cooby]

Holychicken, I thought Bay himself said that, but I was sewing and wasn't looking at the tv

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

The HR contest was so boring, and Chris Berman so unbearable, I watched Rock Star: INXS instead.

Why I'm not a contestant on that show I have no idea: I'm just as big a phony hack as any of those contestants.

[Guest cooby]

!!That reminds me!!

Nobody mentioned Piazza and Damons' appearance onstage with that band before the contest began...

[metirish]

[Guest Iubitul]

I think it would be more entertaining to watch clips from the original Home Run Derby show that was shown in the early 60's. At least those guys weren't juiced...

[seawolf17]

The Home Run Derby might just be the best part of the All-Star festivites (although I actually enjoy the celebrity softball games too). I think they should add more, a la the NHL:

Fastest Pitch - Billy Wags, Armando, et al just try to dial it up as hard as they can

Fastest Around The Bases - Guys like Reyes, Joey Gathright, and Scott Podsednik whack a ball into the gap, then have to race around the bases.

Strongest Arm - Ichiro, Raul Mondesi, Jose Guillen, and that sixteen-year old the Mets just signed can hurl balls in from the right-field corner, trying to hit targets at second, third, and home.

Target Practice - Targets are set up around the field, and guys try to hit as many as they can.

That'd be a good time.

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

I want the concessions on medical fees when hammies are pulled, rotator cuffs blown, etc., and also the legal fees generated.

Maybe we could include "height above cut-off man's head from RF," "least contact on a play at the plate," "most bounces from c to 2b," "most runners accumulated at 3b" etc.

[metirish]

]I think it would be more entertaining to watch clips from the original Home Run Derby show that was shown in the early 60's. At least those guys weren't juiced...

From Newsday's Media critic, Steve Zipay.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/ny-spzip124340612jul12,0,6897504.column?coll=ny-sports-columnists

]ESPN Classic yesterday afternoon aired tapes of the Home Run Derby since 1996. Why not mix in some of the 26 episodes of the original Home Run Derby between 1959 and 1961 featuring former Tiger Al Kaline? I'd even settle for Dick Stuart, who once beat Wally Post, 12-11, or something. For those who don't remember, that head-to-head series was staged at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, with the winner receiving $2,000 and advancing and the loser getting $1,000. FYI: Hank Aaron finished with the most money, $13,500; Mickey Mantle won $10,000 and Jackie Jensen got $8,500 ...

[seawolf17]

I remember stumbling across reruns of that old Derby show as a kid; I thought it was awesome. They could definitely bring that back in the offseason.

[Guest Edgy DC]

That must have been some good change back then.

So how was Piazza? Can he play a mean drumstick?

[seawolf17]

Piazza can do that drummer drumstick-twirly-in-his-fingertips thing, which is pretty cool.

[metirish]

Mike was playing a lot of air guitar and banging on the drum cymbals every now and then, him and Damon looked like they enjoyed it a lot, at the end Mike did his best Eddie Van Halen going up and down the neck of the guitar to finish the song.