HR Derby provides lots of fireworks
Marlins’ Stanton hits 61 to top all-time record; he ousts Trumbo in second round
Giancarlo Stanton made Petco Park in San Diego look more like a neighborhood park Monday night, stretching the bounds of imagination with a record-shattering performance in the Home Run Derby.
The Miami Marlins right fielder walloped 41 home runs, matching the all-time Derby mark, set in 2005 by Bobby Abreu. And that was just in the competition’s opening two rounds.
In the final round, Stanton steamrolled past the contest’s defending champion, Chicago White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier, with 20 home runs. Frazier conceded after hitting 13.
Stanton’s grand total for the evening: 61. Nearly 40 traveled more than 440 feet. More than a few approached the 500-foot mark.
Stanton’s Derby victory, perhaps surprisingly, was the first of his career. He entered in 2014 but fell short in the penultimate round. Yoenis Cespedes went on to triumph.
But the competition’s rules were overhauled last year, injecting excitement into an event that had grown somewhat stale. A timed, bracket-style format was introduced. Each hitter’s turn was limited to four minutes. Frazier, then with the Cincinnati Reds, electrified a hometown crowd at Great American Ballpark by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson, 15-14, in the championship round.
Stanton, who did not participate in 2015, thrived in the recalibrated setting. In the first round, he went deep on 24 of 30 swings. The Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Cano, following Stanton, was eliminated after hitting only seven.
The other standout performer from the first round was the Orioles’ Mark Trumbo, who stepped to the plate after watching the Dodgers’ Corey Seager open the night with 15. Through most of his four minutes, the Orioles slugger was behind Seager’s pace. A late surge resulted in Trumbo’s 16th homer, pushing him to the semifinal round.
San Diego Padres first baseman Wil Myers hit 10 in the first round, but the hometown crowd was left wondering what could have been. Myers’ younger brother, Beau, an Appalachian State infielderoutfielder, had never thrown batting practice to Wil before the past weekend. Beau Myers plunked Wil Myers in the left shoulder with a pitch and threw several others that weren’t swung at. Cincinnati’s Adam Duvall eliminated the Myers with 11.
Trumbo drilled 13 in the second round, including a drive that hit Petco’s mammoth video board, but he was outdone by Stanton’s 17.
Frazier again showed a flair for the dramatic, beating the Colorado Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez, 13-12, in the first round, then squeezing past Duvall, 16-15, to set up a showdown with Stanton.
Sale says Gwynn might have saved his life: Chicago White Sox left-hander Chris Sale said he never had the pleasure of meeting Tony Gwynn, but that the Hall of Famer may have saved his life.
Sale and San Francisco Giants right- hander Johnny Cueto were announced Monday morning as starting pitchers for tonight’s All-Star Game. They answered the typical questions regarding the honor that comes with that. Then one man asked what it meant to be playing at Petco Park, in “The House that Gwynn Built.”
“He actually made a very big impact on my life,” Sale said. “I chewed tobacco from 2007 until the day he passed away. I remember seeing that and just being so shocked. He was a larger-than-life person. He was an inspiration to the game for many, many people for a lot of different reasons. I quit that day and haven’t touched it since. In a sense I owe him a huge ‘Thank you,’ not only for myself but for my family. Hopefully, I can sway somebody in the right direction as well like he did for me.”
Sale said he was watching ESPN on the morning of June 16, 2014, when news of Gwynn’s death from salivary cancer came across the crawl on the bottom of the screen.
“I literally pulled the dip out of mymouth and tossed away all the cans I had,” Sale said.
Feeling at home ... or not: Myers and Drew Pomeranz of the San Diego Padres will be in their comfort zone for the All-Star Game before their home fans at Petco Park tonight. Well, for the most part. Because the National League is hosting in four straight years, the American League gets to wear white uniforms and bat last. And that means San Diego’s players had to vacate their own clubhouse and move to the visitors locker room on the third-base side.
They’re totally OK with having to turn left instead of right when they come through the players’ entrance.
It’s been a crazy several weeks for Myers. He was named an All-Star ambassador, and then played his way into All-Star consideration by hitting 11 home runs in June. He was named to the NLteam, and then named to the Home Run Derby.
On Monday morning, he found out via Twitter that he’ll be the NL’s designated hitter, batting fourth for manager Terry Collins’ club.
“It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity me, just being in the HomeRun Derby and starting in the All-Star Game,” he said. “So I’m just going to soak up every minute of it. I’m not going to take any of it for granted. I’m going to enjoy every second of it and just enjoy it.”
Myers has19 homers overall. His brother, Beau, pitched to him in the Home Run Derby.
No games in London next year: London is not calling for Major League Baseball next year.
The players association says MLB has given up plans to play regular-season games in the British capital in 2017.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in January that his staff was working hard at playing in London, and MLB officials looked at the renovated Olympic Stadium as a possible venue.
“There was discussion about London early on,” union head Tony Clark said Monday. “Unfortunately there were a number of moving pieces related to London that shortened our window in an effort to try to find common ground on that happening, and we weren’t able to get it done in time.”