Mets’ Alonso tops Vlad Jr. to win HR Derby, $1M
Pete Alonso CLEVELAND — took one final swing and flipped his bat high in the air. Another walk-off. Money ball.
As the crowd roared, the New York Mets rookie headed toward the mound and tightly squeezed his cousin and pitcher Derek Morgan, who had helped him win the AllStar Home Run Derby and $1 million.
Alonso outlasted a worndown fellow rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the final round Monday night to take home a prize that nearly doubled his 2019 salary.
With just seconds to spare, Alonso connected for a homer to left-center to edge Guerrero 23-22 after the Blue Jays’ powerhouse put on a historic display by hitting 91 homers before he ran out of gas following an epic semifinal matchup against Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson.
“There’s so many guys that just put on a show, like Joc, he was amazing, Vladdy, they did such a good job,” Alonso said. “Everybody put on a show. To me it didn’t really seem like the jitters were there, because everyone was awesome. I mean everyone was showing their stuff.”
After his last homer cleared the wall, Alonso was swarmed by the NL All-Stars who along with a crowd of 36,119 fans were treated to a power display unlike any in the event’s history.
“This was surreal,” Alonso said.
Alonso is the second rookie to win outright, following Yankees star Aaron Judge in 2017.
Alonso, making the major league minimum of $555,000 this season, has hit 30 home runs. He’ll give 10% of his prize money to charity — 5% each to the Wounded Warrior Project and to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
One of the only bright spots this season for the struggling Mets, Alonso showed some dramatic flair with two nail-biting wins to reach the final against Guerrero. He nipped Cleveland’s Carlos Santana 14-13 in the first round and Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. 20-19 in the second to set up a showdown with the 20-year-old Guerrero, whose Hall of Fame father won the event in 2007.
With one of baseball’s most fearsome swings, Guerrero figured to be a force but there was no way of predicting he’d hit 91 homers — 74 more than his dad’s entire total 12 years ago.
Following the event, Guerrero slowly walked to his chair in the clubhouse and sat down.
His hands blistered, Guerrero more than equaled his season’s salary of $468,468. He got $500,000 for finishing second, plus a $100,000 bonus for hitting the longest homer.
Guerrero defeated Pederson in a semifinal that required three extra rounds and will go down in derby lore.
They were tied 29-all after their four-minute round and then again following a 60-second session. Guerrero and Pederson then each homered once when given three swings, forcing another bestof-three round.
Guerrero hit two, screaming at his second shot, which barely cleared the 19-foothigh wall in left. Pederson couldn’t match up, hitting a grounder on his final cut before both players shared an exhausted embrace near home plate as the fellow AllStars stood and applauded like regular fans. »
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