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This Derby marked the debut of timed rounds with bonuses for distance. Since 1985, many of Major League Baseball's most prolific home run hitters have competed on the All-Star stage in the Home Run Derby. Below is a look at the history of baseball's annual slugfest, which has undergone a number of format changes throughout its 30-plus years. Cespedes didn't just impress with the sheer volume of homers that he hit.
More than $3 million has been raised for charity over the past 10 years, with an all-time high of $615,000 donated through the 2012 event. Chevrolet and Major League Baseball will donate a significant amount of money to charity through the 2013 event. In addition, Chevrolet plans to award the winner of the Home Run Derby an all-new 2014 Silverado. Cespedes hit 23 homers in the first two rounds, while Harper finished with 16. The Oakland Athletics outfielder became the fourth straight Home Run Derby champion from the American League.
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Wright had five and Cano had four, and neither advanced out of the first round. In June, MLB named Robinson Canó of the New York Yankees and David Wright of the New York Mets the Home Run Derby team captains. On July 8 and 9, the captains each picked three other players to compete with them.
The AL team captain, Canó, selected Yoenis Céspedes of the Oakland Athletics, Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, and Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers. The NL team captain, Wright, selected Michael Cuddyer and Carlos González of the Colorado Rockies, and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals. González then withdrew due to a sprained finger and was replaced by Pedro Álvarez of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The story of the night heading into the 2022 Derby was Pete Alonso's quest for his third straight title.
All 17 of Yoenis Cespedes' first-round home runs
The child paired with the winner of the Chevrolet Home Run Derby will earn $50,000 towards a baseball field makeover for their RBI league. Chevrolet and MLB will also donate $10,000 worth of baseball equipment and uniforms to each of the other seven RBI leagues. The 2005 Derby was the first "we are the world" long ball contest. From 1985 through 1990, the Home Run Derby was structured as a two-inning event with each participant getting five outs per inning.
Céspedes was the first winner of the event who had not been selected to that year's All-Star Game. Sosa out-hit the field with 12 homers in Round 1, but he ran out of gas in the finals, losing 7-1 to Giambi in Milwaukee. Pujols and the Yankees' Jason Giambi each lit up the scoreboard in the first two rounds, but Pujols was bested by Anderson, 9-8, in a dramatic final round in Chicago's South Side.
Cespedes leads after first round of HR Derby
A total of thirty-six races, with the first coming last year, gave Derby starters an opportunity to accumulate points towards an entry into the race. Twenty horses qualified for the Kentucky Derby with two other horses listed as "also eligible" in case one of the starters would be scratched prior to the opening of betting. Dave Parker won the first Home Run Derby in 1985, and since then many of the winners have been the biggest stars in baseball.
American League Derby veteran and two time winner, Prince Fielder, first basemen of the Detroit Tigers, disappointed many only hitting five, failing to advance. Seven-time All-Star Parker emerged from a 10-player field that included four future Hall of Famers -- Jim Rice, Eddie Murray, Carlton Fisk and Sandberg -- to win the inaugural Home Run Derby with six homers. The AL dominated for a fifth consecutive contest in 1995, slugging 21 homers to the NL's nine, and Thomas took the top prize in a tight race with Belle. Thomas is one of three players (also, Anderson and Cal Ripken Jr.) to win the Derby and homer in the All-Star Game.
Pedro Alvarez joins NL Home Run Derby squad
Since 1991, eight to ten players, were chosen to participate in a three round contest to determine the Home Run Derby Champion. Each player received ten outs per round as they attempted to hit as many home runs as they could. Entering the 2022 event, Pete Alonso was already in a small circle of players with multiple Home Run Derby wins.
Griffey remains the only player in MLB history to win three Home Run Derbies. If Alonso wins this year, he would become the first player ever to win three in a row. Cespedes will become the fourth derby champion in the past six years to avoid the derby "curse" this season. Cuddyer would rally with just three outs left to hit five more home runs to take his total to 15. He was attempting to be the oldest player to win the event since David Ortiz in 2010, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Guerrero took home his first Derby victory by hitting 17 homers and defeating the Blue Jays' Rios in the final. Despite fans packing into McCovey Cove outside the Giants' home ballpark in kayaks and rafts, none of the participants hit a "splash hit." This year's Chevrolet Home Run Derby will continue to follow the format first introduced in 2011, featuring team competition between the A.L. By a final tally of 61-21, with Prince Fielder of the Tigers winning the individual title in Kansas City. Each of the captains will select a charity of their choice for which their team will be hitting during the Derby. Chris Davis would wind up joining Cuddyer on the list of players that didn't make the final.
After the draw of the field, Orb, the Florida Derby winner, was the 7-2 favorite. Trainer Todd Pletcher had five different horses in the race, including the winners of the Arkansas Derby , Louisiana Derby and Wood Memorial . For the first time, the colts making the field in the Kentucky Derby qualified under a new points system.
The 1998 Derby marked the first live telecast of the event, as fans tuned in to see Griffey win his second trophy. Griffey almost didn't participate, but he was booed in batting practice the day prior and ultimately changed his mind. Ortiz defeated his former and future Boston teammate Ramirez in the 2010 Derby, dedicating the victory to the late Dominican Republic native Jose Lima, a former Major League pitcher who passed away earlier that season. Cano closely outhit Gonzalez, who was representing the rival Red Sox, with a victory in the final round at Chase Field. The 27-year-old put on a show with 32 total home runs on the evening and outdueled Bryce Harper in the finale.
Alonso edged out Guerrero in a thrilling final-round battle of rookie phenoms. Alonso not only won the Derby, but went on to hit a Major League-best 53 home runs in 2019. Those 53 homers were also the most by any rookie in big league history, eclipsing the mark previously set by Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. Though Alonso raised the trophy, the highlight of the event may have come in the semifinals, when it took Guerrero three rounds of swing-offs to finally outlast Joc Pederson, 40-39.
Ripken won the Derby in the midst of his AL MVP Award-winning campaign. He was the first player to win the Derby and the All-Star MVP, as well as the first Derby winner to also homer in the All-Star Game. Abreu never hit more than 31 home runs in a season, but he topped that in one night, establishing new records with 41 total homers and a 24-homer first round for his native Venezuela. The eight players represented their home countries in 2005 as part of a promotion for the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
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