Fielder captain of NL team in HR Derby [Latest: Picks Kemp, Holliday, Weeks]

[patrickgpe]

hopefully the brewers don't leave phoenix with 2 players with messed up swings.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I would've went with Upton or Berkman over Holliday, but oh well. Love Rickie being in it.

[Schlitz001]

I really hope Prince isn't pressured into picking Upton. What's the point of allowing him to make the picks if he is forced to take guys like Upton or Howard?

I think Upton would have made a good pick, since he hits the ball far and hard, plus he was lobbying to do it. If the All-Star game was in Milwaukee and Upton was the captain, wouldn't you be slightly upset if he didn't pick Fielder?

[crewcrazy]

I'm not going to worry about Prince or Rickie messing up their swings, since they have such natural power strokes to begin with. Prince hasn't shown any adverse effects the past two times he's done it, and Rickie's BP sessions are the stuff of legends.

[JoeHova]

I think Upton would have made a good pick, since he hits the ball far and hard, plus he was lobbying to do it. If the All-Star game was in Milwaukee and Upton was the captain, wouldn't you be slightly upset if he didn't pick Fielder?

Upset might be a bit much. I might be a little disappointed but Upton is tied for 18th in the league in home runs. It's not like he's been forcing his way on the team (unlike Kemp). I'm not sure why Prince asked Holliday (tied for 32nd) instead of Berkman (tied for 1st) except that Holliday is a Boras client so maybe they got to be friends through him or something.

[crewcrazy]

For what it's worth, Upton has hit 2 of the 8 longest HRs this year (and 3 of the Top 18), according to Hit Tracker Online. Prince's blast in Houston is still the longest of the year. In a batting practice competition, I'd probably care more about distance than quantity, plus it's always nice to give the hometown fans something to cheer for.

[Invader3K]

JoeHova]Upset might be a bit much. I might be a little disappointed but Upton is tied for 18th in the league in home runs. It's not like he's been forcing his way on the team (unlike Kemp). I'm not sure why Prince asked Holliday (tied for 32nd) instead of Berkman (tied for 1st) except that Holliday is a Boras client so maybe they got to be friends through him or something.

It's possible Berkman wasn't interested since he's quite a bit older (35). Usually the older guys don't enter the Derby.

[JoeHova]

In a batting practice competition, I'd probably care more about distance than quantity...

But the competition is about quantity, not distance.

[DocBrewPack]

just throwing this out there and i have no idea the answer. could of happened last year for how close i follow the HR Derby.

 

Has a leadoff hitter ever been in one before?

[dlk9s]

In a batting practice competition, I'd probably care more about distance than quantity...

But the competition is about quantity, not distance.

But it's a batting practice showcase, not a real-game home run hitting competition. Obviously, you don't pick a guy with five homers, but picking a good home run hitter who can hit absolute bombs and will be in front of his home town fans would have been a cool move. There's nothing wrong with not picking him, but let's not kid ourselves - it's a batting practice exhibition and the thing that fans want to see are 500-foot jacks.

[pitchleague]

don't know about anybody else, but I thought the whole thing was a snooze fest--one of the worst derbies I've ever watched (and I've watched pretty much all of 'em).

 

Weeks stunk, Holliday stunk, Ortiz stunk, Kemp stunk, Batista stunk, and Prince stunk (except for his 5-for-5 in the swing off--that was cool).

 

Otherwise, blah. Glad I didn't spend the money to go see that when I had the opportunity.

[adamb100]

Yeah the Derby wasnt all that exciting. The crowd also wasnt into it, there were barely any woos when a homerun was hit.

 

The idea of having team captains didnt work out either I dont think. I hope MLB just goes back to the old format next year.

[dlk9s]

Yeah the Derby wasnt all that exciting. The crowd also wasnt into it, there were barely any woos when a homerun was hit.

 

The idea of having team captains didnt work out either I dont think. I hope MLB just goes back to the old format next year.

What was better about someone(s) from MLB picking the players?

[adamb100]

Worked good the other years, why fix whats not broke? MLB tried to conceive of some NL vs. AL showdown in home runs which I dont think works that well for a home run derby. The players each side brought were not necessarily the best home run hitters. I think the fans should vote for the home run derby participants because I think can do a better job at picking than MLB or the players. Give the fans the right to pick Home Derby Participants while sacrificing the ability to vote for the all star game.

 

I certainly do disagree with almost all the players Fielder brought. I dont think Weeks should have gone, or Halliday. Kemp was the only guy i thought would do good (and I was obviously wrong).

 

I dont know if it was the ballpark or the players but there was just a lack of home runs hit this year. Physics were on the players side this year with the high elevation so I'm thinking it was the players.

[Invader3K]

I don't know how well the ball was carrying last night. The high center field wall robbed a few home runs, particularly from Prince in his final round.

 

I agree with others that it was kind of a lame Derby overall. Crowd seemed dull, and I don't think the captain format added anything.

[ilovebeer]

$13 off tickets, thanks Prince.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I saw the story on ESPN that a guy almost fell, and was grabbed by his buddies to keep from going over a 20 foot drop while reaching for a ball. Not only that, but the story said he was standing on a table to reach the ball.

 

It would seem that the awareness of this should be pretty high right now.

 

I guess I don't get the allure of risking my life for a 9 dollar ball.

[Invader3K]

My wife noticed the guy falling and started freaking out while we were watching last night. I didn't believe her at first...then rewound the DVR and saw it. The stupid thing is that the guy wasn't even really that close to the ball. He was probably 10-15 feet away from it. After the tragedy in Texas last week, you would think people wouldn't take such dumb risks.

 

MLB is going to have to do something to protect people from themselves. Maybe make PA announcements before and during the game, warning fans not to reach over railings for balls.

[dlk9s]

Worked good the other years, why fix whats not broke?

The crap derby last night had nothing to do with the new format (which was the same as the old format when it came to the individual winner). It had to do with most of the players not hitting well. Maybe Prince should have picked different guys, maybe not. I think Kemp's and Weeks' struggles had to do with being first timers, but you know what? There are usually first timers and they don't typically do well.

 

In the meantime, the players seemed to be a lot more into the competition than in previous years and I think it's because they were hand picked by their captains and thus felt a real allegiance to their team. Plus, adding meaning to the league vs. league result likely made it more exciting for them.

 

There's a lot more upside than downside to the changes that were made. The biggest downside is that the captains might pick their buddies, like Prince picking Weeks, but it's not like they'll pick guys who can't hit homers. Most people thought Weeks was a perfectly fine choice for the derby...if it wasn't in Arizona.

[RockCoCougars]

I think the HR Derby has run it's course at it's currently designed. I found it very boring last night, and changed the channel before the first hour or so. Berman was insufferable once again as well. I think that they should do something different to create more interest. Take the top home run hitter from each team at a certain point of each season, and then have a few preliminary home run derbies at various parks throughout June (matchups based on the schedule.... I remember some home run derbies at County Stadium in the 80's). Get down to the final four, and then hold the finals on the night before the ASG based on the 60's TV show. Hitters use the same pitcher and an umpire calls strikes. Non homers and strikes are 'outs' and there are 9 innings of three outs for each hitter. Give the winner $1 million and their charity $1 million.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think the HR Derby has run it's course at it's currently designed. I found it very boring last night, and changed the channel before the first hour or so.

 

I didn't read closely enough about the new format. I thought it was going to be straight-up AL v. NL, which I think would've been pretty cool. That said, Robbie Cano put on some show in the final round. I enjoyed that.

[joepepsi]

The whole All Star Break is tedious to me. 3 days in the middle of summer without real baseball or major league games that matter. I just don't care. It's pretty clear the players don't either, although they appear to have a good time.

[molitor fan]

Last night was basically just a chance for the horrendous D-Back fan base to embarrass themselves by booing Fielder in front of his kids....I have a new team and fanbase to root against

[Invader3K]

The whole All Star Break is tedious to me. 3 days in the middle of summer without real baseball or major league games that matter. I just don't care. It's pretty clear the players don't either, although they appear to have a good time.

I don't know. The HR Derby is one thing (it's basically just an exhibition for charity), but I think most of the players do care about playing in the All-Star Game itself.

[joepepsi]

The whole All Star Break is tedious to me. 3 days in the middle of summer without real baseball or major league games that matter. I just don't care. It's pretty clear the players don't either, although they appear to have a good time.

I don't know. The HR Derby is one thing (it's basically just an exhibition for charity), but I think most of the players do care about playing in the All-Star Game itself.

I think they appreciate the honor and are generally respectful of the game. But I doubt they care that much about who wins and after a couple at bats or an inning or two are thinking about the flight home and getting Wednesday off. After being selected for a couple years it's fairly evident a lot of players are bored with the entire debacle, judging from the number of veterans who drop out each year with various aches and pains. I calling you out, Derek Jeter.