Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Thoughts About the Homerun Derby

Hamilton a Sight for Sore Eyes

Those were some fireworks last night. If you missed it, Hamilton set a new record in the first round of the Homerun Derby last night with 28 jacks. The balls were flying off his bat. He went on to lose to Morneau but it was still an impressive feat. The question was brought up in the comments section about what Hamilton's contract status was. The man is pacing the rest of the majors with a .310 average, 21 homeruns, and 95 RBI's. And that's only in half a season! There are players out there that would take those numbers for the season.

His left handed swing would look really good at Yankee stadium, but unfortunately, this is Hamilton's second season in the majors, which means he's still a year from arbitration and 4 away from free agency. He's also dealt with injuries in his young career, so that may play out over the next few years. It would be a great trade idea, if Cashman can come up with the right pieces, but the Rangers wouldn't let him go cheap.

Sponsorship Ruining the Homerun Derby

I'm not a big fan of the sponsors suporting the homerun derby. Or better said, I dislike all the sponsoring events like the "Call your shot", and the "Hit it here and win a million dollars", or even the whole "if this player wins, we'll make a donation to X person's Boys and Girls club". It just becomes a circus at some point. With the exception of the charity thing, the winners of these events are typically selected out of the crowd attending the event. So some lucky fan may end up getting a free car who already has the money to drop several thousands to bring themselves and their family to New York and attend the event in the first place. Last year, they were giving away a house. A house!

The Boys and Girls club is a different story. They chose teenagers from different areas of New York to represent their local Boys and Girls club. Then each teenager was assigned a player, and if that player won the derby, that kids Boy's and Girls club would get the donation. With all the money flying around an event like that, why not give them all a little something?

6 comments:

Fred Trigger said...

I think the teenager whose player won, their boys and girls club got $50,000, while the others got $10,000 each, so at least they didnt leave empty handed.
I had no idea that Hamilton had that much power. Someone I know is friends with Rocco Baldelli and he was saying when they first drafted hamilton, in spring training he was throwing off the pitchers mound for the heck of it, and he was hitting 98mph on the gun. I guess he is just an insane all around athlete. I still didnt think he had 500ft. homerun power. Even though he put on a great show, I still think it would be awesome if Adam Dunn would make an All Star team, because that guy has some ridonkulus power, I mean, the guy hits 470ft. moonshots in a game!

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

I bet you Hamilton has a power slump at the plate and then we'll all be saying how smart A-Rod was for not participating.

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

besides, he had "other" things to do.

Fernando Alejandro said...

Adam Dunn would definitely launch some, but I think it'd be funner watching him whiff.

Fernando Alejandro said...

I heard that Hamilton was a pitcher in high school, but they liked his bat better. I think it was a good call.

Anonymous said...

There should be some pitching contests for the All-Star pitchers, too.
"Call your shot"
One lucky fan gets to pick the target and the pitcher who drills Youk the Ugly right on the spot wins.
"Hit it here and win a million dollars"
Just put the sign around Manny's neck and the pitchers will know what to do.