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Each inning consisted of three outs, and any ball not hit for a home run, including called strikes, would be recorded as an out. If the two batters tied, extra innings would be played until the tie was broken. Home Run Derby is a 1960 television show that was held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles pitting the top sluggers of Major League Baseball against each other in nine-inning home run contests. The show was produced and hosted by actor/broadcaster Mark Scott and distributed by Ziv Television Programs.
Alonso was vibing early, bobbing his head to the music that filled Dodger Stadium. He followed that a few swings later with a massive 480-foot homer, earning an extra minute in a span of four homers. Alonso still had some work to do, as he hit only 10 home runs before his break. He came back a little sluggish, hitting three homers before rattling off four straight to bring his total to 17 ahead of bonus time.
Pete Alonso had chance to make history
LOS ANGELES -- There was no three-Pete in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Pete Alonso’s bid to become the first slugger to win three straight Derby titles came up short Monday night at Dodger Stadium, as the Mets' first baseman was ousted in the semifinals by Julio Rodríguez, the Mariners’... In all rounds, the clock starts ticking with the release of the first pitch. Home runs will count so long as the pitch they were hit on was released before the clock hit zero. Jensen was the only player to hit four and subsequently five home runs in a row, doing so in the fourth inning of the final episode.
Alonso also missed the chance to join Ken Griffey Jr. as the only three-time Derby winners. This marked Pujols' fifth career Derby appearance, and with the stunner over Schwarber he became the first player ever to advance past the first round on five occasions. Rodríguez, the AL Rookie of the Year frontrunner at the break, is just 21 years and 100 days old. That makes him the third-youngest player every to make a Derby final.
Finals
At one point, Soto hit just one homer in the span of 13 swings, and while he recovered a bit, he finished regulation with only eight. Still, a 481-foot rocket meant Soto got a full, one-minute bonus period and took advantage with another seven to at least make Alonso work a bit. With each player allotted just 90 seconds for long ball supremacy, Robert Perez Jr. went first in the round and flexed for the Fall League Derby crown with 11 home runs to edge out Heston Kjerstad’s 10. Perez, Seattle’s 21st-ranked prospect, left the yard four times through his first 30 seconds and took his timeout with six dingers, before finishing with five more jacks. Kjerstad made a strong case early, connecting on five taters on his first five swings through 26 seconds.
With the second-most homers in any round by a rookie in Derby history. Swinging a black bat with his nickname "J-Rod" plastered all over it in Mariners green, Rodríguez crushed a 463-foot shot to left-center at Dodger Stadium for the first home run of the Derby. J-Rod heated up fast in his first Home Run Derby, crushing 14 home runs before calling timeout just over halfway through his round -- then adding 11 more to take his total to 25 before bonus time. Seven more home runs in bonus time earned Rodríguez a standing ovation from the Dodger Stadium crowd. As the higher seed, Soto got to sit back and watch Rodríguez set the mark to beat with 18 homers, one more than José Ramírez posted against him in the first round. Soto started slow again, not hitting a homer until 45 seconds in, but then found another level with 10 homers in a span of 12 swings before taking his timeout.
Home Run Derby Champion: Juan Soto
A favorite coming into the night and a heavy favorite after his seemingly effortless 51 homers across the first two rounds, Alonso remained serene on the staging couch as he watched Trey Mancini put up 22 dingers. That was a daunting target (just one shy of Alonso’s final round record of 23 back in 2019), but the Polar Bear’s first swing -- a 111 mph, 509-foot shot toward the left-field concourse -- erased any sign of nerves. He wasn't previously that well known, nationally, among casual fans, but that should start changing with tonight's Derby. In his quest to become the first switch-hitter to win a Home Run Derby outright, Ramírez batted righty at Dodger Stadium -- even though he's hit a lot more home runs as a lefty in his MLB career.
As an incentive for throwing good home-run-hitting balls, the pitcher who threw the most pitches for home runs also received a bonus, according to the host. Knowing he didn’t need to put up a massive total, Mancini looked comfortable as he swung his way to seven homers across his first minute and 21 seconds before calling time. Mancini translated his straightaway center power to homers across the first portion but came out sluggish out of his timeout. Still, he hit his 12th homer to tie Story with 30 seconds remaining and then knocked the go-ahead blast with 23 seconds left, carrying his remarkable comeback story into the finals. While he’s only 22 years old, Soto had to be exhausted after needing two swing-offs to defeat Ohtani in the first round. It started to show, especially after the first minute, when Soto popped six dingers.
He added seven more before his minute of bonus time, needing only three homers to win. Soto started his bonus time with a swing and miss but quickly recovered to swat the final trio of dingers to advance to the finals and knock out his countryman. With everyone waiting to watch Shohei Ohtani swing the bat, Soto had the unenviable task of going first in that marquee matchup. With Nationals hitting coach Kevin Long throwing left-handed to the lefty-hitting Soto, he vaporized a pitch that flew 520 feet and broke the all-time Statcast distance record that Story set earlier in the round.
The only younger players to do it were Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2019 and Bryce Harper in 2013. Suffice it to say, Rodríguez's future is a bright one, as is his present. Here's how things shook out Monday night in the eight-slugger field. I agree with bmasters1 that the sportsmanship shown by the contestants was refreshing to watch. No posing or trash talking- they shook hands and showed respect for each other and were complimentary of their opponents.
If you watch ESPN classic, you may have seen this blast from the past, "Home Run Derby". To keep the action moving along, anything other than a home run was considered an out. The batter had three "outs" per inning and it was a 9-inning affair. The "home" batter was the returning champion from the previous week.
Mervis hit the most homers in the second round with 11, but he fell short with a combined score of 19. Jhailyn Ortiz only connected on two dingers to end up with 11 and Stephen Scott clubbed four to finish with 10. The winner received a check for $2,000 and was invited back for the next week's episode against a new opponent ; the runner-up received a check for $1,000. If a batter hit three home runs in a row, he would receive a $500 bonus check. A fourth home run in a row would be worth another $500 bonus check.
Any consecutive home runs hit beyond that would each be worth $1,000. Each show would end with the host presenting each player with their prize checks , and would award separate checks for consecutive home run bonuses. These were actual bank checks, not the jumbo "display" checks typically used today. For example, if the winner hit three homers in a row, they would receive one check for $2,000 and another for $500 instead of one check for $2,500.
Soto quickly got the four he needed to lift the crown, tossing his bat after winning the 2022 T-Mobile Home Run Derby. At 23 years, 266 days old, Soto won just one day short of tying Juan González as the youngest winner in Derby history. The top seed in the tournament, Schwarber faced off against Pujols, who has 685 homers to his name. The 42-year-old Pujols opened with 13 dingers, giving Schwarber a decent-size hill to climb.
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