Back, back, back, back…GONE!
Switching up the Home Run Derby’s original format tonight, we were entertained with a four round competition that saw plenty of power hit homers by some of the leagues best home run hitters. With the new format of the bracket being implemented tonight, we saw the NL and AL hitters match up against one another before we got the AL vs. NL showdown between Oakland A’s outfielder and reigning Home Run Derby champion, Yoenis Céspedes and Todd Frazier the third basemen for the Cincinnati Reds.
For the second year in a row, Yoenis Céspedes was able to do something that no Home Run Derby competitor was able to do since Ken Griffey Jr. and that was win two consecutive home run derby competitions for two years straight, Griffey accomplished that feat in 1998 and 1999.
After a long hour delay, the Home Run Derby finally kicked off at Target Field in Minneapolis, where the 10 American League and National League representatives competed in the 30th annual competition that featured a new format that would see four rounds of the hitters going head to head before two representatives of each league faced off in the final round. Céspedes and Fraizer both started out the night rough by having to go through two swing offs after being tied in order to make it to the final round and face off against each other.
After defeating Jose Bautista in the semi-finals, Céspedes was poised to win his second home run derby in two years as he carried his hot streak into the next round. Elected to go first in the finals, Yoenis crushed 9 home runs and made it tough for Todd Fraizer to be able to catch up after Fraizer just barely made it by hitting one more home run than Giancarlo Stanton in the previous round. The power-hitting outfielder finished the night with a total of 30 home-runs.
Although he wasn’t able to make it to the final round, the longest projected home run of the night came from Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton at 510 feet.
