Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Home Run Derby-2018
There is an outside
chance that some of this column may be written with a slightly
Canadian perspective. That makes sense. After all, I am Canadian. I
live most of the year in Canada. I rise to the occasion, now and
again, and swell with pride in my country.
I watched the Major
League Baseball All Star Home Run Derby last night with my grandson.
We watched every round, as competitors got knocked out because they
did not hit enough home runs. There were no Canadians in the event,
so that did not colour my perspective. There was however, one key
American clouting balls. His name is Bryce Harper, and he wears his
nationality on his sleeve. Figuratively and literally. Seriously. He
had a shirt sleeve with the Stars and Stripes on it. He carried a bat
with an American logo. He wore a red and white striped head band.
(All of the other contestants wore baseball caps.)
Harper was there,
playing in his home baseball park, to put a stamp of the activity, to
tell the fans that it was his house, and he was going to do something
about it. He went about his business carefully, and managed to squeak
out victories over his competitors to reach the final. He beat the
Braves' Freddie Freenan 13-12 in the first round. He the disposed of
Max Muncy of the Dodges by the same score. That put him in the final
against the Cubs Kyle Schwarber.
Schwarber batted first,
and hit 18 home runs in the allotted time. Such drama! Harper stepped
up to the plated to face his pitcher, in this case his father Ross.
Ross began to lob pitches towards home plate, hoping that his son
could connect on just enough of them to send then fans home smiling.
More than 43 000 fans showed up for the event.
Those of us who watched
on television were kept abreast of baseball\s latest technology from
Stat Cast, presented by AWS. That agency tells us statistically just
how far each home run would be, if it were allowed to land on the
ground rather than in a fan's mitt in the left field bleachers. This
is what we are given: 1. Exit velocity; 2. Launch angle; and 3.
Projected distance.
Some numb skull
determined that a batter could hit two home runs with a projected
distance of more than 440 feet, that he would receive an additional
30 second bonus. Sure, that sounds about right.
So we watched them
whale away, all of these big boys from both leagues. There was only
one competitor from the American League, Alex Bregman from the
Astros. He was sent packing in the first round. The top ten Home Run
producers in the American League declined to participate in the
event, for a variety of reasons.
The main reason, of
course, is that it is an unnatural baseball activity. Not the
swinging of the bat, nor the attempt to hit a long ball. But the
continued pressure to hit many long ones within a certain time is
not natural to the game. Many “Big Boppers” have suffered after
performing well in the Home Run Derby. Their contention is that it
messes with their swing, and their timing. Not all players feel that
way, but most do.
So if you expected to
see the big boys from the Yankees, or Edwin Encarncion, the former
Blue Jay, or Mike Trout, you were out of luck. Am I saying that the
format should be changed. Yes, indeed, Horace.
In the meantime, let
Harper have his day in Washington. He is, after all, a free agent at
the end of the season. Who knows what uniform he will wear next year?
James Hurst
July 17, 2018.
# posted by James Hurst @ 9:20 AM 
