Prince Is King: Fielder Wins Second Career Home Run Derby

The numbers are impressive, especially with some context. More viewers tuned in to watch baseball players slap dingers Monday than during any game in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals or this past Sunday’s Wimbledon Men’s Final. The competition also drew better ratings than any MLB game this season.

For more from the Home Run Derby, check out the SB Nation StoryStream. Stay tuned to Baseball Nation for more from the 2012 MLB All-Star Game.

Outraged tweets sent Tuesday night bashed the locals for bashing Cano, but as one who was sitting among them in the right-field seats, I can tell you that this was done all in good fun. Kansas Citians were laughing, not angry; it was a Bronx cheer for the man from the Bronx Bombers. Beyond that, some area residents might have pretty long memories:

Clete Boyer, Hector Lopez, Ralph Terry and Roger Maris, among others, were players shipped to the Yankees from the Kansas City A’s in that era for little or no useful return; all helped New York win five straight pennants from 1960-64, while the A’s were three-time 100-game losers.

Another Home Run Derby is in the books, and for the second time in his career, Prince Fielder has been crowned the champion. That is a royal play on words. You don’t actually get a crown for winning the Home Run Derby, although you do get a bitchin trophy that you may or may not be allowed to keep.

Here’s the final leaderboard:

Fielder was leaning back in his chair when Bautista made his tenth out of the final round. Fielder remained in the same position, hands behind his head, and he only embraced Sandy Guerrero when Guerrero informed him that the tournament was over. Pretty much. Chris Berman was talking about how all the fans were on their feet by the end, but it’s hard to tell the difference between enthusiasm about the on-field event and enthusiasm about leaving.

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It could’ve been more daunting, though. Fielder finished with 12 homers and ten outs, but at one point he had eight homers and one out. Which means after that he had four homers and nine outs. Fielder really lost all of his momentum and so he’s going to back into his victory. He’s not going to charge into his victory, the way he charged into Gerald Laird the other day. When Prince Fielder backs into something, it probably feels like a normal-sized human charging into something.

It just dawned on me that I’ve watched pretty much this entire thing on mute. I know a lot of people mute the Home Run Derby for obvious reasons but for me it was unintentional. I just can’t really concentrate on typing when the TV is making noise, and one thing led to another, and for three hours I haven’t listened to Chris Berman nearly as much as I was afraid of. The Home Run Derby must score awesomely with deaf people. The Home Run Derby and Demi Lovato. What is that about?

The best parts:

He hit zero home runs

He hit zero home runs! If there was a “big story” about the 2011 Derby, it was that Cano won while being pitched to by his father. He was pitched to by his father just a few minutes ago and he came up literally, completely empty. Cano last year hit eight, 12, and 12 home runs. Zero. Team captain! Mutiny!

I don’t have anything else to say about Matt Kemp so here’s a paragraph on the geologic history of Broken Top, an extinct stratovolcano approximately 20 miles west of Bend, Oregon. Wikipedia:

Commercial break now. Instead of having commercials after every two rounds, we get commercials after one round. This first commercial is a commercial for a video game in which your character kills a lot of other people if you’re playing it right. Every video game these days makes you either kill things or play golf. I wouldn’t want to be friends with somebody heavily influenced by either one.

Trumbo didn’t put on the mammoth display of which we all know he’s capable, but he did draw an animated player reaction when he blasted a low line drive out to straightaway center, and he drew an animated fan and announcer reaction when he blasted a fly ball off of the roof of something in left field down the line. That home run probably wasn’t his longest home run of the round (I wasn’t paying attention), but people don’t care so much about distance as they care about baseballs hitting things that aren’t normally hit by baseballs. Hitting the roof in left field looks more impressive than hitting a ball out to dead center even though it isn’t really. People and their brains.

Upon further investigation, the televised broadcast indicated that this was, in fact, his daughter. More updates as events warrant:

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We finally got the 2012 MLB Home Run Derby underway around 5:16pm Pacific, which is where I am, which is therefore the only time that matters to me. This was scheduled to begin at approximately 5pm Pacific. On a geological time scale, 5:16 is hardly different from 5:00, so kudos to Major League Baseball for nailing it and satisfying the geologists.

My first final opening thought is that the Home Run Derby isn’t over yet. As a matter of fact, it hasn’t even begun, which is why I’m writing about final opening thoughts after 8pm Eastern. I’m presently watching the Zac Brown Band rock the f*** out because Chris Berman didn’t get the fans energized enough when he asked if all of them were ready for long balls. He did that again, for at least the second year in a row. He basically asked each individual fan if he was ready for long balls. Of course they’re ready! They’re at the Home Run Derby! They are literally ready for long balls more than they are ready for anything else!

The supposed-to-be moving intro to tonight’s presentation on ESPN showed a highlight reel of memorable home runs throughout baseball history, and alleged that there are home runs that you never forget. That is absolutely correct, I will never forget Mark McGwire’s 62nd home run, or Joe Carter’s home run in the World Series. Those home runs were not hit in the Home Run Derby. I am being completely honest when I say I don’t remember any individual home run in a Home Run Derby ever hit. I do remember how every individual home run was called, by Chris Berman. (So do you!)

I should just leave this post completely empty because there are no frequently asked questions about the Home Run Derby. “This crayon doesn’t taste like yellow” might be frequently uttered by Home Run Derby enthusiasts, but it doesn’t count as a question. I already wrote the headline and these sentences though, so I’m committed to this update, so let’s come up with some questions I can easily answer myself without doing any research.

Who do players think is going to win?

It’s the day before the MLB All-Star Game. Which means it’s the second-deadest day on the sports calendar, after the day following the MLB All-Star Game. There is nothing of any consequence taking place today, but there are a bunch of journalists and bloggers who need to earn their paychecks, which is why you’ve been reading about All-Star Game starting pitchers and lineups. It’s also why you’re reading about today’s Home Run Derby. The Home Run Derby doesn’t matter for beans, but it matters the most of anything that’s happening today, because it’s up against nothing, so we have to talk about it. This is another article about the Home Run Derby, and I apologize, or, you’re welcome.

And what he is is a hell of a slugger. A pure, classic slugger, who hits home runs that ought to have nicknames. Are you familiar with Isolated Slugging Percentage? It’s just Slugging Percentage minus Batting Average. Measure of power. Since the start of the 2011 season, Trumbo’s posted baseball’s eighth-highest ISO, and that’s while playing half the time in a pitcher-friendly ballpark. Just this season, Trumbo’s ISO ranks second, behind a guy who plays in a bandbox.