Tag: Home Run Derby

Sports bettors went wild for Albert Pujols after his improbably upset of Kyle Schwarber at the Home Run Derby

Another incredible moment for the Future Hall of Famer

Midway through his first round matchup against Kyle Schwarber during Monday’s Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium, a field full of Major League All-Stars began crowding around 42-year-old Albert Pujols during a time out.

Pujols was reeling, or so it looked, with one home run in the first 56 seconds of his at-bat. It sure seemed like MLB’s finest were getting ready to send off one of their own. Then the darnedest thing happened. Pujols start planting balls over the fence in the outfield. Again. And again. And before he knew it, he was in overtime with Schwarber, the No. 1 overall seed, tied at 13 dingers apiece.

A one-minute swing-off yielded seven more homers as Pujols sent Schwarber home shockingly early.

Albert was a +260 underdog. Schwarber was a -400 favorite. Baseball fans called the matchup a bye for the Phillies slugger.

Oops.

Bettors couldn’t believe it.

 

Pujols lost in the second round to Juan Soto (the eventual Derby champ at +470), but that won’t be remembered as much as his upset of Schwarber. What a moment for the future Hall of Famer.

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MLB All-Stars honor Albert Pujols’ final Home Run Derby with classy home plate celebration

What a way to honor a baseball legend!

At age 42, Albert Pujols is no spring chicken in baseball anymore.

During Monday’s 2022 Home Run Derby, Pujols continued his retirement tour alongside the St. Louis Cardinals with one last crack at the bat. In a thrilling first round, Pujols actually bested favorite Kyle Schwarber in a swing off to advance to the second round! Seriously!

After Pujols’ first go around, where he hit 10 home runs, the MLB All-Stars all jumped out of the dugouts and gave the baseball legend a wonderfully classy moment at home plate. The love and respect that all of baseball has for Pujols is absolutely incredible.

What a moment! Also, here’s how Pujols took down Schwarber in the final moments of an epic first round matchup.

Albert Pujols forever!

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Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. was hilariously caught unawares by the fire at the Home Run Derby

Ronald Acuna Jr. nearly got toasted before the 2022 Home Run Derby even began!

Ronald Acuna Jr. was nearly on fire before the 2022 Home Run Derby even began. Literally!

As Monday’s home run competition began in Los Angeles, the eight competitors were introduced to the crowd in dramatic fashion. And of course, befitting an event of big bombs, the pyrotechnics in the introductions were large and in charge.

While standing on the elevated stage awaiting the final round of introductions, Acuna got completely spooked by the fire going off right behind him. Not only that, Acuna nearly got singed in the process, with his quick reflexes likely the only thing saving him from a trip to the medical tent.

Thankfully, Acuna walked away with nothing but a scare. Not only that, all of the participants got spooked by the fire as the introductions came to an end too!

Here’s how MLB fans reacted to Acuna’s jump scare!

2022 MLB Home Run Derby, live stream, TV channel, time, odds and brackets, how to watch online

The Major League Baseball All-Star Week has arrived and will kick off on Monday night with the Home Run Derby live at Chavez Ravine.

The Major League Baseball All-Star Week has arrived and will kick off on Monday night with the Home Run Derby live from Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine. Can Pete Alonso make it three straight with another win, this time out on the West Coast, or will somebody else step up like Corey Seager since he played with the Dodgers from 2015-2021.

This will be one you won’t want to miss, here is everything you need to know to catch the Home Run Derby tonight.

2022 MLB Home Run Derby

  • When: Monday, July 18
  • Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN, ESPN Deportes
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

2022 Home Run Derby Lineup

  • Pete Alonso, Mets
  • Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
  • Juan Soto, Nationals
  • Ronald Acuña, Braves
  • Julio Rodriguez, Mariners
  • JosĂ© Ramirez, Guardians
  • Albert Pujols, Cardinals
  • Corey Seager, Rangers

MLB Home Run Derby, First Round Matchups

No. 1 Kyle Schwarber(Phillies) vs.  No. 8 Albert Pujols (Cardinals)

No. 2 Pete Alonso (Mets) vs. No. 7 Ronald Acuña (Braves)

No. 3 Corey Seager (Rangers) vs. No. 6 Julio Rodriguez (Mariners)

No. 4 Juan Soto (Nationals) vs. No. 5 Jose Ramirez (Guardians)

MLB Odds and Betting Lines

MLB odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were last updated Monday at 6:45 p.m. ET.

Pete Alonso (N.Y. Mets) +200

Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia) +330

Ronald Acuna, Jr. (Atlanta) +600

Juan Soto (Washington) +600

Corey Seager (Texas) +900

Julio Rodriguez (Seattle) +1000

Jose Ramirez (Cleveland) +1600

Albert Pujols (St. Louis) +2200

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MLB’s brilliant new tiebreaker for the All-Star Game had baseball fans rooting for a tie

Oh, we NEED to see this happen.

When it comes to rule changes, MLB has made (and continues to make) plenty of mistakes over the years. But I guess even Rob Manfred can get something right once because the 2022 MLB All-Star Game will have the tiebreaker everyone needs to see happen.

The 2002 MLB All-Star Game ended in a tie when both teams ran out of players, and rather than have some contingency plan in place to determine a winner, then-commissioner Bud Selig ended the game. Then, in a huge over-correction, MLB had the All-Star Game determine homefield advantage for the World Series from 2003 to 2016.

If only they thought of this back then …

According to MLB Network’s Anthony Castrovince, the All-Star Game will go into a brief Home Run Derby to determine a winner if the game is tied after nine innings. The managers select three batters with each getting three swings. The team with the highest total after three rounds wins the All-Star Game. It’s so simple, yet so fun. It’s basically baseball’s version of a penalty shootout.

Since 1950, just 11 All-Star Games have gone into extra innings. It doesn’t happen often, but this rule change was enough to have MLB fans rooting for that nine-inning tie. Some wouldn’t mind seeing it in actual games too.

Pete Alonso’s 10 steps to winning a Home Run Derby, via Jeff Passan

Former Florida Gator and current New York Met Pete Alonso reveals to ESPN’s Jeff Passan his 10 steps to winning the derby.

New York Mets first baseman [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] will look to become the first player in history to win three consecutive home run derby events.

Alonso is just the third player in MLB history to win back-to-back Home Run Derby events after taking home the 2019 and 2021 trophies; the 2020 derby was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yoenis Cespedes (2013 & 2014) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, 1998 & 1999) are the only other players since the event’s inception in 1985 to win back-to-back events.

Alonso will take on Braves’ right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. in the first round of this year’s tournament in a battle of NL East foes. Alonso recently sat down with ESPN’s Jeff Passan and revealed to him the 10-step plan he has to winning the derby. The comments after each rule come from yours truly.

  1. Hydrate Like Crazy
    1. It seems like an obvious one but when you’re out there swinging a bat 200 times, hydrating might seem like a good idea.
  2. Get Moral Support
    1. Part of the fun of the HR derby is seeing the competitors and their support groups hanging around in front of the dugouts.
  3. The Opponent Doesn’t Matter
    1. If you think about it, you’re really only competing with yourself.
  4. Find the Right Pitcher
    1. Every kid grows up wanting to have his dad throw him baseballs at the HR derby.
  5. Know Your Zone
    1. The benefit of having a good pitcher is that they know exactly where to throw the ball. You want to highlight your positives and hide your negatives.
  6. Stick to Your Swing
    1. Routine. Routine. Routine.
  7. Use your Timeouts Smartly
    1. You want to make sure that you’re as fresh as possible throughout the round.
  8. Let Your Emotions Out
    1. It’s important to take everything in, but it’s also important to stay focused so you can do your best.
  9. Hit Tanks
    1. Like Uncle Rico, but with a baseball bat.
  10. Have A Blast
    1. What is an exhibition mid-summer tradition if it’s not fun?

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Former Gator Pete Alonso will to compete in Home Run Derby, MLB All-Star Game

Pete “Polar Bear” Alonso will compete for his third-straight Home Run Derby crown while also playing in the All-Star Game.

Former Florida Gator and current Mets first baseman [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] will defend his Home Run Derby crown and participate in MLB’s All-Star Game next week in Los Angeles.

Alonso is just the third player in MLB history to win back-to-back Home Run Derby events after taking home the 2019 and 2021 trophies; the 2020 derby was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yoenis Cespedes (2013 & 2014) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, 1998 & 1999) are the only other players since the event’s inception in 1985 to win back-to-back events.

Griffey Jr. is the event’s only three-time winner in the event’s history and Alonso is looking to join him as the only three-time champ. If the former Gator wins this year’s event, he would become the first person to win three derbys in a row. The full list of participants will be revealed closer to Monday, July 18th, the date of this year’s event.

Along with attempting to make history, Alonso will also participate in MLB’s All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 19. He joins Mets teammates Edwin Diaz, Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil as All-Star Games reserves. Alonso is the only former Gator to be named to MLB’s All-Star Game.

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Former major-league pitcher takes heat after Trey Mancini misses game

Oof.

Fresh off missing a season because of colon cancer, Baltimore Orioles slugger Trey Mancini has been quite the story. Entering Tuesday, the former Notre Dame standout has 21 home runs and 66 RBIs to go with a slash line of .262/.328/.452 over 128 games. Playing nearly every game for the worst team in baseball given his recent history is nothing short of remarkable, but it also can take a toll on the body. He missed the Orioles’ 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Monday, and we found out why afterwards:

Soon after, former major-league relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth took to Twitter to go after the idea of general soreness. Though he didn’t specifically name Mancini, it was easy to figure out which player he most likely was referring to:

Twitter immediately went after Farnsworth. The statement itself was bad, but the player he appeared to be going after made it look even worse. The backlash became so intense that Farnsworth decided to try and clarify what he meant in a follow-up tweet Tuesday. However, he didn’t issue any apologies:

It’s a shame that Mancini’s story has come back into the limelight for the wrong reasons. Everyone knew it by the time he finished as the runner-up in this year’s Home Run Derby. He shouldn’t have to be defended for playing a season like his on his own terms, especially when he’s been excelling, but here we are. Hopefully, the final month of his season can be peaceful from here on.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave Juan Soto a great mic’d-up pep talk before swing-off vs. Shohei Ohtani

This was fun.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. elected to not participate in this year’s Home Run Derby, which was a bit of a bummer because we all wanted to see him crush baseballs through Denver’s altitude (he saved that for the actual All-Star Game).

But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t heavily focused on Monday’s epic Home Run Derby.

The first round between the Nationals’ Juan Soto and Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani went into two tiebreaker rounds. The first tiebreaker was an extra minute while the second tiebreaker was limited to three swings.

There was a lot riding on those three swings, but before Soto went 3 for 3 in the swing-off, Guerrero seemed to be the one to offer some crucial advice to the 22-year-old.

In mic’d-up MLB video from the Home Run Derby, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Guerrero gave Soto a pep talk before that final swing-off. Guerrero said (translated to English):

“It’s three swings. Take your time. Boom. You hit it. Take your time, breathe and get back to it. Don’t just swing. Take your time.”

And then Tatis finished it off with “in slow motion!”

Hey, it was solid advice, and Soto took it to heart. He chose the exact three pitches he wanted to drive and put the pressure on Ohtani with the perfect tiebreaker round. Ohtani would get eliminated on his first swing.

But overall, that was an excellent look at the friendly atmosphere between the game’s biggest stars in Denver. You love to see that.

Of course, no participant could stop the Mets’ Pete Alonso and the real MVP … his BP pitcher Dave Jauss.

https://youtu.be/pgHz7vbqMWw

Watch: ESPN Cover Story covers Trey Mancini’s colon cancer battle

The Notre Dame alumnus has had quite the journey recently.

Before covering Trey Mancini’s near-win in the Home Run Derby, ESPN debuted a new piece about the Notre Dame product. Mancini, who is back with the Baltimore Orioles after missing all of the 2020 season, is one of baseball’s feel-good stories this year. Watching him play over the past few months, one never would have guessed that he isn’t far removed from stage 3 colon cancer. However, that’s exactly the case, and ESPN’s Kevin Van Valkenburg set out to tell Mancini’s story ahead of MLB’s All-Star festivities:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlVUNoOonf4

It doesn’t matter how long someone goes through chemotherapy or if the cancer even goes away. The whole thing is an experience no one should ever have to go through. While we don’t know if a cure for cancer will be developed during our lifetime, simply telling stories like Mancini’s gives us the motivation to keep that journey going. Every little bit will help us achieve that ultimate goal.

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