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His 28 career opposite-field homers -- more than one-third of his total -- are tied for fourth most of any player since 2018. Participants are seeded based on the number of home runs they've hit this season at the time the bracket was created on Wednesday. Ties are broken by 2020 home run totals, except in the case of Mancini and Alonso. Since Mancini didn't play in 2020, their 2019 totals were used as a tiebreaker. A year after he beat Stage III colon cancer, Mancini thrilled the crowd, launching 24 homers as the first batter up in the derby. He beat Athletics first baseman Matt Olson and then walked off the hometown hero, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, with 13 homers to Story's 12.
Sporting News tracked live updates of the 2021 Home Run Derby throughout the night. Here’s to a hopefully exciting couple of hours of fun Monday night in Denver with a ball that will almost certainly be extra juiced in a park that is already begging for home runs. The 27-year-old first baseman has been a leading force for the A’s in the first half. He has just one season of 30 or more home runs in his career, but he’ll likely add a second in 2021. • Alonso now has a chance to join Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, ‘98-99), Yoenis Céspedes ( ) and Prince Fielder as the only multiple-time Derby champions.
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But since Statcast began tracking in 2015, no Colorado player has hit a longer one than Story’s 487-foot blast on Sept. 5, 2018, onto the left-field concourse at Coors Field. With the benefit of playing half his games at altitude, Story has averaged 416 feet on homers in his career, tied with Stanton for the longest of any player with 100-plus roundtrippers in that span. This was the second derby since the format change in 2015 to feature tie-breaking rounds, as Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani went to a swing-off in the first round. Winner Pete Alonso of the New York Mets tied his own record for most home runs hit in the final round with 23.
Mancini spent six months last season fighting through a biweekly chemotherapy program. He worked his way back with the Baltimore Orioles, earned his way to the Derby with a 16-homer first half and almost won the whole thing despite facing the second-longest odds to do so. He wanted to honor his longtime friend Ricky Palmer, who died of brain cancer in October -- and he wanted to send a message to cancer survivors. • Soto succeeded Bryce Harper as the Nationals’ superstar, and now he will try to succeed him as a Derby champion.
Takeaways from the 2021 Home Run Derby
The CBS Sports stable of MLB writers recently conducted a roundtable on this very topic, and five writers made four different predictions -- Story, Ohtani, Mancini, and OIson. Since Ohtani was the only participant to earn two votes from us, we'll go with him. After all, he's the MLB home run leader, and he also hits the ball harder than almost anyone.
After all, he has just 11 home runs this season and he was the third-longest shot to win the Derby. To me, the derby got a bit old with the previous rules but since rounds have moved timed instead of based on outs, the excitement is greater than ever. There are more than a few marquee matchups for this year's event. The 2015 World Series MVP leads all catchers in home runs through the first half of 2021. He’s looking to become the first backstop to win the competition in its 35-year history.
MLB Home Run Derby: Live stream, time, how to watch online, participants, bracket, odds
The Oakland Coliseum ranks near the bottom of the league in both categories. In his career, Olson has hit 67 homers on the road, compared with 59 at home. After the regulation period, a batter is allowed a break of up to one minute before his bonus period begins. Major League Baseball has reached its All-Star break, and with it comes the mostly annual Home Run Derby. Last year, the All-Star break was canceled due to COVID-19.
That leaves New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso as the defending champion. In 2019, he hit 57 home runs across three rounds en route to defeating Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. in the finals at Progressive Field. The longest home run, among the total 309 hit by the eight players involved, covered a distance of 520 ft (158.50 m), and was hit by Juan Soto. This broke the record of longest home run hit in the derby, surpassing Aaron Judge's 513 ft (156.36 m) home run from 2017. In a field of baseball's elite sluggers, Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani is the one everyone will be watching when the Home Run Derby begins at Coors Field. He leads the majors with 33 home runs, his batting practice sessions are legendary -- and he throws 100 miles per hour on the mound as well.
Bonus Time
Alonso set a new first round record with 35 home runs in the first round. Ohtani and Soto went to a swing-off in the first round after tying with six home runs in the tie breaker. Soto prevailed by a score of 3-0 after Ohtani failed to hit a home run with his first swing. • Story has been one of MLB’s top power threats ever since he debuted with a two-homer Opening Day in 2016. He remains the only player in AL or NL history to homer in four straight games to begin his career, with six total dingers in that span.
All of those questions will be answered on Monday, but in the meantime, here is a breakdown of each competitor. The Home Run Derby is back, and the stage is set for a hard-hitting, high-flying, mile-high event. Coors Field is already a hitter's environment, and the baseballs used in the Derby this year will not be placed in a humidor beforehand. On Monday, Major League Baseball will continue the 2021 All-Star Game festivities in Denver with the Home Run Derby at Coors Field. This year marks the first All-Star Game and related festivities since 2019. The 2020 edition was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, he became the first player since Barry Bonds and Luis Gonzalez in 2001 to go deep at least 33 times in his team's first 87 games. Each batter is allowed to call one 45-second time out in the regulation period of each round . MLB unveiled the rules for the event, and there is one particular to Coors Field. The baseballs used for the Home Run Derby will not be placed in the “humidor” prior to the event.
Due to the thin air in Denver, the Rockies instituted what is effectively a large humidor to keep balls from drying out. Denver remains a great park for hitters, but the “humidor” has helped. However, we will not see it in use for the Derby, which hopefully means we see a boost in home runs. Trevor Story just survived a ferocious comeback by Joey Gallo, and if he keeps hitting dingers like his record-setting second of the first round, he could go far.
After Nationals outfielder Juan Soto kicked off the second round with 15 — fresh off a thrilling win over Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani — Alonso passed his NL East opponent with 16 homers. • That 114.2 mph, 460-foot blast on May 4 -- which splashed down in the Kauffman Stadium fountains -- is the hardest-hit and longest homer Perez has hit in the Statcast era. Will Ohtani add to his jaw-dropping season by putting on a show at altitude?
The participants were seeded and paired off based on their home run totals as of last Tuesday. Ties were broken by awarding the higher seed to the player with a higher home run total in 2020. Trey Mancini did not play in 2020, however, so the tie between him and Pete Alonso was broken using 2019 home run totals.
The contestants have three minutes in the first and second rounds and two minutes in the final round to hit as many home runs as possible. The timer begins with the release of the first pitch, and the round ends when the timer hits zero. A home run will count if the timer hits zero, so long as the pitch was released beforehand. If the second contestant in the matchup exceeds their opponents home run total, the round ends. The bracket is single-elimination, so whoever wins the head-to-head matchup advances while the loser is done for the night. • Going oppo is not a typical Derby strategy, but Soto certainly has the power to drive the ball that way.
During the bonus period, a special T-Mobile magenta ball will be used. Here is a complete list of rules for participation and determining the winner. Maybe not the pairing everyone thought would be facing off in the Home Run Derby finals, but it's a good one.
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