NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Baseball's all-stars showed off their skills at Yankee Stadium Monday night at the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby.
PHOTOS: Home Run Derby 2008
The fun will continue Tuesday with an All-Star Carpet Parade along Sixth Avenue before the big game. The parade is set to start at 1 p.m. and is expected to draw a million people.
The route is as follows: North on 6th Ave from 40th St. to 58th St., East on 58th St. to Plaza St., North on Plaza St. into Central Park. The parade is scheduled to end at 3 p.m. (Get the street closures here)
1010 WINS' Marc Ernay got swept up in the baseball mania and blogged from the Home Run Derby:
7:15pm - Welcome to Yankee Stadium (they've got us radio types at the top of Tier section 22, down the LF line. Not to complain, but I could've used an oxygen tank & a sherpa to get up here!) for the first (and only) HR Derby here at "The House That Ruth Built." Hard to believe it's been a whole year since Vladimir Guerrero took the title in San Francisco. The Angels slugger won't have a chance to defend, so the champ this evening will be a first-time winner. The contenders (in alphabetical order) are:
From the National League: Astros 1B Lance Berkman, Brewers OF Ryan Braun, Marlins 2B Dan Uggla, and Phillies 2B Chase Utley,
Representing the American League: Rangers OF Josh Hamilton, Rays 3B Evan Longoria, Twins 1B Justin Morneau, and Indians OF Grady Sizemore.
Not sure how it was decided, but the batting order will be Uggla, Sizemore, Longoria, Utley, Berkman, Morneau, Braun, and Hamilton.
The rules of HR Derby have always been somewhat nebulous, but the information provided to us this year says (as in the past) players get 10 "outs" per at-bat, with an "out" defined as "any swing that does not result in a home run" and the top 4 HR hitters in Round 1 move into the 2nd Round. The "semifinalists" will hit in the same order as the 1st Round. HR totals carry over into Round 2. Those with the top 2 aggregate scores meet in the final round. Any ties will be determined by a "swingoff." More on that (if necessary) later on.
Yankees TV announcer Michael Kay will serve as the in-house emcee. We'll get underway following a brief (2-song) performance by 3 Doors Down. I only just now learned the band was formed in Escatawpa, Mississippi, which is located due north of Pascagoula (near the Gulf of Mexico).
7:35pm - Various team mascots are being introduced to the capacity crowd. Not too surprisingly, Mr. Met was practically booed off the field. None of the other mascots has warranted so much as a golf clap.
As a quick aside, I had the great good fortune to interview Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks earlier today in the NL dugout, and spoke to Hall of Fame Broadcaster Bob Wolff in the AL dugout. Hoping to post both (as soon as I can figure out how).
7:45pm - Public Address announcer Jim Hall (still filling in for the ailing Bob Sheppard) asks for a moment of silence in memory of Bobby Murcer, who passed away on Saturday. Instead, there's a lengthy standing ovation, with the crowd chanting "Bobby! Bobby!" until the cast of "Jersey Boys" starts to sing the National Anthem.
7:55pm - 3 Doors Down takes the stage behind 2nd base, leading off with "Kryptonite." Back in 2000, the song peaked at # 3 on Billboard's Hot 100.
8:00pm - "It's Not My Time" is next. It's their first hit off the new CD that came out a couple of months ago. Stand by for HR Derby.......
8:15pm - Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, threw the ceremonial first pitch to Yankees captain Derek Jeter. During an on-field interview with Michael Kay, Reggie said he always tried to hit a HR and that if he hit a ground ball, it was a mistake.
8:20pm - Marlins 2B Dan Uggla leads off the HR Derby.....2 straight big flies to start, then 3 outs before he launches one into the LF upper deck. After his 6th out, Uggla takes a short break to give his young son a bottle of water. The timeout doesn't help much. Uggla finishes with 6 HR's. Indians OF Grady Sizemore's up next.....
8:30pm - Sizemore is a left-handed hitter, so the bleachers and short RF porch are certainly in play. HR's 3, 4, and 5 all go a third of the way up the RF upper deck. Grady's good tonight. He ties Uggla with 6 HR's. Stand by for Evan Longoria's turn........
8:40pm - Longoria (no relation to Eva from "Desperate Housewives") has only 1 HR in his first 7 swings. Could be rookie nerves. The Rays OF is the first freshman since Nomar Garciaparra (and 6th overall) to participate in the Derby. No nerves on HR's 2 or 3 ... both find the upper deck in LF. That's all she wrote, though. Longoria's a big favorite of 1010 WINS "webgirl" Marta Z), but he's likely done for the night after hitting just 3 HR's.
8:45pm - Here's Phillies 2B Chase Utley. He gets a much nicer hand from the crowd than he probably expected (or should) in NYC. Utley also bats from the left side. Let's see if he has any "blasts to the black" in his future.
8:50pm - Utley hit 2 HR's after collecting his 9th out, but it wasn't enough to catch the leaders. Utley has 5 HR's. Probably not enough to advance. OF Lance Berkman of the Astros is on deck..........
8:55pm - Berkman's a switch-hitter. He'll hit lefty and aim for the short porch. His first seat-seeker finds the main aisle of the RF upper deck. HR's 3 & 4 go BEYOND the aisle. The last was measured at 476 feet. Barry Bonds hit one up there in a Saturday afternoon game a few years back. It was Belmont day. I was on the LIRR heading to the track when a buddy called & told me to watch out for the ball.
9:00pm - Lance is CLUTCH. 3 HR's after his 9th out, and he takes the lead with 8. Longoria's been eliminated. Morneau's coming up next.
9:10pm - The Twins 1B is another lefty slugger. He's put several into the RF upper deck, including a 453 foot moonshot. Utley's night is through, as Morneau clubs 8 HR's to tie Berkman for the lead. Ryan Braun to follow........
9:15pm - Braun played 3B for the Brewers as a rookie, but they moved him to the OF this year. 0 HR's until after his 6th out. Then he swatted 3 big flies, including an upper deck job to LF. A late tear gives Braun a total of 7 HR's. He's in sole possession of 3rd place, and clinched a spot in round 2. Josh Hamilton'll wrap up the opening round.......
9:20pm - Crowd of 53, 716 just announced. Not all seats are filled, though. Sources tell me scalpers were seen outside asking for arms & legs.
9:30pm - Hamilton's putting a serious hurt on the cowhide. His first 2 HR's go 471 and 502 (not a typo!) feet. The 2nd went halfway up one of the signs behind the bleachers in RCF. HR # 4 went 504 feet. This kid's an animal.
So, after HR # 7, Reds rookie P Edinson Volquez (those 2 were traded for each other over the winter) just brought a briefcase (presumably filled with $$$) out to home plate and laid it at Hamilton's feet. Funny stuff.
Hamilton takes the lead. Berkman, Morneau, and Braun will also advance. Josh has over a MILE in HR's (all of which carry over to round 2). # 17 found the black seats. His 18th might hit the blimp! Red Sox DH David Ortiz came out after # 21 ... no surprise, Big Papi was booed back to the dugout. Hamilton's hearing it from the crowd ("Hamilton! Hamilton!") They think (hope?) he can hit one clear out of the Stadium. # 24 went black to tie the all-time single round record (Bobby Abreu had 24 in round 1 three years ago). Still 2 outs left!
9:45pm - # 25 just barely clears the wall in RF. A record for HR Derby. Nothing short of amazing when you consider he missed a bunch of years to drug rehab & various injuries. The Rays and Reds let him go. Cincinnati did get Volquez in the deal, but still ............. oh, 27 & counting. The count FINALLY stops at 28 HR's. Hamilton can probably take round 2 off to rest up for the finals. WOW. Stay tuned for the "semifinals."
9:55pm - Berkman kicks off round 2. He needs 20 to tie Hamilton on aggregate. Gosh, it's quiet in here. Crowd needs to recharge after that Hamilton smashfest. Bit of a letdown for Lance, as he manages just 6 more HR's for a 2-round total of 14. Justin Morneau hits next.
10:00pm - Morneau also had 8 HR's in round 1. He just tied Berkman with # 6 in round 2. Never mind. Morneau jumps into 2nd place (knocking Berkman out) with 9 HR's in this round, 17 overall. We'll see if Braun can overtake him.
10:10pm - Ryan needs 10 HR's to tie Morneau for 2nd place. He starts the round by going 2 for 2, pushing his total to 9. Now Braun's finding the range. Up to 13, with 4 outs to go.
10:15pm - # 14 finds the LF upper deck. But that's it for Mr. Braun. It'll be Hamilton v. Morneau in the finals. Hamilton's just taking some practice hacks, since his total of 28 stood up.
10:25pm - They'll start from scratch, with a coin flip determining that Morneau'll lead off to decide the title.
10:30pm - Michael Kay announced to the crowd that Hamilton would go first, but it's the Minnesota Twin who's taking his hacks.
10:35pm - Morneau has 2 HR's in his first 9 swings. Unless Josh Hamilton's completely exhausted, Justin Morneau has neau shot.
10:40pm - Morneau winds up with just 5 HR's. Give Hamilton the trophy..........he'll make it official in a few minutes. (Or WON'T he?)
10:45pm - Hamilton goes deep after one out. The HR went 488 feet. He needs 4 to tie, 5 to win. 3 outs now. Crowd's behind him all the way. 4 outs. Uh oh.......ok, that's better. 2 HR's (this one to the bleachers). Line drive to right. Out # 5. His 3rd HR goes 3/4 of the way up the black seats. 2 to tie, 3 to win.
10:50pm - 6 outs now. Make it 7. Milton Bradley tries to help him out, to no avail. Out # 8. Crowd's standing all over the stadium. 9 outs.
10:52pm - A line drive to right goes FOUL. And it's all over. Justin Morneau is your HR Derby champ for 2008, winning the final round, 5-3.
Thanks for joining us for the 2008 Home Run Derby. Please come back tomorrow night for the 79th All Star Game, with Cleveland's Cliff Lee starting on the mound for the American League against Milwaukee's Ben Sheets.
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