I'm so excited for the Home Run Derby this year. I mean, who would miss the chance to see Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and David Ortiz battle it out in a longball shoo....
What?
NONE of those guys are going to be in the Derby?
The Home Run Derby took another step towards total irrelavence this week when almost all of the star home run hitters in the Majors declined to participate, leaving Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder as the two clear favorites in a depleted field. Just how bad is it this year? Alex Rios is participating. Don't worry, I'll wait while you google him....Rios has a career high of 17 home runs this season, and the 26 year old outfielder doesn't exactly exude power potential. The rest of the field also lacks true home run power, as the group of Rios, Howard, Fielder, Justin Morneau, Vlad Guerrero, Albert Pujols, and Magglio Ordonez does not come anywhere near the star power of Derbys of the past that featured the likes of Bonds, Sosa, Griffey, Rodriguez, and McGwire. The contest no longer holds the prestige it did in the mid to late 90's, and that fact coupled with heightened injury concerns after Jim Edmonds injured himself in the contest in 2003 have led to the Derby having to take essentially anyone who is willing to participate, such as non power hitters Pudge Rodriguez, Hee-Sop Choi, and Miguel Tejada in recent years. The big name hitters have decided to take the contest off rather than run the risk of injury.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Perhaps like the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, which has seen a similar decline in the quality of participants from its peak in the late 80's and early 90's? The same guidelines I advocated for fixing the dunk contest hold true for the Derby. In order to regain relavence the Derby needs to get the big names like Bonds and A-Rod to participate. If that means shortening the number of outs to 8 or 5 instead of 10, or cutting down the total number of contestants to limit the length of the contest so be it. Which would you rather see, this year's field or Bonds, A-Rod, Sosa, and David Ortiz in a four way free for all? The second bit of advice would be that the Derby needs to get the best home run hitters available, regardless of whether or not they are All Stars. Taking out Rios and Ordonez and subbing in Adam Dunn and Gary Sheffield would greatly enhance this year's field both in terms of quality and star power. (MLB could still invite Dunn, since there are currently only 3 NL participants after Miguel Cabrera backed out) If MLB is unable to fix their current participation problem, the Home Run Derby could be doomed to the same fate that befell the dunk contest in the late 90's; cancellation.
UPDATE: Matt Holiday (and his 15 HR) will fill the final spot in tonight's Derby.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Dead Derby
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6 comments:
While I understand the sentiment of wanting the "big four," based on age/injury history/surliness Bonds shouldn't have been expected to participate, Griffey's often done this in the past, but based on injury history, is probably better served resting, Ortiz has participated for the last three years and A-Rod's looking to avoid altering the swing that has him producing something ridiculous this season, feeling his responsibility lies with the Yankees (and probably wanting to avoid having the NYC media jumping on him for participating if his summer numbers start slipping).
But I think you're doing a disservice to the rest of the guys - Pujols is regarded as right there with A-Rod (see: baseball, fantasy) Morneau is the reigning AL MVP, and currently tied for third in the majors with 24 HRs, Vlad Guerrero is one of baseball's best hitters and a 30-homer minimum guy each season, Ordonez is posting MVP-type numbers for one of the league's best teams and your whipping boy Rios participated in the Home Run Derby at the Hall of Fame Game this year, bashing 12 on 17 swings, one shy of Vernon Wells' winning total. That's plenty of star "power."
I'd also take issue with your comparison to the NBA Dunk Contest - MLB doesn't have a rule limiting it to four players with three years experience or less, thus eliminating many of the league's best hitters. They did extend invitations to Griffey, A-Rod, Ortiz and Bonds.
And inviting guys who aren't All-Stars might just feel like a smack in their face - "Hey, we know you're not having a season on the level with the rest of these guys, but can you give up a four-day vacation with your friends/family so you can work for an hour because you at least hit home runs well?"
I think you missed a lot of what I wrote. I suggested that in order to assuage injury concerns perhaps the contest should be shortened, which refutes a great deal of your first paragraph. Secondly, I stand by saying that the contest has been fielding lackluster fields in recent years. You can't tell me there are not more recognizable and better home run hitters than what has been assembled for tonight. And thirdly, the Derby already invites non-All Stars. (Howard this year...Hee-Seop Choi...Jason Bay...Rafael Palmeiro...) I am just suggesting they invite non-All Stars that are better home run hitters. I mean, how can you say there is not a problem when the day of the event the field still has not been filled?
I'll stand corrected - I did drop the ball on the non-AS players participating. Of your "big four" I'd still absolve Ortiz, who has participated for the last three seasons.
I do believe you're giving the participants too little credit - all are working on 30 homer seasons, and Rios is the only one a casual fan would see and not immediately recognize and think "power hitter." Would it be cool to see Bonds and Griffey go toe to toe like it was 1995? Yeah. But is that going to make or break your decision to watch it? Your "now-clear favorites" Fielder and Howard are still there, as is Pujols and a bunch of "name" guys. Rios is the worst of the bunch, but that's only because the others are all great hitters.
And ultimately, it's an exhibition, so what was "relevant" about it in the first place? "Potentially exciting/thrilling" - yes; "Relevant" - not so much.
Regarding the Dunk Contest, shortening the length of the contest and fielding fewer players didn't help bring in big names, leading to the three-year "rising stars" rule so the league no longer has to worry about rejection by the names.
You do make some good points, I just think we differ on the definition of what makes a player a "power hitter". I don't think a 30 HR hitter is a power hitter in today's game. Consistent 40 HR power is a much better benchmark. And for that matter, Pujols is only on pace for 30 HR this season, Rios 32 HR, and Ordonez 25 HR. I still think it is a weak field in comparison to what the contest used to be, but I do respect your viewpoint. Jayson Stark also has a take on the subject of improving the Derby over on ESPN.com today.
Gotcha. The 40-HR benchmark is probably a better one; I'm just stuck in the halcyon days of my (not-so-distant) youth, when 30 homers mattered. I'll be sure to check out the Stark article. Challenging viewpoints are ones I appreciate. Keep doin how you do.
Howard should be in--as defending champ--regardless of his HR totals this year. And while Alex(is) Rios is an unfortunate addition, they could have done worse.
Also, Howard versus Prince Fielder with Vlad the Impaler and Albert Freaking Pujols?
You'd rather see (today) Bonds, Ortiz, Sosa and Griffey than those four? No. Way.
ARod I don't blame for missing out and the same with the three geriatrics of the four mentioned above--all have been recently injured, are injury prone, or don't want to compete without a corked bat.
As for the comparison to the Dunk Contest, it's a very valid analogy. But at the same time, the Dunk Contest faded because the big time dunkers in the league knew there wasn't any real way to keep coming up with original stuff, and the big stars stopped competing. This won't happen with the Derby because blasting moon shots never gets old.
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