Justin Morneau will be taking part in the 2008 Homerun Derby, so I thought a thread to chat before, during and after the event would be a good idea.
Feel free to start talking about the event whenever, and be sure to catch it on ESPN tomorrow night at 7 CT.
I'll do my best to be in here during it, so please stop by. If you're reading this and haven't signed up, what are you waiting for? It takes just a few quick seconds. After the Homerun Derby is over, I'll hopefully have some video of Justin's day on the front page.
I wonder if he is going to get Brad Radke out of retirement to serve him up some of those nice meatballs he was known to throw towards the end of his career?
Even though his display of "guts" in his last season sure make Lohse "I have a tummy ache" seem like a hypochondriac!
Here is the Derby Order: 1. Dan Uggla 2. Grady Sizemore 3. Evan Longoria 4. Chase Utley 5. Lance Berkman 6. Justin Morneau 7. Ryan Braun 8. Josh Hamilton
And the rules: Opening Round • Each player gets 10 outs to hit as many home runs as possible. • The four players with the most home runs hit in the Opening Round advance to the Semi-Final Round. Semi-Final Round • Home runs totals from the first round will carry over to the second round. • Each player gets 10 outs to hit as many home runs as possible per at bat. • The two players with the most home runs in the Semi-Final Round advance to the Championship Round.
Championship Round • Home runs from the first two rounds do not carry over to the Championship Round; Opening and Semi-Final Round totals are cleared from the board. • Each player gets 10 outs to hit as many home runs as possible. • The player who hits the most home runs in the Championship Round is declared the Home Run Derby champion.
Rules • An out is registered when a player swings at a pitch and does not hit a home run. • A ball hit over the fence must be fair to count as a home run.
I did not like the fact that they downplayed Morneau winning it. Yes, Hamilton was impressive but only for one round. After that, it was the Justin Morneau show. They didnt like it when he won the MVP and now they are saying how he doesnt deserve it. I think he does. Morneau just outbested Hamilton in the end, that is all there is to it.
Also, I'll have all of Morneau's swings from each round and the trophy presentation (where they called him Jason) sometime soon. So far I have the first two rounds done.
I know I might be slightly biased here, but I thought that besides the rudeness of Erin Andrews interviewing Josh Hamilton first at the end of the home run derby, but the media (especially ESPN... yeah, I know, no kidding) made this sound like it was a disaster that Hamilton lost to Morneau at the end.
Instead of praising Morneau for staying focused and not allowing Hamilton's first round performance to distract him or get him down in terms of his chances of winning, they focused too much on the disappointment in Hamilton not completing a Hollywood script. Yes, it's a great feel-good story that Hamilton has beaten the odds of resurrecting his nearly failed career due to drug use, but c'mon. Morneau deserves a little more notoreity than what he got.
Sure, it may be after the fact, but despite what all the talking heads said in their predictions, I truly felt BEFORE the home run derby started that Morneau was going to be the home run derby winner. Once he got to the final round, I knew he still had a good shot. And sure enough, Hamilton did too much too soon and ran out of gas and Morneau eeked out the victory.
