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.
