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Prince Fielder Rickie Weeks Matt Kemp Matt Holliday |
David Ortiz Adrian Gonzalez Jose Bautista Robinson Cano |
I have a big issues with this. First of all, both captains picked players from their own team. That is ridiculous and should not have been allowed. There are only 8 players in this derby, they should have 8 different teams represented, isn't that a no-brainer? Secondly, Rickie Weeks? Come on.
Since I ripped the current system, I find it appropriate for me to tell you all what I would do if it were up to me.
The best way to do it would probably to base it off what you see in batting practice, since that is basically what the home run derby is. The guys who can hit the ball the furthest and over the fence most often in BP will probably be the best contestants for the derby. However, I don't think anybody is out there tracking home runs during batting practice, plus the hitters are more worried about getting loose and feeling comfortable rather than hitting as many home runs as possible when warming up for the game, so that kind of takes that possibility completely out.
So here's what I'd do.
Take every player with 10 or more home runs, and start collecting some data. Find each player's average home run distance. The 4 top averages from each league go to the home run derby. Sure, to win the derby it doesn't matter how far you hit them, just how many you can hit, but there's no doubt in my mind that the most entertaining derby's to watch are the ones with guys hitting the ball a long, long way. There's something about watching guys stretch the limits of where you've seen balls hit before that really gets you excited.
So if we put that system into place, and tweak it a little for the fan's sake, your "Mc" Effect home run derby would look like this, with each player's total and average HR distance listed:
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Justin Upton - 15 HR - 425 feet Mike Stanton - 18 HR - 414 feet Matt Kemp - 22 HR - 411 feet Prince Fielder - 22 HR - 408 feet |
Mitch Moreland - 11 HR - 422 feet Nelson Cruz - 20 HR - 415 feet Jose Bautista - 29 HR - 399 feet Mark Trumbo - 13 HR - 410 feet |
To me it's an absolute joke that Justin Upton isn't in it. He has the longest average home run distance for anybody with more than 10 home runs, and the derby is at his home ballpark. How do you not pick him? It's unacceptable. If you don't agree, watch this video, maybe it'll change your mind. That's the second furthest home run hit in a game this year, second to this Prince Fielder blast.
You wanna know another joke? Mike Stanton isn't in the game. This guy has hit some of the furthest balls I've seen hit in a long time. He's hit 18 home runs this year, and 15 of them have been 400 feet or longer. Here's his longest fair ball this year. The Marlins outfielder also hit one of the furthest balls I've ever seen just foul, going 15 or so rows up in the upper deck of Sun Life Stadium, a mammoth shot.
My American League picks are kind of shaky, with Moreland and Trumbo only have 11 and 13 home runs respectively, but when they hit them they aren't cheap. Two Moreland shots I've seen are good enough for me to put him in the derby. Check out this one in Texas and this one in Tampa Bay.
Trumbo is a rookie for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but he is hitting the ball further than almost everybody. Here's his best work.
Jose Bautista hasn't been hitting wowing home runs, but he has 29 of them and was the league leader last year, so you really can't justify leaving him out.
I know most people are going to disagree with me here, but this is what I want to see from the home run derby. I don't want to see Rickie Weeks, who has had one season of 20 or more home runs and isn't even averaging 400 feet per homer this year. There are a lot of guys more deserving, and letting players choose this stuff is flat out stupid. Leave a comment or tweet me @McEffect and tell me what you think.