The MLB All-Star Game has been preceded by a home run derby, now officially called the 2012 State Farm Home Run Derby, in a variety of forms since its introduction in 1985 and while I only occasionally watch it, I am always interested in the lineup.
The contest is pretty basic; there are two four man teams, one representing the National League and one the American League. Each player gets ten outs per round with a total of three rounds. Any swing that is not a home run is an out and the top four from the first round advance to the second.
If there is a tie there is a five swing playoff to see who advances. The combined totals of the first and second round determine which two players make it to the third round, but in the final round it is only home runs hit in that round that count for the crown.
This year the National League team is captained by the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp and will include three first time participants, the Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez, the Cardinals’ Carlos Beltran and the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton. The career home run totals for the players are interesting to look at, with Beltran leading with 322 followed by Kemp’s 140, Gonzalez’ 94 and then Stanton’s 75.
For the American League the team is lead by Yankee Robinson Cano and includes the Angles’ Mark Trumbo, Detroits’ Prince Fielder and Toronto’s Jose Bautista. The AL team seems to have the advantage I terms of career home runs with 164, 49, 232 and 182 respectively. It also has two past winners of the competition in Cano and Fielder. The event will be played at Kansas City Royal’s Kauffman Stadium on Monday July 9, and will be telecast by ESPN at 8 pm ET.
In my mind this is the highlight of the pre-All-Star events but there are a number of other events taking place including a All-Star Futures game with up and coming prospects and a Legends & Celebrities softball game.
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