The Best Home Run Derby Performances
Take a look back at the best performances from the recent staple of All-Star game festivities, the home run derby.
Image via Getty/Photo by Elsa
Despite its current status as a staple in All-Star game festivities, the Home Run Derby is actually a pretty recent phenomenon.
The first Home Run Derby took place in 1985; it wasn’t even televised until 1993. And even then, it was broadcast on tape delay; the Derby wasn’t aired live until 1998. It stands today as one of ESPN’s most popular live events, and perhaps the most widely covered non-game sporting event of the year. 2016’s Derby’s ratings fell to its second-lowest rating since 2008, but in 2017, the event enjoyed its highest ratings in years, with more viewers than the NBA All-Star Game or the NFL Pro-Bowl.
Home runs are way up in baseball over the last two years; there were just 61 hitters with 20-plus home runs in 2015. That number almost doubled last season, to 111, more than were even hit in the late-90s or early-00s. Current MLB heavy hitters like Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Eric Thames, and Joey Gallo, and established stars like Giancarlo Stanton, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, are signs that this trend is likely to continue into the near future, at least.
And even though the Derby doesn’t count for anything—it doesn’t mean much at all, come to think of it—it still is a place where legends are made. The Griffey backwards hat at all of the '90s derbies is probably one of the most iconic looks in baseball history. Josh Hamilton’s Home Run Derby performance in 2008 at Yankee Stadium was the most memorable moment of his career, despite the fact that he won an MVP, played in two World Series, and didn’t even win the Derby. (It was won by Justin Morneau, something many people forget.)
So let’s look back at some of the most memorable moments from past derbies. Here are some of the best performances we've seen.
Sammy Sosa, 2000
“Slammin’ Sammy” hit 243 homers from 1998-2001-- more than Roberto Clemente had in his entire career. So it should have came as a surprise to no one that he would tear up the Derby. Sosa belted a then-record 26 homers out of Turner Field to take home the trophy.
David Ortiz, 2010
One of the most prolific power hitters of his generation, “Big Papi” won his only Home Run Derby in 2010. He hit eight homers in the first round and 13 in the second round, just enough to advance to the finals. In the finals, he out-homered his future teammate Hanley Ramirez 11-5 to take home the title.
Prince Fielder, 2009 and 2012
Fielder won his first Home Run Derby as a Brewer in 2009. In 2012, he came back to win one as a Tiger. Fielder hit many moonshots at Kauffman Stadium that year, and became one of just three players to win the derby three times—and the only one to win it with both leagues, or two teams. It’s a shame his career had to end so early.
Yoenis Cespedes, 2013
The first time Yoenis Cespedes wore orange and blue to play at Citi Field actually didn’t come when he was traded to the Mets in 2015—it came while he was with the A’s in 2013 for the Home Run Derby. Cespedes hit a whopping 17 homers in the first round, and outhomered Bryce Harper 9-8 in a high-octane final to win the Derby. His 32 home runs in the 2013 contest are tied for the fifth-most in derby history. What makes this even more impressive is that Citi Field is a notoriously pitcher-friendly-park. Cespedes repeated as champion in 2014 at Target Field in Minnesota, joining Ken Griffey Jr. as the only other player to repeat. His 2013 derby remains the only time that somebody who wasn’t an All-Star the year the Derby was played won the title.
Robinson Cano, 2011
Second base is not a position historically known for its slugging prowess.
But Robinson Cano is unlike any second baseman in the history of the game. He already has the fourth-most home runs of any player at that position in baseball history—and he’s only 34. So it should serve as no surprise that Cano became the first second baseman since Ryne Sandberg 1990 to win the Home Run Derby. He dominated the competition in Arizona with 32 home runs. His had his father pitch to him, and together they became the first father-son combo to win a Home Run Derby.
The next year, however, the elder Cano got his revenge. Robinson hit just four homers in the first round, and failed to advance beyond that.
Ken Griffey Jr., 1994, 1998 and 1999
The sweet swing. The backwards hat. The infectious personality. Every 90’s kid who owned a Wiffle ball bat used to turn their cap backwards and pretend to be Ken Griffey Jr. in the backyard. The backwards hat stands as one of the most iconic images of 90’s baseball. Many fans—and websites—actually wanted to see Griffey wearing a backwards cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. It resonated so much that Nike even made this image its “Swingman” logo.
Griffey represented everything right about baseball in the 90s, and was able to amplify this in every Home Run Derby he participated in. “Junior” participated in the contest eight times from 1990-2000, and won in 1994, 1998, and 1999. He nearly won it a fourth time at Camden Yards in 1993, but lost narrowly to Juan Gonzalez-- but Griffey still made memories in the process. Griffey hit the warehouse just past the right field seats in Camden Yards, in one of the longest homers in derby history.
Todd Frazier, 2015
The Reds finished the 2015 season with 98 losses—the second-most in all of baseball. Their fans have not had much to smile about since the team last made the playoffs in 2013. 2015’s Home Run Derby in Cincinnati, however, remains perhaps the lone exception in this dreary era. Todd Frazier represented the Reds in the Derby, and put on quite the show from start to finish. He did not lose steam as the night went on—he hit 14 homers in round one, 10 in round two and 15 in round three. His 39 total home runs tied Joc Pederson—who also competed in this Derby—for the second-most in Home Run Derby history. Frazier just barely edged Pederson 15-14 in the final round to take home the title, as he became just the second player to ever win at home.
Bobby Abreu, 2005
When Bobby Abreu came to the plate for the 2005 Home Run Derby, the all-time record for Derby home runs was 28. Abreu hit 24—and that was just in the first round. He went on to hit six in the second round and 11 in the first round for a grand total of 41 home runs. This still stands as the Home Run Derby record. While Abreu came into the derby as one of the game’s better power hitters, he never hit for as much power after winning it all. He hit 184 home runs before winning the Home Run Derby, and just 104 after.
Giancarlo Stanton, 2016
Stanton has more raw power than perhaps anyone in baseball history, so it should come as a surprise to no one that he put on an absolute show in the Derby last season. Thanks in part to a revamped format, using time instead of outs, Stanton set a new derby record for most homers in one event with 61 homers-- beating Todd Frazier’s record by 19.
It would be a pleasure to have him in the Derby again this season, because we know there are many a tape-measure shot ahead for Stanton.
Josh Hamilton, 2008
Josh Hamilton’s rise from drug-addicted draft bust to All-Star outfielder was one of the most chronicled stories of the 2008 MLB season. “The Natural,” who was out of professional baseball from 2004-2006, surprised the baseball world the first half of the season with 95 RBIs at the All-Star break. When it came time for the Home Run Derby at the old Yankee Stadium-- in its final year of existence-- Hamilton almost brought the house down a few months early. He set a single-round-record with 28 homers in the first round, with several going over 500 feet. Hamilton was embraced by the Bronx faithful as perhaps no road player in the Stadium’s 85-year history had ever been.
Tape measure shot after tape measure shot, Hamilton just missed hitting the ball out of Yankee Stadium on several occasions. Not since the days of Babe Ruth had that kind of power been seen in Yankee Stadium. This stands as probably the most memorable derby performance of all-time; the display of power, the story behind it and the last year at Yankee Stadium made this a truly iconic moment in the annals of sports history.
But many people don’t remember that Hamilton actually didn’t win this derby. That title went to Justin Morneau, who out-homered Hamilton 5-3 in the finals. Still though, his first-round performance was great enough to give him the No. 1 spot on any Home Run Derby list.