MLB had an unconventional idea going into this year’s Home Run Derby: What about fewer homers?
It was counterintuitive, but made some amount of sense. The last decade of Home Run Derbies have revolved around a clock-based system, in which players were given some amount of time to hit as many homers as humanly possible, unleashing frantic swing after frantic swing.
That system had been an adjustment from a previous “outs” system that frustrated fans with a slow pace and frequently taken balls, but warts started emerging with the clock after an initially warm reception. The timing became complicated (30 seconds of bonus time if you hit two homers more than 440 feet!), players were visibly gassed in the final and the broadcast couldn’t keep up with the homers, frequently having to catch fly ball midway through the air on consecutive homers.
So MLB went back to something closely resembling the old system. Each player got 20 “swings” in the first round, no matter how many of them are homers, and 15 in the other two rounds. Every swing matters, especially at the end when players can keep homering as long as they don’t make an out on the final swing.
Thanks to St. Louis Cardinals slugger Jordan Walker, it paid off handsomely.
Last year’s Home Run Derby saw three different players top 20 homers in the first round. This year, the high was 13. Last year’s champion Cal Raleigh hit 54 total across three rounds. Walker hit 31.
What was truly different, however, was the suspense. It was a system without a clock, where the game has to come to you. You know, like ordinary baseball.
The early returns were somewhat weak, but the endings of the first two rounds showed the benefits of players having a fixed amount of swings, plus however many homers they could manage once down to their final swing.
The Philadelphia Phillies had two All-Stars ready to play the local hero — Kyle Schwarber and a very amped Bryce Harper — and fate conspired to pit the two against each other. They were the last two out and once Schwarber was done, he was on the hot seat with 10 homers.
Philadelphia would get one, and only one, player in the semifinals. It got Schwarber, as Harper managed only eight long balls.
Schwarber’s time in the semifinal was dramatic as well, as he posted nine homers then had to watch Willson Contreras, the top performer of the first round, attempt to silence a hostile Philadelphia crowd. Contreras came up one short, sending Schwarber to the final.
Once there, Schwarber appeared primed to win the whole thing. In the span of 16 swings — 15 normal ones plus a bonus swing — Schwarber crushed 11 homers. That included one off the dreaded magenta ball, the special baseball MLB introduced for a player’s final swing(s) to provide some pop.
Before the final, there were conspicuously few magenta homers, with the Netflix stream openly speculating players were having trouble scanning it through their air compared to a normal baseball.
Philadelphia was already celebrating the win — with Harper declaring “It’s over” as Schwarber went through the motions.
All that was left was Walker needing to hit a supermajority of 15-plus balls over the fence. It appeared to be an impossible task when Walker had only six homers while down to his last three guaranteed swings. To win, he would need to take the magenta path.
The following three minutes were more thrilling than anything the Derby managed with a clock. Six straight homers, the broadcast booth louder and Phillies fans quieter with every blast. Walker got all the time he needed, and he used it to become the world authority on hitting magenta balls.
At some point, MLB will tinker with the Home Run Derby again. That’s proven inevitable with every pre-All-Star event in sports, with leagues trying to punch up dunk contests and skills competitions. Fans get bored, networks get antsy. Maybe we’ll see the clock again once players get too selective at the plate.
For now, though, the league can at least enjoy the fruits of an organic spectacle. No clock, just a man coming up clutch.
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