Well, if you missed the home run derby, you missed what is being hailed as the best single performance ever at a home run derby. In his first round, Josh Hamilton hit 28 home runs, the best first round ever. He was the favorite going into the competition (for the fans, the announcers, and even the other competitors). He was under the 3-round total of 41 homers, hitting only 35, but was still very impressive considering he only took 4 outs in the second round then quit. He went up against the only Canadian in the competition for the final round; Justin Morneau. They were both American Leaguers so either way I was happy. Luckily for Morneau, only the first two rounds are accumulative, so they went into round three tied at zero. After hitting only 5 home runs Morneau left the plate feeling a bit depressed, and the announcers were confident Hamilton had it in the bag. But they were wrong. Hamilton hit only 3 homers, but is still being called a hero. There had been concern that Hamilton would be too tired after his first round, and at the end of the second round (he hit a couple to keep himself and his 71 year old pitcher warm) he was shanking the ball quite nastily. It seems the concern was justified. Congratulations to Morneau, a Canadian from BC on his underdog win. Josh's comments after the competition were full of praise for Hamilton, saying that Hamilton deserved the win, and that he (Morneau) simply got lucky that Hamilton got tired.
I also think it is neat that they have a "gold ball" for charity. After the ninth out (a swing that is not a home run) they use a gold ball and every home run was paying $17,000 for the Variety Boys and Girls Club. Altogether they gave away $170,000. Way to go State Farm and MLB.
Well I think Hamilton put to rest the steroids question, and I guess time will tell if the competition has ruined his swing. Either way it was a competition that will not soon be forgotten.
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I didn't see the whole derby, but I did see the beginning and the final two at-bats. Josh Hamilton giving praise to Jesus Christ caught my attention. It's something you hear fairly often in baseball but I decided to check it out and it seems legit. He has made an amazing comeback from drug addiction and he credits the Lord. Here's just one article of many that tells his story: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/albert_chen/05/27/hamilton0602/index.html
And hey, if we get to that ball game in Minneapolis, we should get to see Justin Mourneau in action.
I have to say that what Josh Hamilton did last night was INSANE!! He is sooo good! I was also impressed when he gave all credit and praise to Jesus! My favorite part of the night was when the announcer for Sportsnet said "It's a bad night to be an atheist!" Excellent comment!
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