The Home Run Derby is Boring

By Billy Z
 Growing up I always liked the Home Run Derby; maybe that’s why I am so disappointed. 

            Watching the Home Run Derby this year started off by putting a bad taste in my mouth.  Major League Baseball struck out by attempting to reach out to a younger demographic when choosing rapper Pitbull.  Pitbull performed one song to a crowd that seemed passive about the performance.  Pitbull was a reach for baseball, something like Mariano Rivera singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, could have been something memorable that would have fired up the crowd just as much.  Missed opportunity.

            After the Pitbull flop, I hoped for some action.  During the first two batters I was not impressed.  Yoenis Cespedes put on the only exciting performance in the first round when he hit 17 home runs.  Other than that the only thing keeping my attention was Bryan Harper’s mustache.

            The All-Star players watching seemed bored while the first round dragged on for an hour and 40 minutes.  Only one player in the first round (Cespedes) hit more than 8 home runs.  To make matters worse for the home crowd, both New York players, Robinson Cano (NYY) and David Wright (Mets), were eliminated in the first round.    

            The second round proved to be more of the same.  Cespedes huge performance in the first round meant that he would take it easy in the second round. Another dragging round, filled with players taking breaks mid-performance, was briefly spiced up when Cespedes hit the truck in center field and broke a window. 

            In the final round, like clockwork Bryce Harper hit only 8 home runs.  Cespedes hit 9 home runs and only used 5 outs. It wasn’t even close.

            I understand that the players in the derby do not want to hurt themselves, or ruin their swing.  I also understand that hitting 8 home runs in 10 outs is pretty impressive, but where is the competition?!  Why should I watch this?  I would rather watch Joey Chesnut shove 69 hotdogs in his mouth than watch what is supposed to be one of the most exciting events in baseball.

            Oh and did I mention that the guy who won the derby, Yoenis Cespedis is not even an All-Star this year?  The Home Run Derby coverage lasted from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM, that is three hours of glorified batting practice.  Unless I am there and have a chance at catching a ball, I will never watch another Home Run Derby.

Home Run Derby Statistics

The Line Up

American League

Prince Fielder- Detroit Tigers

Yoenis Cespedes- Oakland Athletics

Chris “Crush” Davis- Baltimore Orioles

 Robinson Cano- New York Yankees

National League

Michael Cuddyer-Colorado Rockies

Pedro Alvarez-Pittsburgh Pirates

Bryce Harper-Washington Nationals

David Wright-New York Mets

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1^st Round

Prince Fielder-1,2,X,X,3,X,X,X,X,4,X,X,X,5,X                                                             Total-5

Michael Cuddyer-X,1,2,X,X,X,X,X,3,X,X,4,5,X,6,7,X                                    Total-7

Yoenis Cespedes-X,X,1,2,3,4,X,5,X,6,7,8,9,X,10,11,12,13,X,14,X,15,X,16,17,X,X Total-17

Pedro Alvarez-X,X,X,X,1,X,2,X,3,4,X,5,X,6,X,X                                                Total-6

Chris Davis-X,1,X,X,X,2,3,4,5,6,X,7,8,X,X,X,X,X                                                Total-8

Bryce Harper-1,X,2,X,3,X,4,5,X,X,X,6,7,X,8,X,X,X                                    Total-8

Robinson Cano-X,X,1,2,X,3,X,X,X,4,X,X,X,X                                                            Total-4

David Wright-X,1,X,2,X,X,X,3,4,5,X,X,X,X,X                                                            Total-5

9:40-10:25

2^nd Round

Michael Cuddyer-1,2,X,X,X,3,X,X,X,X,4,5,6,X,7,X,8,                                                Total-15

Chris Davis-X,1,X,X,X,2,3,X,X,X,4,X,X,X                                                            Total-12

Bryce Harper-X,X,1,2,3,4,5,X,X,X,6,7,X,8,X,X,X,X                                    Total-16

Yoenis Cespedes-1,X,X,X,X,X,2,X,3,X,4,5,X,X,6,X                                    Total-23

Final Round

Bryce Harper-1,2,3,X,X,X,4,X,5,X,6,X,X,7,8,X,X,X                                    Round: 8 Overall:24

Yoenis Cespedes-1,X,2,X,X,3,4,5,X,6,X,7,8,9                                                Round:9 Overall:32

Winner Yoenis Cespedes

Best plays from the 2012 football season

ONLY 45 MORE DAYS!
As the college football off-season drags on, I found myself browsing YouTube and reminiscing about the great plays from last college football season.  I will never get tired of watching  Jadeveon Clowney's huge hit from the Outback Bowl and watching Duke beat UNC to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1994 was my favorite moment.  So I decided to dedicate a post to the hard hitting, high flying, incredible plays of the 2012-2013 college football season.

Quarterbacks:
Okay here it goes, the Johnny Football highlight reel, 'bama fans beware!

The fact that Manziel was able to do this against the best team in the country last year is incredible, the fact that he did it as a freshman is amazing!  Now, you gotta give most of the credit to his offensive line on this play, but like the announcers say, you can't team that kind of stuff.

Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez runs away from basically the whole Wisconsin team on this run, it's safe to say that's not exactly how coach drew that one up.

That guy has some speed, but I would be running just as fast if that defensive lineman broke through the line the way he did.

The quarterback who was the most fun to watch last season had to be Michigan's Denard Robinson, who reminded me a little of Michael Vick.  Okay, maybe thats a stretch, but he was still fun to watch!

I understand that this play was against Air Force who isn't exactly a football powerhouse, but Robinson makes it look like he's playing in a Pop Warner game.


This play is one of the reasons why college football is so great, Miami had to go 62 yards in 32 seconds, and didn't even take that long!  Stephen Morris side-steps some defenders and takes a big hit but delivers a perfect pass.


Geno Smith was another guy that was fun to watch last season, one game in particular.  He is the reason why I am cheating on my own blog and including this highlight from the WVU vs Baylor game, Geno Smith passed for 8 touchdowns and 656 yards...IN ONE GAME!

This has to be one of the greatest passing performances ever.  Now the Jets are hoping he can do the same kind of thing for them.

Running Backs:

Donnell Kirkwood loses his helmet decal on this big hit, both players pop right back up after the hit, which makes the video that much better.

Please excuse the ehm, "awesome" music that goes along with the video.  I always find the music people use in college football videos to be funny for some reason.

I'm including this one with the running backs because the guy who finished the hook-and-lateral is a Brandon Murie, who is the UB running back.  I have to link this one too because I think I might have reached a limit or something for the videos on one page. 



Wide Recievers:

Devin Smith, the Ohio State sophomore (at the time) had this one handed catch against Miami (OH).

This was one of the top catches of last year, if you pause the video at 28 seconds it shows how much Smith contorts his body to be able to catch this ball.  We'll see if Smith can continue his acrobatic catches during his junior year.

Damiere Byrd was severely under-thrown on this play, and the reason why I'm posting it is because of how easily he rips the ball out of the Georgia defensive back's hands.

He saves what clearly would have been an interception, and he was only a sophomore, this makes the second sophomore in a row to make the wide receiver highlight list, I can't wait for this year.

Last year started off by hearing a lot about Geno Smith and West Virginia, it was in this game with Baylor that I knew West Virginia couldn't be a top 10 team in the country because all they had was offense.  However, J.D. Woods make a crazy catch in this game. For some reason I can't post the video below so I'm going to have to link it, sorry!

Not sure if this one belongs here or in the worst plays of 2012 section for the bad tackling by Ohio State, but Michigan State's Keith Mumphrey miraculously does'nt get tackled on this play and stumbles into the end zone!

When I  watch this I just kind of wonder how none of the OSU players tackled the kid, they still teach that in football right?

Special Teams:

Is it really any surprise that the special teams section is highlighted by some Beamer Ball?  Even though Pitt upset then number 13 ranked Virginia Tech last year, Frank Beamer showed that there is still a strong emphasis on special teams in Blacksburg.

Even though Virginia Tech didn't block the kick, Kyshoen Jarrett returned a 94-yard kick for a touchdown (with only a little help from his blockers). 


Okay so maybe this is another homer pick, but give me a break!  79 yard punt?!

Duke's redshirt freshman punter Will Monday booted a 79 yard punt that rolled a good amount, but still landed on the 21 yard line in the air!  

Kent State is not a team that we usually hear of from the media, but the pure speed of this kickoff return by Dri Archer made my jaw drop.

Somebody clock this kid's 40 time! (I looked it up and most sites have him in the 4.3 range) Look out for this kid in the NFL because someone has to be able to use that speed!

I apologize in advance for this video being such bad quality and so short, but I had to include this punt block.  UTEP has basically their whole team in the backfield to block this punt against Oklahoma!  I don't know what the Sooners were thinking, but great punt block by UTEP.

This was the touchdown (and the only points) scored by UTEP in this game, OU won 24-7.

The special teams section was the most fun to do, which surprised me, but this is one of those head scratcher plays that worked.  It's not the prettiest thing, but its a great play nonetheless.

The fake was on the road and in the first quarter, when most coaches would have been plenty happy with three more points on the road.  Dabo Swinney decided a little trickery was exactly what the Tigers needed.


Defense:

The wackiest interception I have ever seen belongs to Darren Thellen and Tom Brandt.  I started to type out what happens then decided you should just watch the video.

UMass went on to lose the game, but whatever who cares, this interception was worth it....right?  Moral Victory.

DJ Swearingermakes this huge hit on Andre Ellington, this is a great play, too bad he celebrates and gets a flag for it.

There must be something in the water down there in South Carolina because their defense is all about the big hits!

Matt Elam makes a terrible mistake on this play, as pointed out by the announcers, but then recovers and makes a great play that saves his butt. I had to link this video for some reason...I blame YouTube, but you should still check it out.