OC Register: Joc Pederson, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. steal show with epic duel in Home Run Derby

[AngelsWin.com]

CLEVELAND — Joc Pederson was on the wrong end of a duel that will go down as one of the classics in Home Run Derby history.

The Dodgers outfielder/first baseman and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. engaged in a heavyweight slugfest, requiring three extra rounds before the Toronto Blue Jays rookie third baseman won the semifinal match by a single homer on Monday night.

Guerrero, perhaps exhausted on a night when he finished with 91 homers, then lost to New York Mets rookie Pete Alonso in the final 22-21.

“It’s pretty exhausting but it’s all worth it,” Pederson said moments after his 39-homer performance came up one short of Guerrero. “It was a lot of fun. It’s exciting. That’s why you sign up for it. It was fun to compete out there.”

Although Alonso won, he still tipped his cap to the show put on by Pederson and Guerrero: “That was elite hitting. That was some of the best BP I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if we’re ever going to see that again.”

This year’s Home Run Derby has the added incentive of a $1 million prize for the winner, and Guerrero and Pederson clearly were giving it their best shot, and electrifying the Progressive Field crowd along the way.

Guerrero had set a Derby record with 29 homers in his first-round victory over Matt Chapman, while Peterson outhomered Alex Bregman 21-18 to advance.

Then, it got really entertaining.

Guerrero went first, blasting another 29 homers in the 4-minute time limit, plus 30-second bonus time for sending two balls more than 440 feet, once again surpassing the record of 28 set by Josh Hamilton in 2008. Hamilton set the mark during the old “10 outs” format, so he had 38 swings, compared to Guerrero’s 48.

Pederson then stepped into the box and began steadily ripping pitches from Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel into the right field seats. He closed in on Guerrero, finally tying him with seconds to go. Pederson had time for one last swing to win it, but he came up just short.

In the first 60-second tie-breaker round, Guerrero hit eight more homers. Peterson tied him, dropping his a drive into the first row with his last swing, as the crowd erupted.

The competition then moved to three-swing tie-breakers. Each player hit one homer with his first three swings, with Pederson pulling one just foul with his final swing.

In the next round, Guerrero hit homers with his first two swings before coming up short.

Pederson then homered on his first swing to stay alive, but his next swing was a foul down the line. Down his last swing and needing to hit one out, Pederson grounded to first base before both players shared an exhausted embrace near home plate as the fellow All-Stars stood and applauded like regular fans.

“It was special,” Pederson said. “He’s got a beautiful swing obviously. It’s fun.”

Before this year’s Derby, only six players had hit 40 home runs in an entire event, much less a single round.

“I feel bad for him,” an exhausted Pederson said after his final swing. “He’s gotta keep hitting; I’m toast.”

While this was Guerrero’s first time competing in a big league Home Run Derby, he had attended the 2007 competition, when his father won as a member of the Angels.

Coincidentally, the man who pitched to Guerrero in that event was Ebel, who was then an Angels coach.

“That was kind of fun for me,” Ebel said. “I went over earlier and gave (Guerrero Jr.) a big hug. I remember him on the sideline jumping up and down and tonight he put on a good show. He’s pretty good. He had the swing back in the day when I saw him in the cages with his dad.”

Pederson was taking his second crack at the event, after finishing as the runner-up to hometown favorite Todd Frazier in 2015 in Cincinnati. Pederson’s 99 combined homers between his two Derby appearances are an all-time record.

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Chapman, a product of El Toro High and Cal State Fullerton, was knocked out in the first round in his inaugural attempt at the Derby.

He watched helplessly as Guerrero hit 29 homers before he even had a chance to swing.

“I wish they would have told me,” said Chapman, a late replacement for Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich. “They set me up. I wish they would have told me ‘You’ll be in the Home Run Derby, but you’ll have to hit 30 bombs.”

Alonso, making the major league minimum of $555,000 this season, is the second rookie to win outright, following Yankees star Aaron Judge in 2017.

Guerrero did hit the longest homer of the night, a 488-foot blast in the second round.

News services contributed to this story.

What. A. Show.#HRDerby pic.twitter.com/zZptKW4WFX

— All-Star Game (@AllStarGame) July 9, 2019

"Let's go Joc!"

Clayton Kershaw's daughter Cali is Team Joc Pederson in the #HRDerby pic.twitter.com/VPQBo4rI9F

— ESPN (@espn) July 9, 2019

Joc Pederson ties Vlad Jr. at the buzzer! pic.twitter.com/VcMfb7sYzV

— ESPN (@espn) July 9, 2019

Can't beat Pete! #HRDerby. pic.twitter.com/BdLNgtP952

— All-Star Game (@AllStarGame) July 9, 2019

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[Tank]

That second round was some of the most fun I’ve seen in one of these contests. Absolutely epic.

[Broad Street]

Joc was robbed in my opinion. Should have been awarded the same amount of rest that Vlad got. 

[Angel Oracle]

Alonso's talent is lost in all of this.    As a rookie, dude can already seemingly take simple swings at pitches on the outer half of the plate and drive them out.

THIRTY HRs already, will threaten the single season rookie record of 50 by Aaron Judge.

He, DeGrom, and Jeff McNeil (LB St. guy, .917 OPS) are making yet another disastrous Mets season somewhat tolerable for their fans.  

[Tank]

11 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Alonso's talent is lost in all of this.    As a rookie, dude can already seemingly take simple swings at pitches on the outer half of the plate and drive them out.

THIRTY HRs already, will threaten the single season rookie record of 50 by Aaron Judge.

It was impressive to me that he was hitting homers to all three fields and not just simply pulling everything.

[T.G.]

I really enjoyed the derby.  Seeing the personalities of the players was a huge plus.  It definitely exceeded my expectations.

[Duren, Duren]

Alonso overall was more impressive in terms of his mindset, preparation and hitting approach. 

Pederson and Vlad have tremendous power, but are primarily pull hitters. Alonso has natural power to all fields and hits the ball with power where it's pitched.

Mind you, this was batting practice stuff, where the intent of the pitcher is the opposite of real game pitching. 

Remember, in league play Vlad has modest numbers. And is a liability on defense. He will get better, but it will take time, and the 'book' on him will eventually be a challenge as teams study him more. 

Contrary to popular opinion, the homerun contest is a silly exercise. Artificially designed without real baseball hitting skills factored in. Might as well hit off a tee, or bring in Boar and other players  with only power who can crush a ball when it's delivered on a platter. 

Fun to watch but more a video game simulation than anything else.

[totdprods]

I thought Acuna was really impressive too. 

[T.G.]

1 hour ago, Duren, Duren said:

Contrary to popular opinion, the homerun contest is a silly exercise. Artificially designed without real baseball hitting skills factored in. Might as well hit off a tee, or bring in Boar and other players  with only power who can crush a ball when it's delivered on a platter. 

Fun to watch but more a video game simulation than anything else.

I haven't seen this as the "popular opinion."  Every fan I talk to sees it as a fun exhibition and nothing more.

No one would tune in to watch players hit off a tee or to see Justin Bour.  Now that idea is really "silly."

And the funny thing is people actually do tune in to watch others play video games now a days... not me - but there is an audience for that.

[Lou]

In my opinion, it's idiotic. 

[Jay]

'idiotic' might be a bit strong...

 

but I didn't watch it.

 

 

[Lou]

no, it's not 

[Blarg]

I enjoyed watching Vlad Jr. swing out of his cleats and most importantly beating a Dodger to advance to the finals. I was at San Francisco Saloon at the time and all the Dodger fans were completely devastated when Joc couldn't hit two of of three homers to tie. Not wanting to be knifed I curbed the urge to say something about the Dodgers choking against the American League.

[Amazing Larry]

The ball is juiced.