Giancarlo Stanton flew across the country Sunday night with one goal in mind – win the Home Run Derby.
Advertisement
He showed why Monday night as he not only won the whole thing but set a Derby record with an absurd 61 total home runs, the same number that stood for decades as Roger Maris’ single-season record. He had even less of a chance once Stanton bombed 20 homers in the final round, leaving a tired Frazier, who’d been playing catch-up the entire derby, a mere four minutes to hit 21 homers. That hot streak included his longest home run of the night, a 452-foot shot, according to Statcast.
Stanton is easily one of the most feared hitters in the game, and despite not making the All-Star team for the first time since 2013, he found a way to make his presence known. Stanton, who warmed up by having five homers in his last five games in the first half to wind up with 20, has fanned 107 times in 279 at-bats and is hitting.233.
Many were using the Western Metal Supply Co. building as their target, doing a good of that, like the Warehouse at Baltimore’s Camden Yards and McCovey Cove outside the park in San Francisco. But Stanton consistently hit bombs to center and left-center that went much farther.
Stanton had a stunning 26 homers in his first duel with Seattle slugger Robinson Cano to easily move on.
Last night Marlins outfielder won the MLB All Star Weekend Home Run Derby.
Stanton can defend his title next year when the Miami Marlins host the 2017 MLB All-Star game.
“With him, I had to wait until the clock hit zero [to know if he was beaten] because he had that comeback previous year and he knows the format more than any of us”.
Stanton’s longest shot was estimated at 497 feet. Most points when time runs out wins the round. His new hitting coach is the king of home runs Barry Bonds.
For Stanton it happened just a little bit more frequently than his competitors.
Advertisement
Shine returned the favor in complimenting Stanton. Nicknamed for the Herculean home run hitter (“The House that Ruth Built”), the right field seats were in danger because of the long balls exploding off the bat of Josh Hamilton.
