Changes in HR derby

[Patrick425]

I know a lot of people just hate this event. I've always gotten a little enjoyment out of watching it. I don't really take it that seriously and I'm not really looking to turn this into a rant-fest for people who despise the HR derby for whatever reason.

 

Sounds like they are putting players on a clock this year instead of 10 outs.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25227589/home-run-derby-format-changed-now-involves-a-clock

 

Interesting concept, but unless they are using a pitching machine (which I always thought they should do), it seems like this would put some pressure on the "pitcher" to throw quickly and be accurate. I guess, if anything, this may force the batters to swing at less than perfect pitches.

[JimH5]

I'm not going to rip it. And I'm not going to watch it.

[trwi7]

HR derby would be a million times better if anyone but Chris Berman was calling it.

[502 to Right]

HR derby would be a million times better if anyone but Chris Berman was calling it.

 

He makes it unwatchable.

[Pugger]

I'm still sorry Stanton won't be in it.

[folly412]

Bring me back my 90's Derby, without the teams and captains, combining scores between rounds, or clocks. I just want Griffey with his backwards hat and a Taco Bell sign promising everyone in America a free taco if someone hits the sign but in an obviously impossible to hit place.

[MrTPlush]

Should be a freshing change and hopefully limit the amount of pitches taken. I love when Fielder won, but man for anyone else it had to be boring. Fielder took so many pitches.

 

Probably with still be boring just shorter...and Berman...he still does it.

[superfly]

I'm still sorry Stanton won't be in it.

 

 

I still can't believe that Stanton put one above my head last year at Target Field...and I was near the top of LF. Incredible.

[MrTPlush]

I'm still sorry Stanton won't be in it.

 

 

I still can't believe that Stanton put one above my head last year at Target Field...and I was near the top of LF. Incredible.

 

Didn't he hit one into the CF section too? Ridiculous

[DHonks]

Have they opened it up for non-all stars? I feel cheated we never saw Russell the Muscle, Jack Cust, and others compete.

[jerichoholicninja]

I haven't watched it in years but anything to make it go faster is a plus. Batters take at least 3 pitches for every swing. I've always wondered why after a batter swings that the pitchers even throw the ball because the batter isn't going to swing for at least 30 seconds. Why waste your arm?

[Pugger]

I'm still sorry Stanton won't be in it.

 

 

I still can't believe that Stanton put one above my head last year at Target Field...and I was near the top of LF. Incredible.

 

Didn't he hit one into the CF section too? Ridiculous

 

In FL we get all of the Marlin games and we watch that team just to see him hit. I think he hit one out of Dodger Stadium earlier this year. He is a stud, no question.

[Patrick425]

Didn't see most of it because I was in the back yard watching storms roll in, but caught most of the semi-finals and the finals and thought the new format worked very well. It was entertaining when the clock was winding down and the guy was 1 or 2 HRs away from his competition. Fraizer's win in front of the home crowd with an HR in the waning seconds was fun to watch.

 

I can't think of a sporting event that I wouldn't watch based solely on who the announcer is. If it's something I enjoy, I could care less if Yoko Ono was announcing. Also, I don't think the HR derby is that easy to announce. There are only so many adjectives and superlatives you can use to describe a baseball flying over a fence.

[tmwiese55]

I thought it worked extremely well and they'll stick with it. Way faster paced and apparently there was significantly more HRs. Plus the eliminations create drama every 10-15 minutes as opposed to just beating a number. I would probably tweak the extra time somehow as it seemed everyone got 30 seconds extra. I don't know how they determine it but I'd shake it up somehow. For example, I thought Prince got a bit robbed because his shots in the first seemed to all be significantly longer other than the line drives than Fraziers, yet they got the same 30 seconds. The hometown guy hitting two last second walk offs really made it entertaining. I think the consensus will be that this was a home run and they'll go this route in the future.

 

I agree Berman is unbearable, not only for this but NFL too. Just have to tune him out and I would agree that HR derby is tough to announce. Could stick some stiff like Joe Buck out there and it wouldn't help, at least Berman is trying to be upbeat. ESPN should just pony up for Gus Johnson.

[dlk9s]

WHOOP!

[CheezWizHed]

The 30 second bonus confused me also... I only caught 1/2 of the semi finals and the finals, so I never heard the explanation of the bonus. Seems more like a mandated timeout.

 

One side effect (which I think is a good thing) is that endurance and stamina are going to play a big part in the winners from now on. Sorry Prince, no more waiting an hour between swings.

 

Tip of the hat to Albert Pujols and the interaction with Joc Pederson's brother (and the interview during Pujols' timeout).

 

And Chris Berman drove me nuts after 5 minutes... ugh, he is annoying. He also needs some help with trajectories... he was wrong on quite a few non-HRs. I think he just went into frenzy mode at the end HR or not...

 

But Frazier's near miss at the end of regulation and final HR on the first pitch of the bonus was a pretty good way to end the competition. Even if I was routing for Joc.

[Patrick425]

I also didn't tune in until the semi's and also found the "bonus time" confusing. It didn't seem like it followed the format described here at all.:

 

https://twitter.com/MLB_PR/status/615245144833544192/photo/1

 

It seemed like it was a 30 second bonus if you hit one (maybe two?) farther than 420 feet (not one minute). I also don't remember seeing the clock stop in the final minute of rounds when a HR was hit. I did like that the pitcher had to wait for the ball to land before making another pitch.

[MadScientist]

It seemed like it was a 30 second bonus if you hit one (maybe two?) farther than 420 feet (not one minute). I also don't remember seeing the clock stop in the final minute of rounds when a HR was hit. I did like that the pitcher had to wait for the ball to land before making another pitch.

 

Ah, that's what the bonus was about. I think it would have been more entertaining if they didn't wait for the balls to land, but there would have been a safety risk for the the kids in the outfield shagging the non-HR's.

[stoutdude04]

I read they were going to change the bonus time rules because they were worried about the weather. Perhaps they did that.

[jerichoholicninja]

I read they were going to change the bonus time rules because they were worried about the weather. Perhaps they did that.

 

Ya. I didn't watch it but read that rules for times and things were shortened because they wanted to get it in before rain came.

[hawing]

I think I'd make the threshold for bonus time longer-distance home runs. Did anyone not get bonus time Monday night?