Game Logs

2011 Home Run Derby: WOOO AL EAST

73 Comments

Tonight, the AL East takes on the NL Central plus Matt Kemp. Chase is a home run park, so just how long will this thing take? How long will it take for me to remember that these get annoying after a while? Will one of the very few dudes I like actually pull it off?

Anyway, for those following along, let's endure Berman together. For those who aren't, I'll put up the home run totals here, 'cause why not?

Round One

Adrian Gonzalez 9
Matt Holliday 5 (2)
Robinson Cano 8
Rickie Weeks 3
Jose Bautista 4
Matt Kemp 2
David Ortiz 5 (4)
Prince Fielder 5 (5)

Round Two

David Ortiz 5+4 = 9
Robinson Cano 8+12 = 20
Adrian Gonzalez 9+11 = 20
Prince Fielder 5+4 = 9

FINALS

Adrian Gonzalez 11
Robinson Cano 12

73 thoughts on “2011 Home Run Derby: WOOO AL EAST”

  1. Berman's the reason I came on here for this. If I have to listen to the d-bag, I might as well register my disgust online.

  2. Berman picked Adrian Gonzalez because of his high batting average.

    For years and years Berman has had this gig. He still doesn't understand what he's seeing.

    1. Gross. I was in the kitchen making dinner during that, fortunately.

      In all the years Berman's been doing this, I still don't understand why.

  3. This is ridiculous of me, but it bothers the crap out of me when the kids all run toward the ball, then back off to avoid catching it at the last second out of fear. If you won't catch it, get off the field, or at least take off your glove.

  4. I might put this on ESPN3 and keep the sound off as a secondary point of interest, but whatever's on the big TV will not be the HRD.

  5. Berman: "[Holliday] has been in a couple of these, so he knows what to look for."

    Me: "He also knows because of the thousands and thousands of baseballs he's had pitched to him in his life."

            1. I think its starting to come back to me. Wasn't it the State Farm guy presenting the giant check for charity?

  10. That was about the most unenthusiastic "yeah!" I've ever heard from Fielder on Week's home run there.

          1. At least I'll still have the image of him trying to give his teammates time to "hold him back" in that "fight" the other day.

  18. Oh good, Buster Olney is there. And he's talking to a Red Sock! Quite a surprise, that.

  20. Well, I think I'm starting to get a bit bored of the HR Derby. I think they need to make some drastic change one of these years.

    1. It's just such a repetitive thing. Certainly, you couldn't hold interest for more than one in a year.

      For me, the potential fun here is the greatest players getting loose and speaking candidly.

      1. Having the single most repetitive commentator in history doesn't help, either.

    2. Just give home field advantage for the divisional and championship series' to the winning division! Then, it'll count!

      1. That's so hilariously absurd that I'm expecting it rather than simply dreading it.

      1. In much less impressive fashion than the others. Yes! And send out a press release about the player's impending win the day before.

    1. Gonzalez is pretty good at baseball. I can't believe how (relatively) little the Red Sox gave up to trade for him.

      1. Remember, they were only trading for a single year. He was signed cheaply, but not that cheaply.

        1. It felt like a trade & sign type deal, even though the extension wasn't official until the season started, so I think the two pieces kind of blur together in my head.

  23. Are you kidding me? 429 to dead center when it's 50 feet above the wall? How can home run trackers be so insanely off?

    1. Cano is one of the few Yankees I don't completely hate, so there's that at least. I'm glad it wasn't Doucheira.

      1. Gawd, yes. I actually like Cano a little...a middle infielder that's an on-base machine with some power? It's just a whole lot to ask of me.

        Teixiera, though...screw that guy.

    2. And whoever designed those butt-ugly togs should be shown the door. Sub-NASCAR/NFL designs.

      (Also, wasn't Cano's name in play for Santana when we were shopping him around? I'd do it straight up, homey.)

      1. Cano, Hughes, Joba and Melky were all tossed around in various pitches. I was really hoping for that, although I wanted no particular part of Santana being a Yankee. I wonder if that got into Terry Ryan's head a little.

        As for the laundry, I meant the Yankee/Red Sox thing, but these unis really are disgusting. Every year they outdo themselves with those abominations.

        1. I know the whole "root for laundry" bit, but I was flat out disgusted by those hideous designs when I tried to watch some of the Futures game. Black lettering on a blood red jersey? Kill me.

  27. Well, much boredom was peppered throughout, but Cano vs. Gonzalez was a pretty cool story, with them finishing within one jacked donger of one another in every round (although Cano still had four outs left in the final round).

  28. Imagine how many dingers would have been hit had they used metal bats.

  29. I missed part of the rules: what did the AL win?
    Was the "teams" thing just for the first round?

    CER will be happy that it was Cano. I said his name and she asked "Like Robinson Crusoe?" I said, like that, but he's actually named after a famous player Jackie Robinson, and she remembered that he was one of the curtains above the cheap seats in the Metrodome.

    Anyone know a good 6-8 year-old level book about Jackie Robinson? I did a poor job explaining his relevance, and the racist society that he came from, and why he was important more than the owner/GM that added him to the roster. (Probably b/c I've never read much about him.)

    1. The AL won $150,000 for a charity chosen by Ortiz, I think.

      Edit: You've never read about Jackie?!

      I can't remember any titles at the time, so beyond pointing you at one of the Ken Burns Baseball innings, I have no specifics. There are Jackie books at every level, though.

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