Home Run Derby

[twelvegage]

Anybody watching this? Josh Hamilton is absolutely amazing. If you haven't heard about him, I'd suggest googling him. He's truly an inspiration, and it's just awesome to see someone of such high character as him do as well as he's doing this year.

I was also rooting for Lance Berkman (Astros), but looks like he's out now in the 2nd round.

It's on ESPN if you're interested. Hamilton set the record for most homeruns in a single round with 28. That's right, 28 homeruns. Out of 38 swings he took, 28 of them went over the fence, most of them WAY over. He hit a few of them over 500 feet. AMAZING!

[JEFF4i]

500 Feet. I can go past that with my 6 iron.

[mddubya]

Oh lord, I can see where this is going. Here we go again with the golf ball / baseball bat discusion again.

[Eracer]

Yawn.........

[eclark53520]

I watched it...well, through the second round anyway...hamilton took all three of the longest hits 518,504,502 or maybe it was 516...not sure...

I'm not a big fan of home run derby's but it was pretty much the only thing worth wasting my time on the TV for last night.

[Irish]

Originally Posted by twelvegage

Anybody watching this? Josh Hamilton is absolutely amazing. If you haven't heard about him, I'd suggest googling him. He's truly an inspiration, and it's just awesome to see someone of such high character as him do as well as he's doing this year.
!

I don't see why he's such an inspiration...first draft pick in 99' blows all his talents on drugs and booze... then realises he's going broke and gets his sh1t together....what a role model... I'd love for my kids to grow up like him

[Dave Ireland]

Is this baseball's equivalent of a long drive competition ? ...

[warbirdlover]

Yup.

It originated in the late 1950's show "home run derby" which (as a kid) I used to watch every week. They'd have Ernie Banks vs. Willy Mays and others were Hank Aaron, Micky Mantle and all the top home run hitters of that era. It was one of my favorite shows.

[sandwedge]

That was a very impressive performance by Hamilton last night.

[CosmosMpower]

They should give them aluminum bats and use fresh tennis balls. Now THAT would be entertaining. I'd love to see the ball speed off the bat with that combo.

[usa1950]

No way you can hit a tennis ball 500 feet with an aluminum bat......

[Dusty90]

Originally Posted by usa1950

No way you can hit a tennis ball 500 feet with an aluminum bat......

True, but as Hamilton was hitting in the first round I was thinking... It would cool to see him hit with an aluminum bat to see if he could manage to hit ine completly out of the park.

[usa1950]

Originally Posted by Dusty90

True, but as Hamilton was hitting in the first round I was thinking... It would cool to see him hit with an aluminum bat to see if he could manage to hit ine completly out of the park.

Well.... I could hit one out of Yankee Stadium if you let me hit it... walk out to it, pick it up and hit it again.

[Dave Ireland]

On a related note .... I've read in the papers here in Ireland of the impending closure of Yankee Stadium for pastures new. I always have a conflict of emotions when such things occur, the nostalgia - in yer case, watching the likes of Di Maggio, Mantle, Ruth etc and other legends of the game in The house that Ruth built. Then you look at the state of the art stadiums built to replace them, where luxury and comfort begin to offset the nostalgia.....

Another snippet I read this morning was that Barry Bonds can't find a team for next season .. has the guy become a pariah (ahem OJ) of the baseball world ?

[VtDivot]

Originally Posted by Irish

I don't see why he's such an inspiration...first draft pick in 99' blows all his talents on drugs and booze... then realises he's going broke and gets his sh1t together....what a role model... I'd love for my kids to grow up like him

My thoughts exactly. The guy is a loser.