The Big Dumper is a Home Run Derby champion, with a little help from his family.
Seattle Mariners star Cal Raleigh became the first catcher to win the event in its four decades of existence on Monday, edging out Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero in the final 18 to 15. Caminero would have been the youngest Derby champion ever, at 22 years old.
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Raleigh is the second Mariner to win the Derby, joining Ken Griffey Jr. who won it three times. He is also the first switch hitter to win the Derby outright, as Ruben Sierra, the only other switch hitter to win, shared the title in 1998.
The 28-year-old Raleigh did it with his father Todd pitching to him and his 15-year-old brother Todd Jr. catching, turning the Derby into a memorable family affair.
“It means the world,” Raleigh said on the ESPN broadcast. “I could have hit zero home runs and I would have had just as much fun. I just can’t believe we won. It’s unbelievable.”
Raleigh put on a strong showing in the final, but there were moments where it looked like Caminero would catch him. However, Caminero slowed down toward the end of the timed portion, and hit one of only four homers he needed in the bonus round.
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It’s been a dream season and then some for Raleigh so far. He had an MLB-best 38 homers going into the All-Star break and is on pace to not just set a record among catchers or Mariners players. He’s on pace for 64 homers, enough to break Aaron Judge’s American League record of 62, considered by many to be MLB’s clean record.
Winning the Home Run Derby adds to Raleigh’s legend, but his story is nowhere close to over.
Minnesota Twins star Byron Buxton and Pittsburgh Pirates were eliminated by Caminero and Raleigh respectively in the semifinals. Brent Rooker, James Wood, Matt Olson and Jazz Chisholm Jr. were all eliminated in the first round.
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What happens when a homer is robbed in a Home Run Derby? We found out
Had Caminero hit a few more homers in the final, we would have a controversy on our hands. Early in the timed portion of the final round, Caminero hit a ball that looked headed toward the top of the fence, but then one of the kids tasked with catching the non-homers hauled it in.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the ball would have made it, but the umpires opted to give Caminero the homer after reviewing the play during his mid-round timeout.
Oneil Cruz didn’t win, but he had the most memorable dinger of the night
Going into the Derby, the player with the fewest homers of the field had the second-best odds of the field. That was Cruz, who currently sits at 16 home runs on the season.
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The reason why Cruz was so anticipated was his Statcast bona fides. No player in MLB hits the ball as hard as the 6-foot-7 outfielder, and a batting practice environment was the perfect venue to air out that raw power.
Cruz didn’t disappoint. First, he hit the longest homer of the night so far at 488 feet, then crushed one 513 feet.
That tied Aaron Judge for the longest dinger in the last decade of the Home Run Derby, when not counting the absurd numbers from the thin air of Coors Field. Cruz wound up losing to Raleigh in the semifinal, but not before cranking another homer 498 feet and out of the stadium.
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Cal Raleigh survived the first round by an inch
Before the final, Raleigh had to make it out of the first round. That was surprisingly difficult for the MLB home run leader.
Going second-to-last in the eight-player field, Raleigh tried to hit from both sides and finished with 17 homers — 10 from the left side and seven from the right side. That put him into a tie with Rooker.
First-round ties are decided by who had the longest homer, but the rub was both Raleigh and Rooker topped out at 471 feet. It looked like the AL West rivals were headed to a swing-off, but then the exact measurements came in from whichever office was monitoring Statcast.
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Raleigh’s homer: 470.63 feet. Rooker’s homer: 470.53 feet. With a difference of .08 feet, around one inch, Raleigh survived the first round.
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