2017 EHCC Home Run Derby ExtravaDONGza! Semi-Live Blog
2017 EHCC Home Run Derby ExtravaDONGza! Semi-Live Blog
By: Max Powers
First off, let's meet this year's dong hitters....
By: Max Powers
First off, let's meet this year's dong hitters....
Representing the Eastern Division we have three players hailing from the Bridgewater Weasels. Please put your hands together for Aaron Judge (21), Justin Smoak (18), and Logan Morrison (17). The rookie Judge leads the league with 21 home runs heading into Week 11, and it's not even close. Smoak is currently is a three-way tie for second place in the league with 18 and, along with teammate Morrison, was simply hitting home runs for fun in his back yard before joining the Weasels in mid May. Rounding out the East we have returning champion invitee Adam Duvall (15) and Joey Votto (18) coming out from Las Vegas to join the fun, along with San Fernando Valley's Mike Moustakas (17). Moustakas and Morrison beat out Mark Reynolds and Kris Davis from San Juan for the honor in a tie-breaking footrace through the mountains of Appalachia. It was very boring. Unrepresented this year we have the host team Rakeville, even with the dong master himself Eric Thames watching from the stands, Weymouth, who would have expected to at least see Mike Trout at the plate if not for his first career DL stint, and San Juan, who's players simply didn't hit enough doubles to qualify.
In the other corner, hailing from the Western Division, we have three dong masters from the north, Scott Schebler (18), George Springer (17), and Jay Bruce (16) represent the blue and pink Piglets. Schebler and Bruce were both free agents earlier in the season and now find themselves making a name for themselves on the league smallest stage. Good for them. Rounding out the western representation we go down to Rio de Janeiro where we find Ryan Zimmerman (17) and Yonder Alonso (16) swinging away on behalf of the Cristos. The robots sent in hard hitting Joey Gallo (17) from Tokyo to fill out the 6-man roster, who seems to only hits home runs, when he hits at all that is. Of Gallo's 41 hits, 28 of them were extra base hits. They did come in a total of 202 at bats, and did accompany 286 strikeouts, but who's counting? Should work perfect in this setting, right? Alonso and Bruce beat out Tijuana's Justin Bour for the final spots in an epic three-way rock-paper-scissor match up where Bour tried to make up his own moves with something called "firestorm", and was disqualified. Sad. Looking on with no interest at all in the event will be Santo Domingo, who tied to send Ryon Healy but spelled his name wrong on the application, Dublin, who decided to just cut everyone when they found out no one qualified for the event, and division leading Tijuana, who's GM typically organizes the extravaganza and has been missing for the past 6 weeks. Tragic really.
Rules are simple, top 6 players with most home runs from each division headed into week 11 qualify. The defending HR derby champ is invited back to take the 6th spot of their division team if they aren't in the top 6. Tie breakers come down to Triples, doubles, total hits...and then a bunch of other things that never come into play.
Round 1 included Monday-Wednesday. Top 6 players advance. Stats carry over to Round 2, which takes place Thursday-Friday. Top 3 players move on along with their stats to The final round which tales place Saturday and Sunday. A Champion is crowned after Sunday's conclusion.
Enjoy.
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Monday, June 12 (Round 1, Day 1)
And here we are. Beautiful Rakeville. The home of the Rockets. Unfortunately the "best offense in the league" failed to be represented in their own stadium. The dong-master himself, Eric Thames, is watching the festivities from the owners suite as GM Jack Reed has requested the slugger schmooze the crowd of potential trade partners while they were all in the same room.
In the other corner, hailing from the Western Division, we have three dong masters from the north, Scott Schebler (18), George Springer (17), and Jay Bruce (16) represent the blue and pink Piglets. Schebler and Bruce were both free agents earlier in the season and now find themselves making a name for themselves on the league smallest stage. Good for them. Rounding out the western representation we go down to Rio de Janeiro where we find Ryan Zimmerman (17) and Yonder Alonso (16) swinging away on behalf of the Cristos. The robots sent in hard hitting Joey Gallo (17) from Tokyo to fill out the 6-man roster, who seems to only hits home runs, when he hits at all that is. Of Gallo's 41 hits, 28 of them were extra base hits. They did come in a total of 202 at bats, and did accompany 286 strikeouts, but who's counting? Should work perfect in this setting, right? Alonso and Bruce beat out Tijuana's Justin Bour for the final spots in an epic three-way rock-paper-scissor match up where Bour tried to make up his own moves with something called "firestorm", and was disqualified. Sad. Looking on with no interest at all in the event will be Santo Domingo, who tied to send Ryon Healy but spelled his name wrong on the application, Dublin, who decided to just cut everyone when they found out no one qualified for the event, and division leading Tijuana, who's GM typically organizes the extravaganza and has been missing for the past 6 weeks. Tragic really.
Rules are simple, top 6 players with most home runs from each division headed into week 11 qualify. The defending HR derby champ is invited back to take the 6th spot of their division team if they aren't in the top 6. Tie breakers come down to Triples, doubles, total hits...and then a bunch of other things that never come into play.
Round 1 included Monday-Wednesday. Top 6 players advance. Stats carry over to Round 2, which takes place Thursday-Friday. Top 3 players move on along with their stats to The final round which tales place Saturday and Sunday. A Champion is crowned after Sunday's conclusion.
Enjoy.
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Monday, June 12 (Round 1, Day 1)
And here we are. Beautiful Rakeville. The home of the Rockets. Unfortunately the "best offense in the league" failed to be represented in their own stadium. The dong-master himself, Eric Thames, is watching the festivities from the owners suite as GM Jack Reed has requested the slugger schmooze the crowd of potential trade partners while they were all in the same room.
The first day of the derby is typically a lack luster one, but this year got off to a hot start. To the surprise of no one, rookie sensation Aaron Judge blasted a home run to start things off, ending his day with 2 hits. Defending champion Adam Duvall also chalked up two hits, but only got as far as second base once. Joey Gallo got a hit that didn't result in a home run and the crowd shrieked in disbelief. The hit was a triple however, and could be the difference in any future tie breaker if it comes to that - which it almost always does in the first round. The only other dong belonged to Jay Bruce, who technically has the lead as he added a double to go along with it. Schebler and Votto collected two measly singles each, while Springer might as well joined the rest of the player who decided to boycott the event as he couldn't muster up any hits. Justin Smoak, Logan Morrison, Mike Moustakas, Ryan Zimmerman, and Yonder Alonso were found at a nearby basketball court playing the Rakeville Crows starting five in a pickup basketball game as a crowd of onlookers exchanged dollar bets. Maybe Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were missing due to another engagement on the west coast, so they made due with Ricky Rubio and Brooke Lopez. The Crows still lost. Things really just aren't going Rakeville's way lately.
SCORE AFTER DAY 1
Jay Bruce (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H
Aaron Judge (BRW) - 1 HR, 2 H
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 1 3B, 1 H
Adam Duvall (LV) - 2 H, 1 2B
Joey Votto (LV) - 2 H
Scott Schebler (QC) - 2H
George Springer (QC) - 0 H
Ryan Zimmerman (RIO) - No Show
<Justin Smoak (BRW) - No Show
Yonder Alonso (RIO) - No Show
Mike Moustakas (SFV) - No Show
Logan Morrison (BRW) - No Show
Tuesday, June 13 (Round 1, Day 2)
This surely is the year of the dong. After a very lack luster performance in 2016, the Home Run Derby has really taken a step forward in 2017. First off, the concessions are just so much better. Joe's Hot Dongs and Sausages has brought the good stuff this year in Rakeville, which luckily, is his specialty. You can get coleslaw, you can get sauerkraut, you can get ketchup, you can get onions, you can get pickles...and yes, pickles are his specialty. Anything you want on your Hot Dong or Sausage, Joe can get it for you. It's quite amazing.
Enough of about the delicious local Rakeville eatery options, let's get back to actual dong hitting. Tonight we finally got to see the five no shows from Monday actually show us what they were made of. With only two days to play catch up to those who cared enough to play on Day 1, Justin Smoak, and Yonder Alonso dug themselves a bit deeper with a less than powerful showing, collecting three singles between the two of them to start things off. Next up was Mike Moustakas, who singled on his first pitch and hit the warning track on the next pitch, earning him a double in the process. Logan Morrison set the bar by actually finding the seats with his second pitch of the night and surprisingly chose to run the bases. Not sure he knew where he was or that it was a home run derby. Maybe everyone just felt bad or they saw the smile on his face and wanted to let him have that moment - either way, he made it all the way around and just walked back to the dugout, passing on any of his other pitches of his appearance.
Last up of the forgotten five, Ryan Zimmerman, swung at the first pitch he saw and crushed it dead center to put himself in contention. His second pitch was sent back as a laser down the line, but only credited as a single. Clearly upset at the call and not getting extra bases, Zimmerman took his frustration out on the giant head mascot of Toby Hall, who was getting ready to run the bases alongside Ian Snell-mascot, Pedro Martinez-mascot, and Ellis Burks-mascot (an event that has become a fan favorite in Rakeville since the beginning of the season - little known fact, the interns who run the races are actually racing and they have the own standings posted in the back room. The winner gets to move up to bat boy and never has to see the other three interns again. It's going to be a fight to the finish. So far Gary is in the lead with 5 wins. Good for Gary.) After the race, Ryan Zimmerman has calmed down and allowed to take another pitch, which he immediately drills over the left field wall for his second home run of the night, putting him the lead.
As exciting as Zimmerman's time at the plate was, Scott Schebler, Joey Votto, and Adam Duvall's was equally unimpressive. The threesome collected a total of 4 singles between them. Duvall looked especially pathetic at the plate after having to be woken up in the dugout when his turn came around. Those late nights in Rakeville will get to you apparently. Joey Gallo followed suit in a very much Joey Gallo way. Little secret from someone that was there, Joey actually had 4 clean hits during his at bats but was so upset none of them hit the hard he argued with the score keepers and convinced them not to count any of them at all. So, the stat book officially has him down for 0 hits on the day. "If it's not a dong I don't want it," Gallo was heard yelling repeatedly. George Springer found his way to dong-land, as his only hit of the week left the yard, catapulting him from the bottom of the standings to the top 6. What a difference one swing can make.
Aaron Judge came to the plate next, one of only two players having hit a dinger the night before. Judge had hit 4 home runs in the past 3 games so everyone was rightfully expecting him to keep pace with Zimmerman's outburst from earlier in the evening. Man, did he disappoint. He received 4 pitches and literally let everyone go by. It was strange. He didn't even swing. I'm pretty sure he was mesmerized by the provocative dance routine Jedd Gyorko was doing at second base, which really should have been stopped by the officials but man, that man can do everything. It was enthralling. The crowd loved it. You can't really blame Aaron for staring, but it sure seemed like a waste of his time at the plate. Jay Bruce obviously was still thinking about it during his plate appearance, because even though he choose to swing at every pitch, he simply missed each time. Swinging early, swinging late - and these are 60 mph pitches mind you. It was questionable to say the least. Quebec City brass should be concerned.
SCORE AFTER DAY 2
Ryan Zimmerman (RIO) - 2 HR, 3 H
Jay Bruce (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H
Aaron Judge (BRW) - 1 HR, 2 H
Logan Morrison (BRW) - 1 HR, 2 H
George Springer (QC) - 1 HR, 1 H
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 1 3B, 1 H
Adam Duvall (LV) - 1 2B, 2 H
Mike Moustakas (SFV) - 1 2B, 2 H
Scott Schebler (QC) - 5 H
Joey Votto (LV) - 3 H
Justin Smoak (BRW) - 2 H
Yonder Alonso (RIO) - 1 H
Wednesday, June 14 (Round 1, Day 3)
The day started with Elon Musk singing the national anthem. It was beautiful. Not a dry eye in the house. It might have been his angelic voice or it could have been from the fumes of the rockets that were set off at the start of the song. Malfunction on the part of the Rakeville pyrotechnical team, as they obviously were supposed to go off later in the song, but Musk was a pro. Simply a pro, Never missed a beat. Pro.
It started off pretty apparent that Ryan Zimmerman felt like he had the first round all tied up so when he declined to step up to the plate but insisted his pitching coach throw three down the middle it was off, but not surprising. Logan Morrison took the opportunity coming up next to cement himself in the next round with another dong over the left field wall. Jay Bruce wracked up two more singles, which can only help in potential tie breakers, but he's also safe moving onto the next round. Joey Gallo put himself on the board tonight. That dong, along with his triple puts him solidly into the next round. After hitting a home run himself, Joey Votto currently sits int hr 6th spot, just behind Mike Moustakas who along with his double on Tuesday, got one to leave the stadium tonight.
Aaron Judge, Joey Gallo, and George Springer are still playing and if either Springer or Judge can hit a jack they'll knock out Votto from advancing. If they stay quiet they'll lose the tie breaker and move to the stands.
Adam Duvall, Scott Schebler, and Justin Smoak all failed to hit any dongs in the first round, while Yonder Alonso only was able to make contact just once for a soft hit single down the left field line. Most players playing the hot corner probably would have made the play on him, but this is all for charity right? [edit: It's not]
So we sit and wait to see what Gallo, Springer, and Judge can do with the rest of their nights....
OK, well Springer and Gallo finished up and while Gallo locked his spot with his triple tie-breaker, Springer failed to hit one out giving him just one on the week. He did crack two hits on the day, one that almost cleared the wall, but hit a seagull on the way down, keeping it in the park. The ground rules in Rakeville clearly state that water fowl hit by fly balls result in a double if the bird lives, and a triple if they die as a result of being struck. This bird took a licking but kept on flying. The double was enough to put Springer in a virtual tie for the 5th spot with Mike Moustakas, knocking Votto out of the top 6.
Judge still has a few pitches left. Any extra base hit will get him to the next round, and home run puts him back in the overall lead. Failure to do either sends him packing back to Bridgewater.
ROBBED. Judge hits a laser to left field that would have easily resulted in extra bases, but was robbed by Eric Young Jr on a diving catch. Judge possibly will get one more pitch. Stay tuned.....
And that's the end of that. Aaron Judge failed to get one out of the park so he's left off the list for the semi-final round, scheduled to start Thursday.
After the conclusion of Round 1, here's your standings....
Judge still has a few pitches left. Any extra base hit will get him to the next round, and home run puts him back in the overall lead. Failure to do either sends him packing back to Bridgewater.
ROBBED. Judge hits a laser to left field that would have easily resulted in extra bases, but was robbed by Eric Young Jr on a diving catch. Judge possibly will get one more pitch. Stay tuned.....
And that's the end of that. Aaron Judge failed to get one out of the park so he's left off the list for the semi-final round, scheduled to start Thursday.
After the conclusion of Round 1, here's your standings....
Logan Morrison (BRW) - 2 HR, 3 H, 5 RBI
Ryan Zimmerman (RIO) - 2 HR, 3 H, 3 RBI
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 1 HR, 1 3B, 2 H
Jay Bruce (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 5 H
George Springer (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 RBI
Mike Moustakas (SFV) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 RBI
Joey Votto (LV) - 1 HR, 4 H
Aaron Judge (BRW) - 1 HR, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 RBI
Adam Duvall (LV) - 0 HR, 2 2B, 3 H
Scott Schebler (QC) - 0 HR, 5 H
Justin Smoak (BRW) - 0 HR, 2 H
Yonder Alonso (RIO) - 0 HR, 1 H
Thursday, June 15 (Round 2, Day 1) - Semi-Final 6
Well the first day of the semi-final round was a snooze-fest, simply put. With two of the final six deciding to stay home, apparently thinking the whole thing was over after Wednesday, the fans only got to enjoy four players making appearances to the plate - just to watch them dribble a few singles down the line.
With Joey Gallo and George Springer taking the day off, it brought leader Logan Morrison up to the plate first. Morrison started off strong, giving everyone faith it was going to be a fun day. His firsat pitch was a blast that landed just short of the centerfield wall, bounced over, and landed in the Reed family swimming pool. He racked up another hit (single) on the night, but ultimatly fell short of hitting one out.
Thus would be the theme of the evening. Ryan Zimmerman dribbled a single down the third base line, and Jay Bruce's only hit was for two bases. Mike Moustakas made contact twice, but never made it past first base.
After a lack luster day, here's your updated standings.
Logan Morrison (BRW) - 2 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 RBI
Ryan Zimmerman (RIO) - 2 HR, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 RBI
Joey Gallo (TKO) -1 HR, 1 3B, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 RBI
Jay Bruce (QC) - 1 HR, 2 2B, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 RBI
George Springer (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 RBI
Mike Moustakas (SFV) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 RBI
Friday, June 16 (Round 2, Day 2) - Semi-Final 6
Man, this semi-live blogging stuff is tough. Hopefulyl I can get this all in before the start of the final round...oh, it's started already? Dangit.
Either way, the final day of the semi-finals had a whole lot more action that its boring predecessor. First off all, all six players actually showed up, so that's already an improvement.
As is customary, the player lowest in the standings got to go first. Mike Moustakas. You may remember Mike from the first round who barely squeaked by thanks to some tie breakers over Aaron Judge and Joey Votto. Well, he hasn't done too much to separate himself since and today was no different. Mike hit a single up the middle to start off his plate appearance, but let the next two pitches sail past without even taking the bat off his shoulders. Mike will be headed back to San Fernando on the first flight out of Rakeville.
George Springer, not to be out shined, failed to collect any hits, and rather walked twice (how does one actually walk during a home run derby anyway? The rule makes didn't really explain that one too clearly. But, that's what shows up on the stat sheet).
The other Piglet still in the mix, Jay Bruce, came up next. Bruce sat 4th in the standings, and needed a homer to put himself in contention. His first pitch looked to seal the deal, but fell just short of the wall and was ruled a double. Now, doubles are nice and all in real life, but they're nothing more than a possible tie-breaker here - and with Joey Gallo's triple still in play, all the doubles in the world won't matter. Bruce let the next pitch go by, and belted his 3rd pitch dead center. It cleared the first deck and landed in the corporate suites. Pretty sure Elon Musk caught it bare handed. Is there anything this guy can't do?
Joey Gallo comes up next and swings ferociously at the first pitch. Not sure why, but the replay clearly shows Gallo had his eyes closed the entire time so of course, he racked up a K. The next pitch he had the crazy idea to keep his eyes open and of course made contact. And if you haven't figured this out yet, if Gallo makes contact, it's probably a home run. Sure enough, the ball left the yard in a hurry, knocking Gallo to the top of the leaderboard (thanks to that triple he got on Day 1).
Ryan Zimmerman, who started his day in second place, now found himself the first man out thanks to those nifty tie breaker rules. An extra base hit would keep him in contention and a home run would all but solidify him moving to the finals. No pressure. Seriously, no pressure, this doesn't mean anything to anyone. Regardless, Zimmerman folded under the weight of the entire Brazilian population putting all their faith in him to represent the Cristo fanbase. He did make contact twice, but nothing more than singles through the hole. What a huge disappointment.
Logan Morrison closed out the night, already knowing he was clear to move on to the final round. He wracked up a double of his own for good measure - you never know if it'll come in handy - but failed to separate himself from the rest of the finals crowd with another dong.
After the end of the Semi-Final round, here's your updated standings...
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 2 HR, 1 3B, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 RBI
Jay Bruce (QC) - 2 HR, 2 2B, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 RBI
Logan Morrison (BRW) - 2 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 RBI
Ryan Zimmerman (RIO) - 2 HR, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 RBI
Mike Moustakas (SFV) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 RBI
George Springer (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 RBI
Saturday, June 17 (Round 3, Day 1) - Final 3
So, I woke up after it was all over and luckily there was a reason I fell asleep. Between the three finalist, who each have 2 home runs to their names, they collected just 3 hits and 1 walk. Glad I missed it.
Here's you updated standings going into the final day, which consists of a bunch of tie breaker stats...
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 2 HR, 1 3B, 5 H, 4 BB, 6 RBI
Jay Bruce (QC) - 2 HR, 2 2B, 10 H, 1 BB, 4 RBI
Logan Morrison (BRW) - 2 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 RBI
Sunday, June 18 (Round 3, Day 2) - Final 3
And it all comes down to this. The final day. All three finalists have 2 RBI, with a single triple making all the difference thus far. Will that come into play? It seems whoever hits a home run will take this crown, which has come down to the wire. Wouldn't want it any other way.
First up. Logan Morrison. Morrison has led most of this competition with the exception of the past two days, but currently sits third of the final three. With his first pitch he decides to take a patient approach and let it whiz by him. The approach paid off with the second pitch, which he drilled to deep right field for his third home run. That could be it folks. That might be all it takes. By Mr. Morrison wasn't finished. He had Bridgewater GM Nastra Diggus throw one more pitch (yes, Morrision had asked Diggus to pitch his final day, who agreed to do so on the contingency that Morrison play well enough in July to increase his trade value), which he smashed out of the park for good measure. That doubled his home run total for the week and puts him clearly in the overall lead.
Next up, Jay Bruce from Quebec City. The current Piglet, who, like Morrison, started the year as an unrestricted free agent, signed with Las Vegas and was then traded north, didn't seem too phased by the showing Morrison put on. He swung at the first pitch thrown, sadly, just simply missed. It was embarrassing really. I mean, these pitches are coming in at 50-60 MPH. Right down the middle. Freshmen walk on players would be hitting these things. Next pitch....same thing. Geez. bruce is starting to feel the heat. So he takes a step out of the box, collects his thoughts, steps back in somehow, on the next set of pitches...walks. He looks really proud of him self too. The crowd is really confused. He takes his base, stands on 1st, and refuses to leave. Just all around strange.
While Bruce sits on first base (what a weird guy), Joey Gallo steps in. He needs 2 home runs to win. Let's see what he can do. We all know, for the most part, Gallo is a three true outcome player. If he hits it, it's probably leaving the yard. If he swings and doesn't make contact obviously he's striking out. If he decides not to swing he'll gladly take the walk. The second two options simply aren't options in this environment. On his first pitch Gallo gladly swings away and fouls one back. Fouls are strikeouts in this home run derby (oh, did we not go over that in the rules...well they are).
Second pitch comes barreling in and Gallo keeps the bat strictly on his shoulders, resulting in a backward K. The crowd is not impressed. Third pitch results in a line out to Jay Bruce. Yes, Jay Bruce standing on first base catches a liner down the right field line with his bare hands. The umps call Gallo out as a result. The rules of his HR derby are just insane.
Gallo might get one more at bat or more if he can muster up some extra innings...check back to see the results.
And he did get one more pitch. This was it. The judges said if he could hit a home run here they'd give him one more pitch to try to tie it. All the pressure in the world was mounting for this one glorious moment. A moment that in the grand scheme of things may actually mean nothing at all, but for some, mostly the EHCC upper management that profits off the spectacle and the Rakeville ownership that sees a profit share of the event, it means everything. As the robotic arm of the Tokyo pitching coach started to let go of the ball, a bright beam of light came down from the night sky and landed right in front of home plate. Gallo was amazed by the light and couldn't look away. The ball sailed past him and the plate, for another backward K. The light immediately disappeared from sight. No one could explain it, but the leading theory was that it was Joe's Spotlight and Superhero Signal Emporium testing out the newest model, which they claim will be their speciality. Joey Gallo can attest to the power of the spotlight, that's for sure. Gallo ended the final round with literally no stats collected. No hits, no walks, no RBI, and certainly no home runs.
And after all that, we have our winner. For the second straight year, a player that started the season as a free agent comes away with the EHCC Home Run Derby crown. We give you this year's champion, Logan Morrison. (Who saw that coming huh?)
Final standings from the final round.
Logan Morrisson (BRW) - 4 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 RBI
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 2 HR, 1 3B, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 RBI
Jay Bruce (QC) - 2 HR, 2 2B, 10 H, 2 2B, 4 RBI
Max Powers is a writer for the Reno Weekly Rag and Baseball Tri-Weekly. He drinks his coffee black even when he gets it from Dunkin' Donuts. Even he knows that's disgusting.
Ryan Zimmerman (RIO) - 2 HR, 3 H, 3 RBI
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 1 HR, 1 3B, 2 H
Jay Bruce (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 5 H
George Springer (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 RBI
Mike Moustakas (SFV) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 RBI
Thursday, June 15 (Round 2, Day 1) - Semi-Final 6
Well the first day of the semi-final round was a snooze-fest, simply put. With two of the final six deciding to stay home, apparently thinking the whole thing was over after Wednesday, the fans only got to enjoy four players making appearances to the plate - just to watch them dribble a few singles down the line.
With Joey Gallo and George Springer taking the day off, it brought leader Logan Morrison up to the plate first. Morrison started off strong, giving everyone faith it was going to be a fun day. His firsat pitch was a blast that landed just short of the centerfield wall, bounced over, and landed in the Reed family swimming pool. He racked up another hit (single) on the night, but ultimatly fell short of hitting one out.
Thus would be the theme of the evening. Ryan Zimmerman dribbled a single down the third base line, and Jay Bruce's only hit was for two bases. Mike Moustakas made contact twice, but never made it past first base.
After a lack luster day, here's your updated standings.
Logan Morrison (BRW) - 2 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 RBI
Ryan Zimmerman (RIO) - 2 HR, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 RBI
Joey Gallo (TKO) -1 HR, 1 3B, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 RBI
Jay Bruce (QC) - 1 HR, 2 2B, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 RBI
George Springer (QC) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 RBI
Mike Moustakas (SFV) - 1 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 RBI
Friday, June 16 (Round 2, Day 2) - Semi-Final 6
Man, this semi-live blogging stuff is tough. Hopefulyl I can get this all in before the start of the final round...oh, it's started already? Dangit.
Either way, the final day of the semi-finals had a whole lot more action that its boring predecessor. First off all, all six players actually showed up, so that's already an improvement.
As is customary, the player lowest in the standings got to go first. Mike Moustakas. You may remember Mike from the first round who barely squeaked by thanks to some tie breakers over Aaron Judge and Joey Votto. Well, he hasn't done too much to separate himself since and today was no different. Mike hit a single up the middle to start off his plate appearance, but let the next two pitches sail past without even taking the bat off his shoulders. Mike will be headed back to San Fernando on the first flight out of Rakeville.
George Springer, not to be out shined, failed to collect any hits, and rather walked twice (how does one actually walk during a home run derby anyway? The rule makes didn't really explain that one too clearly. But, that's what shows up on the stat sheet).
The other Piglet still in the mix, Jay Bruce, came up next. Bruce sat 4th in the standings, and needed a homer to put himself in contention. His first pitch looked to seal the deal, but fell just short of the wall and was ruled a double. Now, doubles are nice and all in real life, but they're nothing more than a possible tie-breaker here - and with Joey Gallo's triple still in play, all the doubles in the world won't matter. Bruce let the next pitch go by, and belted his 3rd pitch dead center. It cleared the first deck and landed in the corporate suites. Pretty sure Elon Musk caught it bare handed. Is there anything this guy can't do?
Joey Gallo comes up next and swings ferociously at the first pitch. Not sure why, but the replay clearly shows Gallo had his eyes closed the entire time so of course, he racked up a K. The next pitch he had the crazy idea to keep his eyes open and of course made contact. And if you haven't figured this out yet, if Gallo makes contact, it's probably a home run. Sure enough, the ball left the yard in a hurry, knocking Gallo to the top of the leaderboard (thanks to that triple he got on Day 1).
Ryan Zimmerman, who started his day in second place, now found himself the first man out thanks to those nifty tie breaker rules. An extra base hit would keep him in contention and a home run would all but solidify him moving to the finals. No pressure. Seriously, no pressure, this doesn't mean anything to anyone. Regardless, Zimmerman folded under the weight of the entire Brazilian population putting all their faith in him to represent the Cristo fanbase. He did make contact twice, but nothing more than singles through the hole. What a huge disappointment.
Logan Morrison closed out the night, already knowing he was clear to move on to the final round. He wracked up a double of his own for good measure - you never know if it'll come in handy - but failed to separate himself from the rest of the finals crowd with another dong.
After the end of the Semi-Final round, here's your updated standings...
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 2 HR, 1 3B, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 RBI
Jay Bruce (QC) - 2 HR, 2 2B, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 RBI
Logan Morrison (BRW) - 2 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 RBI
Saturday, June 17 (Round 3, Day 1) - Final 3
So, I woke up after it was all over and luckily there was a reason I fell asleep. Between the three finalist, who each have 2 home runs to their names, they collected just 3 hits and 1 walk. Glad I missed it.
Here's you updated standings going into the final day, which consists of a bunch of tie breaker stats...
Joey Gallo (TKO) - 2 HR, 1 3B, 5 H, 4 BB, 6 RBI
Jay Bruce (QC) - 2 HR, 2 2B, 10 H, 1 BB, 4 RBI
Logan Morrison (BRW) - 2 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 RBI
Sunday, June 18 (Round 3, Day 2) - Final 3
And it all comes down to this. The final day. All three finalists have 2 RBI, with a single triple making all the difference thus far. Will that come into play? It seems whoever hits a home run will take this crown, which has come down to the wire. Wouldn't want it any other way.
First up. Logan Morrison. Morrison has led most of this competition with the exception of the past two days, but currently sits third of the final three. With his first pitch he decides to take a patient approach and let it whiz by him. The approach paid off with the second pitch, which he drilled to deep right field for his third home run. That could be it folks. That might be all it takes. By Mr. Morrison wasn't finished. He had Bridgewater GM Nastra Diggus throw one more pitch (yes, Morrision had asked Diggus to pitch his final day, who agreed to do so on the contingency that Morrison play well enough in July to increase his trade value), which he smashed out of the park for good measure. That doubled his home run total for the week and puts him clearly in the overall lead.
Next up, Jay Bruce from Quebec City. The current Piglet, who, like Morrison, started the year as an unrestricted free agent, signed with Las Vegas and was then traded north, didn't seem too phased by the showing Morrison put on. He swung at the first pitch thrown, sadly, just simply missed. It was embarrassing really. I mean, these pitches are coming in at 50-60 MPH. Right down the middle. Freshmen walk on players would be hitting these things. Next pitch....same thing. Geez. bruce is starting to feel the heat. So he takes a step out of the box, collects his thoughts, steps back in somehow, on the next set of pitches...walks. He looks really proud of him self too. The crowd is really confused. He takes his base, stands on 1st, and refuses to leave. Just all around strange.
While Bruce sits on first base (what a weird guy), Joey Gallo steps in. He needs 2 home runs to win. Let's see what he can do. We all know, for the most part, Gallo is a three true outcome player. If he hits it, it's probably leaving the yard. If he swings and doesn't make contact obviously he's striking out. If he decides not to swing he'll gladly take the walk. The second two options simply aren't options in this environment. On his first pitch Gallo gladly swings away and fouls one back. Fouls are strikeouts in this home run derby (oh, did we not go over that in the rules...well they are).
Second pitch comes barreling in and Gallo keeps the bat strictly on his shoulders, resulting in a backward K. The crowd is not impressed. Third pitch results in a line out to Jay Bruce. Yes, Jay Bruce standing on first base catches a liner down the right field line with his bare hands. The umps call Gallo out as a result. The rules of his HR derby are just insane.
Gallo might get one more at bat or more if he can muster up some extra innings...check back to see the results.
And he did get one more pitch. This was it. The judges said if he could hit a home run here they'd give him one more pitch to try to tie it. All the pressure in the world was mounting for this one glorious moment. A moment that in the grand scheme of things may actually mean nothing at all, but for some, mostly the EHCC upper management that profits off the spectacle and the Rakeville ownership that sees a profit share of the event, it means everything. As the robotic arm of the Tokyo pitching coach started to let go of the ball, a bright beam of light came down from the night sky and landed right in front of home plate. Gallo was amazed by the light and couldn't look away. The ball sailed past him and the plate, for another backward K. The light immediately disappeared from sight. No one could explain it, but the leading theory was that it was Joe's Spotlight and Superhero Signal Emporium testing out the newest model, which they claim will be their speciality. Joey Gallo can attest to the power of the spotlight, that's for sure. Gallo ended the final round with literally no stats collected. No hits, no walks, no RBI, and certainly no home runs.
And after all that, we have our winner. For the second straight year, a player that started the season as a free agent comes away with the EHCC Home Run Derby crown. We give you this year's champion, Logan Morrison. (Who saw that coming huh?)
Final standings from the final round.
Logan Morrisson (BRW) - 4 HR, 1 2B, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 RBI
Max Powers is a writer for the Reno Weekly Rag and Baseball Tri-Weekly. He drinks his coffee black even when he gets it from Dunkin' Donuts. Even he knows that's disgusting.
Labels: Dongs, HomeRunDerby, Powers, Semi-Live
posted by Howe at 12:32 PM
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