Alonso Re-Petes as Home Run Derby Champ

By
Ryan Boyer,

By
Ryan Boyer

Published July 13, 2021 09:48 AM

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Pete Alonso had to wait two years to defend his Home Run Derby crown. It was worth the wait.

Alonso put on quite a show at Coors Field on Monday night, besting Trey Mancini in the final round to capture back-to-back Derby titles. After hitting 17 home runs during his initial two minutes in the finals, Alonso needed six in one minute during his bonus time. He got to a half-dozen in just 25 seconds.

He ran into a buzz saw in the finals, but what an awesome performance it was that Mancini put up. This time last year he was in the middle of chemotherapy treatments to treat colon cancer. Incredible.[[ad:athena]]

Alonso shattered the record for home runs hit in the first round with 35 blasts. Poor Salvador Perez smacked 28 in the first round – which was the second-highest total of all competitors – but unfortunately for him he was matched up against the “Polar Bear.” Juan Soto – who upset Shohei Ohtani in the first round – was Alonso’s second-round victim.

All told, Alonso finished with 74 home runs, and he had plenty of time to spare in two of the rounds so the total could have been much higher. Twenty of those 74 bombs went at least 475 feet. Between 2019 and 2021, Alonso has hit 131 Derby home runs, which is a record.

Alonso is now tied with Yoenis Cespedes and Prince Fielder for the second-most Derby wins with two, trailing only Ken Griffey Jr.’s three titles. He, Cespedes and Griffey are the only three that have gone back-to-back. Alonso wouldn’t commit to participating in the 2022 Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium when he was asked after Monday’s performance, but something tells us he’ll be going for a three-peat (or is it three-Pete?).

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Ohtani, Scherzer Draw Starting Assignments

If you didn’t get enough Sho-Time on Monday, you’re in luck, because we’re going to see plenty more Tuesday.

Not only did Shohei Ohtani make history by becoming the first player in All-Star Game history to be selected both as a position player and a pitcher, he has been named the starting pitcher by American League manager Kevin Cash. Ohtani will also serve as the designated hitter and leadoff man for the AL.

Cash also lobbied successfully to Major League Baseball to change the DH rule for the game in order to allow the AL to keep the DH after Ohtani is pulled.

“This is what the fans want to see,” Cash said. “It’s personally what I want to see. And to have the opportunity to do something [involving] a generational talent is pretty special. I begged Major League Baseball to tweak the rule for [the] game, because if they didn’t, I know I’d screw it up the rest of the way, pulling pinch-hitters and DHs.”

If MLB was still under the “This Time it Counts” era in which the league that wins the All-Star Game is ridiculously awarded homefield advantage in the World Series, chances are Cash wouldn’t have been able to get MLB to change the DH. Thankfully, though, that’s not the case.

As for the National League, Max Scherzer will make his fourth career Midsummer Classic start. Scherzer actually wasn’t even named to the original All-Star Game roster, instead getting added as one of the many replacements over the weekend. He’s plenty deserving, though, after a fantastic first half.

The lineups for each league will look like this (Mike Trout, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Buster Posey were elected by the fans to start but, unfortunately, are unable to due to injury):