Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. broke Josh Hamilton’s Home Run Derby record for most home runs in a single round, crushing 29 dingers ahead of Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman in their bracket matchup. Hamilton memorably hit 28 in the first round in the 2008 Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. It was thought to be an unassailable record, so much so that the Rangers tweeted this out:
Good luck beating this tonight, fellas. #HRDerby pic.twitter.com/8s506ntgWT
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 8, 2019
Guerrero, the No. 8 seed, made it look easy, hitting tape-measure homers to left and left-center field at Progressive Field in Cleveland, finishing regulation time with 24 dingers. He easily unlocked 30 extra seconds on account of hitting two home runs at least 440 feet. He, in fact, reached as far as 478 feet. With his bonus time, Guerrero added five dingers for 29 total, setting the new single-round record.
Best of luck to Chapman. That’s a heck of an act to have to follow.
*
Update: Guerrero followed up with an additional 29 homers, kicking off the second round in his bracket matchup with Joc Pederson. So he tied his own record. Ridiculous.
