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It’s been thirty years since the Home Run Derby debuted at the All-Star Game and though the exhibition has spawned several memorable moments — McGwire’s now-tainted display at Fenway, Josh Hamilton’s assault on Yankee Stadium, and Ken Griffey Jr.’s shot off the warehouse in Baltimore — there’s always room for more. With an effort to evolve the competition, this year will see a few tweaks with a tournament style, a time clock, and perks for hitting mammoth home runs. This is all a good start, but here are a few other ways that the Home Run Derby could improve.
Get the legends involved.
There are all kinds of feels unlocked when a slugger brings his little league coach or his father out to throw him batting practice during the derby, but it does little for the fans. Why not tap baseball’s vast reservoir of legends and get some of them involved in the fun? Both former derby greats like Frank Thomas and Griffey Jr. as well as famed pitchers from the past like Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson? Baseball does a good job of celebrating its history, but the Home Run Derby lags behind by focusing solely on the current sluggers. This would be a way to make the competition just a little bit more interesting and appealing to fans.
Let the players wear their own uniforms.
I get that baseball is a business and that the Home Run Derby is, first and foremost, a showcase for the game, its most marketable players, and the All-Star game apparel that the league pushes around the festivities (that I never see people wearing), but don’t you miss seeing those players in their more recognizable uniforms? Those bland All-Star duds just seem to ever-so-slightly diminish the individual nature of the competition, which has always been more appealing than the impression that the “teams” matter.
Style points.
The league is already going in this direction with players earning the ability to hit more home runs and extend their initial five-minute timer by hitting moonshots, but let’s take it further. Give points for those bombs, but about we also let players call their own shots and give bonus points for that and take points when they fail? How about we set up dozens of targets in the outfield that offer big bonuses if struck? Best bat-flip at the close of a round? Why not? Have some fun with it, it is an exhibition.
Juice the living hell out of the ball.
Baseball’s impurity over almost the entire time that the Home Run Derby has been in existence is not a small problem, but again, this is an exhibition and people want to see massive home runs — especially in an era somewhat starved for offense. Let the players use special corked bats, flat-seam balls, or some other enhancement that makes 500-foot home runs the norm during the derby. Let’s not pretend that anyone cares about protecting the sanctity of Bobby Abreau’s records.
Shorten things up a little.
I actually have no problem with the pace of a standard game. It allows for conversation and for drama to build. But should the Home Run Derby be a two-hour event? Should they cut down on the participants and the rounds? Maybe make it two rounds and four sluggers who get to put on their show (enhanced by bat flips theatrics and gargantuan home runs) in about an hour before viewers at home settle in to the replay of the celebrity softball game so we can see Andy Dalton get booed? Or maybe a shorter Home Run Derby would trigger the creation of some other kind of skills competition. “Baseball’s Great Bunt-Off?” “Who Is The Fastest Player In The Game Not Named Billy Hamilton?” “Cut-Off Man Fever?” Okay, maybe they should extend the Home Run Derby… but I’m not budging on Bat Flip Olympics.
