Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby is the best All-Star event in the sporting world.
There’s no other way to put it.
The long-ball extravaganza trumps the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest, Three-Point Contest and Skills Challenge, and it’s certainly better than the contests the NHL has to offer.
This year’s ball-mashing blitz won’t disappoint. The American League and National League both bring quality sluggers to the table. All eight competitors are capable of setting off fireworks with each swing of the bat.
The challenges which take place on the All-Star weekends of other sports are exciting, but they just don’t quite measure up.
Let’s see why.
Most Difficult
I’m not saying that hitting a slap shot at 100-plus MPH is easy, but hitting a baseball is harder. Derby pitches may be coming much slower than normal, but you still have to square up a ball with a nine-inch circumference.
The same goes for dunking a basketball. Obviously it isn’t easy, but there are fewer factors to affect the outcome.
Baseball pitches, whether fast or slow, are difficult to hit. The slightest gust of wind can alter their paths, and a fraction of an inch can impact how far the ball will travel off the bat.
The batter has no control over the wind. He has no control over where his handpicked pitcher places the ball.
He just swings his bat in a repeatable manner and hopes his technique works.
The Home Run Derby doesn’t incorporate basketball’s creativity or hockey’s unique skill (skating), but it involves the most difficult skill in sports (hitting a baseball).
For that reason alone, it’s the best All-Star event in sports.
I don’t want to see All-Stars do things I know they can do. I know NBA players, if they are 5’8” or bigger, can dunk. It doesn’t have the same impact. On the other hand, baseball players, no matter how skilled, have to repeat a swing with many moving parts. It’s a technical issue, and those things are never easy to mimic on a regular basis.
Hitting a home run in game action is one thing, but the Derby’s marathon pace makes it more difficult in many ways.
No Judging
The NHL’s fastest-shot contest falls into this category as well, but it’s the only one that’s even comparable. I’m going to compare the Home Run Derby to the NBA Dunk Contest again for the most part, only because it’s the other most prominent All-Star event.
You can’t judge a home run. It’s impossible. I suppose you could judge “dingers” by the feet they travel, but a home run is a home run.
That’s not the case in the NBA Dunk Contest. A panel of judges is needed to appraise the value of each contestant’s performance.
That taints the event, at least for me.
Like I said, the NHL almost compares. A 100 MPH slap shot is a 100 MPH slap shot, but the Homer Run Derby has no quantitative justification for anything.
The ball either clears the wall, or it doesn’t. The number of feet (or miles per hour) don’t matter.
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