Hometown Favorite Todd Frazier Wins Home Run Derby in Dramatic Fashion

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The 2015 Home Run Derby hosted at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, with its new rule changes, began the same way it ended: With a bang!

Contestants were seeded based on the amount of homeruns they hit before the All-Star break. Here is how the contestants were seeded and matched up:

(1) Albert Pujols (LAA) vs. (8) Kris Bryant (CHC)

(2) Todd Frazier (CIN) vs. (7) Prince Fielder (TEX)

(3) Josh Donaldson (TOR) vs. (6) Anthony Rizzo (CHC):

(4) Joc Pederson (LAD) vs. (5) Manny Machado (BAL)

 Rule Changes

• Each contestant gets five minutes. Due to the potential for rain, rounds were reduced to four minutes.
• Each contestant gets one 45-second timeout and a 60-second time extension for every homerun hit. However, due to the weather concern, players received 30 seconds of bonus time.
• Homeruns are not cumulative from round to round
• Contestants can only hit a pitch once the previous pitch has touched down.

Here is how the event went down:

Quarterfinals

  (3) Donaldson vs. (6) Rizzo: 9-8, Donaldson

Rookie contestant Rizzo probably felt a little nervous as he swung at everything early on. Later, he paced himself, took a timeout and hit a chunk of his homeruns after the timeout. Donaldson paced himself but hit just about everything for a homerun. He took a timeout and hit the last homerun afterwards.

(2) Frazier vs. (7) Fielder: 14-13, Frazier

2-time home run derby winner Prince Fielder crushed just about everything and ate some cotton candy while doing it. With a tall task in front of him, the hometown favorite Frazier hit 13 before the bonus time and beat Fielder’s score during the bonus time.

(4) Pederson vs. (5) Machado: 13-12, Pederson

Machado put up a good fight, but Pederson just obliterated his score in less than three minutes.

(1) Pujols vs. (8) Bryant: 10-9, Pujols

Even though Bryant put on a show and hit some majestic shots, 35-year-young Albert Pujols beat his score in the very last second of the round.

Semifinals

 (2) Frazier vs. (3) Donaldson: 10-9, Frazier

With another slow start, Frazier delivered in dramatic fashion yet again to beat Donaldson.

(1) Pujols vs. (4) Pederson: 12-11, Pederson

After the hot start in the quarterfinals, Pederson slowed down but was still able to hit double-digit homeruns. Pujols struggled early and late in the round, which costed him some crucial time. He got to 11 during the bonus time but time expired before he could get off another swing.

Finals

 (2) Frazier vs. (4) Pederson: 15-14, Frazier

Pederson, who was seeking to become the youngest home run derby winner at the age of 23, apparently had a second and third wind as he hit 14 more homeruns. With his work cut out for him yet again, Frazier felt the pressure as he had only seven homeruns with 1:40 to go (not including bonus time). But ‘The Toddfather’ would not be denied as he won the derby in bonus time.

Implications for the Future of the MLB

 The experiment with the rule changes turned out to be a success for the MLB and the derby itself. Instead of a glorified batting practice, this derby actually looked like and felt like a competition. The MLB probably used these experimental changes to the derby to just spice the event up initially, but the excitement of the event that came from it possibly could lead them to make changes to the other games that count.

For years, the biggest complaint with the MLB has always been the pacing of games. Pitchers could take an absurd amount of time between pitches and hitters could step out of the batter’s box whenever they felt like it. With the addition of the replay system, many people (players and fans alike) thought that it would slow down the game even more. Maybe the MLB could use this event as a template for creating even more rule changes to speed up the game.

Now I’m not sure how a clock would work in actual games since innings are only advanced by the outs of three batters. Maybe it would lead to more excitement but maybe it would also lead to games ending with ridiculous scores if hitters start getting hot. Also, it would probably make a perfect game or a no-hitter infinitely harder. Still, the MLB should consider this now that the once glorified batting practice may have just jumped ahead of the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest and the NFL’s Pro Bowl as the most exciting All-Star event in the nation.