2009 Home Run Derby, Revised For Your Viewing Pleasure

The NHL has the skills competition, the NBA has the slam dunk contest, and the NFL...well they get to go to Hawaii.

Major League Baseball's pre-All Star Game show is the Home Run Derby.

Each of these exhibitions are mid-season highlight shows for both players and fans alike.

When an athlete wins a home run derby, slam dunk contest, or skills event, they might be the subject of a "watercooler" discussion the next morning, but a week later the average fan has already forgotten the winner.

However, every once in a while we witness a performance like Josh Hamilton's 28 first round home runs.

The Home Run Derby's system puts eight All-Star hitters against one another for three-ten out rounds of elimination. 

The pros of this system are that fans get to see players more than once hitting home runs, and with the totals carrying over from the first round, more times than not you get the best two hitters that night in the finals.

The cons, however, are very apparent with what happened this year, Josh Hamilton drives 28 balls into the New York skyline in the first round, but tires out too much to defeat Justin Morneau in the finals.

Justin Morneau won the Home Run Derby, fair and square, but according to the fans that night, the ESPN broadcast, and the topics of discussion at the "watercooler" the next morning, the night belonged to Josh Hamilton.

Everybody is talking about the firework show put on by Hamilton and snuffing Justin's performance, or Jason, as he was called when receiving his trophy.

Morneau did nothing wrong, yet he is almost being portrayed as the bad guy trying to take away from Hamilton's night, not fair.

This is eerily similar to the end of the movie Tin Cup, when Roy McIlvoy loses the U.S. Open, but then Rene Russo's character tells him, "Years from now, nobody is going to remember who won the Open, but they're going to remember your 12."

How do you change this system, so that the most impressive performance is also the Home Run Derby champion.  I have a thought.

First Change: Instead of having three rounds of elimination, only one.  Each player gets ten outs to show their stuff.

Second Change: Expand the field from eight to 12-16 players maximum, but no minimum of players.

Third Change:  No, wait that's it.  That's all the changes that need to be made.

Making these two changes will help in multiple ways.

Having only one round, a total of ten outs, will not tire these players out as easily, therefore sluggers will be less likely to skip the derby.

Think about Hamilton's performance, hitting last, already winning the derby and not having to worry about hitting in two more rounds, could he have hit more than 28?

Also with only one round, the field can be expanded to include more All-Stars and a wider variety of sluggers. 

Expanding the field could even include players like Ichiro, Carlos Zambrano, and CC Sabathia.

The downside is that if a player doesn't catch fire early, then they won't win the derby and if some pitchers start hitting, than it could be more comedy than competition.  But then again, CC and Z can stroke the ball a little bit.

The other downside would be if a player like Josh Hamilton had his 28-homer outbreak early, then it would almost be pointless for everyone else to hit.

These are minor problems simply because, as stated before, nobody remembers the champion a couple weeks later.

Expanding the field this year would have likely included Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Carlos Quentin, Matt Holliday, J.D. Drew, Geovany Soto, and even Ichiro and Carlos Zambrano.

Making these changes will overall make the Home Run Derby a more enjoyable event for the fans at the game, the millions watching at home, and the All-Stars sitting on the field acting like little kids.

Not only that, but then a the performance by Josh Hamilton, powering 28 home runs into the night would stand as one of the lasting memories at the House that Ruth Built, and the House that Josh Hamilton brought down.