2011 MLB Home Run Derby: Which Slugger Will Blast Ball Furthest?

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The MLB Home Run Derby is the single most tantalizing All Star event ever created. It even trumps my beloved NBA Slam Dunk Contest. There is just something about seeing the batter step up to the plate, enter his stance and watch him crush a tiny baseball hundreds of feet. The sound of the baseball cracking against the bat before it explodes into thin air is unlike anything else in sports.

They say chicks love the long ball, but so does everyone else. We all track the ball as it seems to travel into outer space and dream of one day catching a home run ball at our favorite park.

I will never forget being in the stands live at Yankee Stadium in 2008 to witness Josh Hamilton’s epic Derby performance. He may have lost in the end, but everybody knows he deserved to win it all after his remarkable explosion.

My friends, strangers and I all watched in complete awe as he crushed each and every ball thrown his way. We even thought he belted one out of the park altogether during his record-setting 28 home runs in the opening round. Every time I think of the Derby now I think of Hamilton crushing the ball with brute force.

This year, we have some of the very best power hitters in the game today ready to blast balls into the gloves of fans in the bleacher section. It may not be every man for himself as the American and National Leagues will duel each other for ball blasting supremacy, but we will still see every participant battling each other to knock the stone furthest.

Participants

American League

David Ortiz, DH, BOS ©

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, BOS

Jose Bautista, OF, TOR

Robinson Cano, 2B, NYY

National League

Prince Fielder, 1B, MIL ©

Rickie Weeks, 2B, MIL

Matt Holliday, OF, STL

Matt Kemp, OF, LAD

We can already rule out Cano, Holliday and Weeks when it comes to hitting the ball furthest. They are more contact home run hitters than pure power punchers. Kemp has great power, as evident by his 22 home runs, but I think we can nix him from the equation as well.

This leaves us with Ortiz, Gonzalez, Fielder and Bautista. Ortiz and Fielder have the girth to push the ball, while A-Gon is a monster in his own right.

Bautista, though, is my bet. He relentlessly attacks each pitch thrown his way. He has been on a remarkable tear over the past 14 months. He has deceptive power inside his solid frame and is just locked into a zone all to himself with 28 homers on the season.

The Toronto Blue Jay is seeing the ball better and makes incredible contact to drive the ball deep. He is the underdog when it comes to hitting the ball furthest, but I feel that his immense pop will help drive his ball further than Gonzalez, who is my runner up for deepest bomb.

-Brandon Galvin is a Bleacher Report Featured Columnist and Syndicated Writer

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