2014 Home Run Derby Results: Winner and Top Moments from Target Field

Note to Major League Baseball: When it comes to the Home Run Derby, you still have some major tweaking to do. 

The league implemented a slew of rule changes in 2014 that hoped to inject some excitement into the increasingly lackluster competition, but the result wasn't pretty. Following an hour-long rain delay, the contest moved along at a pace akin to a snail moving through molasses, and interest decreased as the derby bled far too long into the night before Yoenis Cespedes finally walked away as the winner. 

Deadspin's Timothy Burke put it into horrifying perspective: 

Still, while the new rules seemed to do more to accentuate the derby's flaws than erase them, there were some memorable moments that stood out from Target Field. 

Those moments, most notably, came from Cespedes and Giancarlo Stanton. 

We'll start with the winner, who deserves anything but to be dragged down along with the criticism of the dull competition. The Oakland Athletics slugger got off to a lethargic start and needed to win a swing-off against teammate Josh Donaldson just to advance past the first round. But after that, he caught fire and never cooled off. 

The 28-year-old Cuban hit 10 in the second round, seven in the third and nine more in the final to put him in the history books next to only Ken Griffey Jr.: 

Because of the dull nature of the contest and the severe lack of competition Cespedes faced, this is going to get overlooked, but this was without a doubt one of the best individual derby performances we've ever seen. 

ESPN's Jayson Stark noted some astounding numbers from Cespedes' show: 

And he only got better as the night wore on. Take a look at his unbelievable final round, which featured several moon shots into the upper decks: 

Ridiculous format or not, Cespedes established himself as a derby legend Monday night. 

Then we have Stanton. The Miami Marlins young phenom entered with expectations about as large as his biceps, and at least for the first round, he didn't disappoint. 

He launched just six home runs, but it was much more about the distance. Every blast was seemingly more impressive than the last, concluding with a projected 510-foot shot that nearly left the stadium: 

The format forced Stanton to the sidelines for nearly an hour, and a lack of rhythm resulted in a goose egg in the third round, but that doesn't take away from his monstrous performance. 

He had everyone's jaws scraping the ground and, as Andrew McCutchen put it, grown men screaming like girls: 

So, yes. Was the derby lackluster? Absolutely. Did it run about two hours too long? No doubt about it. Are changes needed in the future? Surely. 

But Cespedes and Stanton's individual performances reminded the world that the derby still has awe-inspiring, stop-everything-you're-doing-and-watch-this potential. If the league could just get the rules right, this could be one of the most thrilling exhibition events in all of sports. 

That may seem like a colossal "if" after Monday night, but rest assured, the future is anything but bleak.