One Year Later: How To Fix the Home Run Derby

A year ago, following the ridiculousness of Justin Morneau winning the Home Run Derby when the only person anyone remembers is Josh Hamilton, Small White Ball had enough and decided to present our ways to fix the Home Run Derby.

Sadly, none of our changes have made the cut, but we'll press on every year until something changes. Yes, we realize we're complaining about a exhibition, but there's a reason people watch, a reason there are major sponsors attached, and a reason why ESPN airs the show in primetime.

It's important enough that given all of that, people should care about the rules and how to improve them.

So take a few minutes out of your day and head back to July 2008, just one week removed from the Morneau Home Run Derby victory.

July 21, 2008

One week ago, Josh Hamilton put on a Derby hitting display that might never be matched again for the total amount of those long balls, total distance of those shots (12,458 feet if you're counting), and the total story that went into the package that encompassed that 30-minute clinic the Texas Rangers outfielder and his 71-year-old high school coach, Clay Council, put on in the first round.

But because of the way the rules are set up, Hamilton didn't win the competition because there were two more rounds left and the finals don't take either Rounds One or Two into effect.

As a result, all it took was Justin Morneau's five homers to Hamilton's three in the finals to take the 2008 Home Run Derby title away from Hamilton and a greater story away from the rest of us staring into the fishbowl of Hamilton's life.

The final round of the Derby is always the worst. Over the past five competitions, there has been an average of 4.7 homers hit per competitor in the final frame and let's face it: They always pale in comparison to what happens early on. Guys are tired, the pitching coaches are tired, and the fans are worn out from cheering early.

But since the first two rounds don't count when it comes to the finals, those last swings ultimately is what decides the winner, favoring endurance and doing just enough early on to advance. So how do we solve it?

Allow me to introduce the Small White Ball scoring system for the Home Run Derby, no patent pending and free for Major League Baseball to use:

• First round: One point for every homer hit
• Second round: Two points for every homer hit
• Finals: Three points for every homer hit

The rationale here is pretty simple: Hit a lot early to help you advance, be consistent enough in the second round to make the finals, and then turn it on in the finals when the points really matter. Fans would be engaged in the process throughout, both for the leaders and those looking to advance to the next round.

C'mon now...who doesn't love points, especially in situations where they are easy to track? In this year's scenario, Hamilton would be rewarded for his first-round explosion, Morneau would be equally rewarded for his second round blasts and then, we'd have a comeback situation going into the last round, which I think would keep fans engaged more so than starting people off at zero.

Here's how this would have played out with homers per round:

• Hamilton: 28/4/3 for a total of 45 points
• Morneau: 8/9/5 for a total of 41 points.

Going into the Finals, Morneau would have been 10 points behind and would had needed four homers more than Hamilton to win, creating a true come-from-behind aspect the competition doesn't have right now.

Hamilton, thanks to his awesome early performance, would be crowned the champion and all would have been right with the world. How about the year before?

• Vlad Guerrero: 5/9/3 for a total of 32 points.
• Alex Rios 5/12/2 for a total of 35 points.

Fueled by his 12-blast explosion in the second round, Rios would have won the title. Instead, Vlad hit a measly three homers to Rios' two in the finals to earn the crown. Three homers? That's it?

Now the system does have some flaws like 2005 when Bobby Abreu's 69 points would have decimated Ivan Rodriguez' 38, but in any points-driven competition, you're going to get years like that. (For a full breakdown of how the points system would look over the past five years, here you go.)

Yeah, we might be getting worked up over a simple exhibition, but hear us out. If that's the case, why is it broadcast in prime time on ESPN and why does it attract big sponsors? Why were Hamilton and Abreu's record-setting performances national news the next day? Why are fans asked to care at all?

The national emergence of Josh Hamilton needed an exclamation point, but because of the way the Derby is set up, he was denied that moment. Instead, we have a great guy in Morneau that had to accept a trophy when the spotlight clearly wasn't supposed to be on him. There's a way to fix it, MLB. Adopt the point system!

Josh Nason is the main writer and publisher of Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog. He can be reached at josh [at] smallwhiteball [dot-com] and has been a Bleacher Report contributor since 2008.