Home Run Derby 2010: Derby Slowly Becoming Like Slam-Dunk Contest

There was a time when the greatest sluggers took center stage. A time when the biggest, baddest hitters in the game gathered the night before the All-Star game to display their power. Back when chicks dug the long ball.

That time has seemingly passed.

The Major League Baseball Home Run Derby has slowly become less of a spectacle.

Over the years, there have been some memorable derbies. Josh Hamilton’s 28 bombs was a great story. Prince Fielder hit over 10,000 feet worth of home runs in the most recent derby. Lance Berkman hit five balls that left his home field at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Ken Griffey Jr. hit the B & O Warehouse across the street from Camden Yards back in 1993.

Yes, the derby has had its share of moments.

The question is, where have all the sluggers gone?

This year’s participants—Miguel Cabrera, Vernon Wells, David Ortiz, and Nick Swisher in the American League and Matt Holliday, Hanley Ramirez, Chris Young, and Corey Hart in the NL—have all the makings of a quality contest. However, it’s top-heavy in terms of big-time power hitters.

Cabrera is a legitimate triple-crown candidate. Vernon Wells is a part of the most prolific power-hitting team in the league this year, the Toronto Blue Jays. David Ortiz blasts towering home runs like he’s using a nine-iron, and he has a history of entertaining derby performances.

But I won’t be rushing to the television to see Corey Hart. Nick Swisher is a fine player and the reason the Yankee clubhouse was loose enough to win a championship last season. However, he’s my odds-on favorite to be the first eliminated and most likely to put up a goose egg.

Young has just 15 home runs, two more than Ramirez. Sure, Ramirez is far more powerful than his 13 dingers suggest, but again, his round, much like Young's, may be beer-run or bathroom-break material.

Where are Adam Dunn and Albert Pujols? Didn’t Joey Votto get voted in? How about Vladamir Guerrero and the Major League-leader—with 24 bombs—Jose Bautista?

The 2010 season has given us the return of the dominant pitchers. There have been an amazing four no-hitters, two of which were perfect games. There was Armando Gallaraga’s should-have-been perfect game.

And that’s just the first half.

There is a growing sentiment that participating in the derby negatively affects sluggers’ swings going into the second half. For this reason, the top sluggers in the game are often dissuaded from participating, either by fear of altering their swing or by suggestions from team management.

And this is why the Home Run Derby is a spectacle akin to the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest. There’s no LeBron James or Kobe Bryant. Vince Carter won’t participate anymore. Dwyane Wade won’t make it to the contest either.

The game’s true stars no longer want to participate in these events out of fear of injury or, in baseball, altering their swings.

And that’s a shame, because some of the game’s greatest sluggers have provided some of the best derby moments. Like when Mark McGwire blasted bomb after bomb over the Green Monster and toward the Massachusetts Turnpike. Frank Thomas’ 519-foot blast in Pittsburgh. McGwire and Barry Bonds trading homer after homer while battling for the derby title in 1996.

It used to be a night I marked on my calendar—a must-see power display that featured the game’s best sluggers.

Now, it’s more of a dog-and-pony show, and the contest has lost some of its luster. While I cannot blame those who decide not to participate, I sure wish they’d change their minds.

Meanwhile, I’ve made other plans this evening.