Home Run Derby brings excitement

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Monday night’s Major League Baseball Home Run Derby was one of the most exciting that I can ever remember watching, but I’m not a fan of the one-versus-one format.

Pete Alonso ended up stealing the show after knocking off Vlad Guerrero Jr., in the final round.

Guerrero Jr., should have been the real winner.

How does a guy with the third most home runs win the derby?

I like the timed rounds as opposed to the old 10 outs rule, but I wish that the entire bracket competed against each other.

I get the excitement that goes along with the one-versus-one format because we probably wouldn’t have seen an epic battle in the semifinals like we did with Joc Pederson and Guerrero Jr., but whose to say they wouldn’t have put on that show going up against each other in the finals.

With the current set up, Guerrero Jr., hit 91 home runs and finished second, Pederson hit 60 home runs and was put out in the second round and then you have Alonso who hit 57 home runs to win the derby.

Alonso had the easier path to the finals and needed a lot less swings to get there.

Just let all eight compete against each other.