Big Papi Wins the Home Run Derby

The only valid event during the All Star Break (to me anyway) was played today with the Home Run Derby. That's right, the Home Run Derby is better than the All Star Game, the Futures game, and the Legends/Celebrity game combined. Yet, it still boring after the first five minutes. Many folks look forward to seeing the derby because of all the big name sluggers hitting the ball as hard and far as they can. Regrettably, many of the big name sluggers would not participate this year as they feared that their batting stats would dip during the second half of season because of it. It is a legitimate concern but the derby now gets stuck with guys who aren't as well known. Who wants to see Nick Swisher over Ryan Howard?

The show went on, anyway, and it turned out alright. Cory Hart (who?) of the Brewers would hit 13 homers in the first round setting the bar high. Rounds 1 and 2 had David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez pass Hart scoring a total of 21 home runs each. Hart would be too tired to hit anymore home runs and would be eliminated. Hanley and Big Papi dueled with Ortiz winning in the final round hitting 11 home runs. Hanley would only hit 5. Ortiz finished as the Home Run Derby Champion for 2010 with 32 total home runs, the most for anyone in the competition. Ortiz proves that he can still hit the long ball despite being clean.