2011 HR Derby Thread

[Party]

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- The Home Run Derby will have captains for the first time.

The Milwaukee Brewers' Prince Fielder, who won in 2009, will lead the NL squad, while defending champion David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox has been named captain of the AL team, Major League Baseball announced Thursday.

The NL and AL will compete in teams for the first time. The captains will choose three other participants for their teams. All players are eligible to be selected, not just those named to All-Star rosters.

The format to determine the individual champion remains the same, but the total number of homers hit by all players in all rounds will be counted for both squads to determine the winning team and captain.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6725133

[marlins_virus.exe]

Team thing is dumb

[Metes]

That's because you're not a team player

[Fritz]

Fip.com/lolwut

[Fish Tank Frenzy]

Do you think this will help or hurt Stanton's chances of participating in the derby?

[MiamiHomer]

joecapMARLINS joe capozzi
Gaby says Stanton told him he'd let loose if invited #Marlins


Oh baby.

[Ramp]

I'm always torn about this stuff

[Omar]

I don't think it'd be an issue at all with Stanton. He doesn't need to have pitch recognition in BP.

[mbitcronod12]

JCRMarlinsbeat: No Stanton in HR Derby. Prince Fielder goes with teammate Rickie Weeks, in addition to Matt Kemp and Matt Holliday. #Marlins

/Twitter

[MiamiHomer]

Terrible.

[Bobbob1313]

Rickie Weeks is a cool little ball player, but come on.

[Mainge]

Surprised Braun wasn't the pick. He must have declined.

[MiamiHomer]

Only guy I'm interested in watching is Jose Bautista. I wanted to see Justin Upton as well.

[Chewford]

Prince Fielder goes with teammate Rickie Weeks

So we can conclude the captain picking the participants is stupid already?

[FishFanInPA]

shoulda picked Shaun Marcum after his granny last night.

[Big Z]

That fucking sucks, he picked his boys. I'm not watching that shit.

[Ramp]

Maybe Rickie Weeks is a monster in batting practice

[Party]

I want to be on record saying Prince Fielder is an idiot.

[Fish Tank Frenzy]

Prince doesnt seem very intelligent from his interviews but that is unfair for me to judge him based off of 1 minute interviews. Weeks has some pop and its batting practice many MLBers can put on a show in BP. Yes, I would say that having "captains" is very very very stupid. Milwaukee better watch out TWO of their guys gon suck in the second half of the season for them!

[Miamarlin21]

I'm gonna boycott this and watch the celebrity softball game instead. (Like I always do)

[jOOj]

Joey Bats will win this festival of long ball.

[MiamiHomer]

Berman sounds like Chris Farley calling the HRs.

[Miamarlin21]

Thoughts so far?

[MiamiHomer]

I turned it off after like 5 minutes.

[jOOj]

I'm watching RAW.

[MiamiHomer]

Looking at the totals on espn.com Fielder really put together a rock solid team...

[Mainge]

Yeah, if they're gonna pick turds, they shouldn't be allowed to be a Captain.

[marlins_virus.exe]

It got turned off for Anthony bourdain

Bud Selig really has a way of taking things I love and destroying them

[Chewford]

Looks like Rickie Weeks and Matt Kemp put on quite the show. Thanks, Prince Fielder!

What a dumb fucking rule. Did the HR derby really need altering? Was anyone complaining about the way it was done?

[marlins_virus.exe]

No but Bud likes to meddle in fucking everything

[Ramp]

What exactly are we mad at Fielder for? Choosing Weeks and his 17 homeruns over Stanton and his 18?

[Omar]

I like Bob Ryan's idea of having a pitcher from each league participate

[Bobbob1313]

What exactly are we mad at Fielder for? Choosing Weeks and his 17 homeruns over Stanton and his 18?

Well, Ricky Weeks does have almost 70 more PAs than Stanton for that one less HR.

[marlins_virus.exe]

I'm not mad at fielder, I'm just mad at bud

No need for teams, no need to have a player pick the other participants. Everything about the all star game is fucked up and that's why it's become the least entertaining of all the major sports all star games. The fans vote in people who shouldn't be there, players get replaced by guys on the managers' team, etc. That's why it's a shitty game on a mid week night and not a weekend event with the whole country watching

[MiamiHomer]

I'm not mad at fielder, I'm just mad at bud

No need for teams, no need to have a player pick the other participants. Everything about the all star game is fucked up and that's why it's become the least entertaining of all the major sports all star games. The fans vote in people who shouldn't be there, players get replaced by guys on the managers' team, etc. That's why it's a shitty game on a mid week night and not a weekend event with the whole country watching

Not to mention the game actually matters for the teams going to the World Series.

[Bobbob1313]

why it's become the least entertaining of all the major sports all star games.

Oh come on.
--------------------
The fans vote in people who shouldn't be there, players get replaced by guys on the managers' team, etc.

Also, this is how every other league does it, no?
--------------------
The Pro Bowl is by far the worst All Star game.

[Ramp]

All Star baseball still beats the Pro Bowl
--------------------
I have no problem with captains or teams in the Derby. For all we know, Rickie Weeks is an absolute monster in batting practice.

It should just be the top 4 in each league should be in it. Makes the most sense.

[Bobbob1313]

Also, the NHL All Star festivities are fun, but the game removes everything that is cool about Hockey. I'll take MLB all star game over that.

And the Slam Dunk contest was fixed last year!

And Yao Ming has been the starting center in the West for 3+ decades.

[MiamiHomer]

The only problem I have with MLB is the fact that it determines home field advantage for the WS.

[Bobbob1313]

It should be best record. But does that really take away from the entertainment of the game?

And every year, there's a few guys who suck. If it wasn't Rickie Weeks, it could have been Dan Uggla like a few years back.

[Miamarlin21]

OMG this is taking way to fucking long. I'm ready for the damn softball game.

[Mainge]

It should be best record. But does that really take away from the entertainment of the game?

And every year, there's a few guys who suck. If it wasn't Rickie Weeks, it could have been Dan Uggla like a few years back.

Who hit 3x as many homerunsas Weeks.

And yes, I'm mad Ricky Weeks is in the Homerun Derby, and no, I don't care Stanton isn't in it.

[Bobbob1313]

Who hit 3x as many homerunsas Weeks.

And yes, I'm mad Ricky Weeks is in the Homerun Derby, and no, I don't care Stanton isn't in it.

For some reason I thought Uggla did really poorly.

Fine, how about Magglio Ordonez, Ryan Howard, or Prince Fielder in 07? Evan Longoria in 08? Adrian Gonzalez and Brandon Inge in 09. Chris Young or Vernon Wells in 10?

A bad performance in the HR Derby is almost guaranteed, no matter how they are selected.

[Party]

Cano really hit the shit out of the ball.

[Ramp]

add Mike Piazza to the bombed out list

[Party]

Erin Andrews has no legs.

[Omar]

Cano's dad reminds me of every kid in Miami's dad

The Bocanegra thing was cool

[Bobbob1313]

Kid from Glee doing his best Nelly impersonation.

[Mainge]

For some reason I thought Uggla did really poorly.

Fine, how about Magglio Ordonez, Ryan Howard, or Prince Fielder in 07? Evan Longoria in 08? Adrian Gonzalez and Brandon Inge in 09. Chris Young or Vernon Wells in 10?

A bad performance in the HR Derby is almost guaranteed, no matter how they are selected.

I'd rather see all of them sans Ordonez and Brandon Inge.

I want guys that can get hit an upper deck shot off the end of the bat. Not a guy who can get it over the fence, if that makes any sense.

Ricky Weeks is a really good hitter. I don't want him in my Homerun Derby.

[Fritz]

http://i51.tinypic.com/10mlvgy.jpg