Long earlier than Pete Alonso, Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Julio Rodríguez and different modern sluggers thrilled us with their prodigious energy throughout All-Star Home Run Derby competitions, one title towered above the remaining within the annals of Derby lore:
No one has received as many Derby titles as Griffey’s three. The mixture of his immaculate swing, his capacity to ship beneath strain, his standing as probably the most thrilling participant within the recreation and, in fact, that backwards cap, made him a Derby legend the likes of which we haven’t seen since.
With the Home Run Derby going down in Seattle for the primary time in additional than 20 years, Griffey’s memorable performances within the eight Derbies he participated in from 1990-2000 will function a becoming backdrop for this yr’s competitors, which takes place Monday evening on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Park — also called the “House that Griffey Built.”
Griffey, the face of the sport within the Nineties and one of many best heart fielders in baseball historical past, took a while to return to that unforgettable period and share his Derby reminiscences, starting with a second that will be linked with him so intently that he even talked about it in his Hall of Fame induction speech.
It was 30 years in the past that Junior gave us arguably probably the most iconic second in Home Run Derby historical past at Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards. While he didn’t win the 1993 contest, one momentous shot off his bat set the stage for a Derby profession not like another.
1993: ‘It hit the warehouse!’
“I just thought it was way too far.”
Way too far? Is something means too far for Ken Griffey Jr.?
Looking again, Griffey says the primary thought that crossed his thoughts when he laid eyes on the historic B&O Warehouse that stands about 60 ft past the proper area wall at Camden Yards was that he’d by no means attain it with a homer.
“I mean, it’s like 460 feet or something, and you have to clear a 20-foot wall, so I wasn’t expecting to hit it,” Griffey mentioned. “I didn’t really hit that ‘oooh-eee’ type of home run. It’s more of a line drive that keeps going. I didn’t hit the Canseco-, McGwire-, Bonds-type homers.”
Back in 1993, the competitors had one untimed regulation spherical, and in keeping with the foundations, every swing was both a homer or certainly one of ten “outs.” Junior belted seven homers, however Rangers slugger Juan Gonzalez additionally hit seven, and for the primary time there was a Home Run Derby tiebreaker.
Griffey and Gonzalez every launched 4 within the tiebreaker spherical, forcing one other, which Gonzalez received. But it was Griffey’s closing homer that stole the present.
Junior scorched a laser headed for Eutaw Street past the proper area wall. As the ball sailed over the fence, it was as if the almost 50,000 followers available knew this was going to be a particular second — the cheering abruptly hushed because the spectators waited with bated breath to see the place this baseball would land.
Then, jubilation within the right-field stands. A couple of seconds later, the general public tackle announcer, Jon Miller, broke the information: “It hit the warehouse!” he exclaimed. Griffey stepped out of the batter’s field and flashed his signature smile.
“That’s when I had to just sit back and start laughing,” he mentioned.
The 465-foot shot stays the one residence run to hit the warehouse within the air, both in an exhibition or in a recreation. While that homer is probably the most well-known Griffey hit in a Derby, there have been many others that had been unforgettable, significantly the very subsequent yr.
1994: Home run homecoming
One of probably the most unimaginable items of baseball trivia entails Donora, Pennsylvania. The metal mill city of fewer than 5,000 folks is located about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh and is the birthplace of two of the best gamers in MLB historical past: Stan Musial and Ken Griffey Jr.
What’s much more wonderful is that these two Hall of Famers had been born precisely 49 years aside — Musial on November 21, 1920, and Griffey on November 21, 1969.
“We’ve got a lot of hits from that date in that small town,” Griffey mentioned, referring to the mixed 6,411 Major League hits between the 2. “That’s probably a record. The crazy thing is, the sign when you come into Donora says ‘Home of Champions.’”
That would come with Home Run Derby champions, significantly the winner of the 1994 contest in close by Pittsburgh. Griffey hit seven homers at Three Rivers Stadium — 5 of which landed within the higher deck — to say his first Derby trophy.
But that isn’t why he considers it probably the most particular of his Derby victories.
“All my friends and family were there,” Griffey mentioned. “If I’d have lost, they would’ve given me some grief. So I didn’t have to worry about that.”
Griffey missed the 1995 and ’96 Home Run Derbies on account of damage. In ’97, he was again, however after a Sunday evening recreation in opposition to the Angels in California and a red-eye flight throughout the nation to Cleveland, he was worn out and didn’t advance previous the primary spherical.
“I was mentally and physically drained from the travel and getting up and having to do the press conference early before workouts because I was the top vote-getter for the All-Star Game,” Griffey mentioned.
“We got into town about 6:30 a.m., and the press conference was at 8:30. So by the time I actually got to the Home Run Derby, I was just exhausted. I still did it and got bounced and got booed, and I was like, ‘Well, that’s not doing me any good.’”
Junior initially determined to not take part within the 1998 Derby at Coors Field. But he not solely modified his thoughts, he went and received it with 19 homers over three rounds, besting Cleveland slugger Jim Thome.
The following yr at Fenway Park, nevertheless, it appeared prefer it is perhaps Cleveland yet again for Griffey. With one out to go within the opening spherical, he had just one residence run. He wanted two to advance to Round 2.
In Griffey’s case, there was extra than simply the strain of being all the way down to his closing out with development out of the primary spherical at stake. There was additionally the strain of being Ken Griffey Jr., the celebrity who at all times delivers.
Once you’ve got set the bar as excessive as Griffey had set it, it will probably generally really feel as if nothing you do after that’s adequate. Excellence, if under that bar, is simply not ample. But for Junior, the maths was fairly easy.
“There are only two things that can happen,” he mentioned of pressure-packed conditions on the plate. “Either you do it, or you don’t. I know what I have to do.”
And he did what he needed to do in Boston that evening, belting an extended homer to heart area and another over the Green Monster for good measure.
Griffey went on to slam 10 homers in Round 2 earlier than launching three within the closing spherical in opposition to the Brewers’ Jeromy Burnitz to seize his third Derby title.
Griffey’s swing appeared tailored for the Home Run Derby.
“He has such a natural home run swing that he really doesn’t have to change much for this competition,” mentioned Hall of Famer Joe Morgan on the ESPN telecast in 1994. “He has a slight uppercut to his swing.”
But even for Griffey, none of it simply occurred — he didn’t simply roll off the bed and win Home Run Derby competitions, as a lot because it appeared that means generally. Or hit 56 residence runs in back-to-back seasons. Or win 10 Gold Glove Awards. Or do all of it with impeccable type.
“People think a baseball player’s day ends when the game’s over,” Griffey mentioned. “But that’s when the subsequent day begins. You may go 4-for-4, however in the event you go 0-for-4, you’re desirous about that in your drive residence. You’re desirous about it at 11:00 or 12:00 at evening in the event you had a day recreation.
“I worked hard at it.”
And that features the pristine swing. Did Griffey alter it to make it extra appropriate for the Derby? Not precisely.
“I didn’t change it,” he mentioned. “I just hit the ball three inches further out front. Because when I hit it three inches out front, I’m on the upslope of my swing.”
Those ‘oooh-eee’ homers
What may Griffey have finished beneath the present Home Run Derby guidelines, by which you might be allotted a sure period of time to take as many swings as potential to rack up the homers?
It’s enjoyable to consider. But in the event you’re Ken Griffey Jr., there isn’t any want.
“I don’t even worry about it,” he mentioned. “It’s not for me to decide what I could’ve done. I just look at it as things have changed and the game has evolved. This is what the fans want and it generates a lot of excitement for the guys participating.”
In all, Griffey hit 74 homers in Home Run Derby competitors. But even the Derby king is awestruck by as we speak’s sluggers.
Especially once they hit these “oooh-eee” homers.
“Some of these homers guys are hitting nowadays, I’m like, ‘Wow, I wish I could hit them that high,’” Griffey mentioned.
Surely Junior hasn’t forgotten about a number of the extra majestic of the 630 residence runs he hit throughout his magnificent profession, has he?
“No,” he mentioned with a realizing smile. “But those were on breaking balls.”
Well, you don’t see a lot of these within the Home Run Derby.
Content Source: www.mlb.com