Stealing the spotlight from a former teammate, Luis Gonzalez upset defending champion Sammy Sosa in the finals of the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday night.
Gonzalez, who played alongside Sosa on the Cubs in 1995 and ’96, outhomered Sosa in the finals 6-2. The difference may have been that the guy who was throwing to both of them, bullpen catcher Jeff Motuzas of the Arizona Diamondbacks, is Gonzalez’s regular batting-practice pitcher.
“This guy has been awesome to me, throwing day in and day out,” said Gonzalez, who is second to Barry Bonds with 35 home runs. “To be rewarded by being able to bring somebody with you is just awesome.”
Sosa, who beat Ken Griffey Jr. last year at Atlanta’s Turner Field, couldn’t get comfortable this time. In the final round, he took 18 of 30 pitches.
Sosa barely made it out of the first round. He hit only three homers in his 13 swings, which left him sweating out Alex Rodriguez’s appearance as the last of eight hitters.
If Rodriguez had hit more than three, Sosa would have been eliminated. He managed only two, failing on each of his last four swings as the Safeco Park crowd of 46,733 cheered.
In the semifinal round, Sosa faced Oakland’s Jason Giambi in a battle of league MVPs. The reigning American League MVP had advanced by hitting 14 homers, a record for a single round.
Sosa, batting first, was unusually selective during his extended round. He hit eight homers in his 18 swings, spraying them from right-center to the left-field line. Giambi answered with six homers in his first 11 swings–including a towering drive into the fourth deck in right field–but failed on his last five swings.
Gonzalez is a second-time All-Star. While Sosa had been in the Home Run Derby three previous years, it was a first for the Arizona left fielder.
“This is awesome,” Gonzalez said. “Seeing all the other guys in the derby, I didn’t expect to be in this situation. It’s just awesome.
“I’m kind of in a fog. I was so nervous. I felt like a little kid.”
RESULTS
FIRST ROUND TOTAL LONG
Jason Giambi, Oak 14 460
Barry Bonds, SF 7 476
Luis Gonzalez, Ari 5 440
Sammy Sosa, Cubs 3 467
Bret Boone, Sea 3 406
Alex Rodriguez, Tex 2 415
Todd Helton, Col 2 425
Troy Glaus, Ana 0 —
SECOND ROUND TOTAL LONG
Luis Gonzalez, Ari 5 417
Barry Bonds, SF 3 421
Sammy Sosa, Cubs 8 468
Jason Giambi, Oak 6 453
FINALS TOTAL LONG
Luis Gonzalez, Ari 6 426
Sammy Sosa, Cubs 2 385
Past winners
2000: Sammy Sosa, Cubs
1999: Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle
1998: Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle
1997: Tino Martinez, N.Y. Yankees
1996: Barry Bonds, San Francisco
1995: Frank Thomas, White Sox
1994: Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle
1993: Juan Gonzalez, Texas
1992: Mark McGwire, Oakland
1991: Cal Ripken, Baltimore
1990: Ryne Sandberg, Cubs
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