Right-handed hitters feast at Minute Maid Park. That’s why the switch-hitting Lance Berkman batted right-handed in Monday night’s home run derby, even though he’s much more powerful from the left side.
If anyone was a favorite under these conditions, it was Sammy Sosa. Yet the guy who never misses a chance to show off his power failed to seize the moment. Sosa was the only right-handed hitter eliminated in the first round of a contest eventually won by Baltimore’s Miguel Tejada.
On a night when Major League Baseball staged an unprecedented celebration of the long ball, honoring the 20 players to hit 500 career home runs, including appearances by all 14 surviving members of the club, the perfect script would have had a finals duel between Barry Bonds and Sosa.
Baseball seldom follows a script.
After an impressive first round in which he pulled eight balls into the right-field seats–and in one notable case, beyond the right-field seats–Bonds joined Sosa on the sidelines.
Tejada and Houston’s Berkman advanced to the finals, delighting the crowd of 41,754 at the retractable-roof ballpark. Both were late replacements, Tejada taking the place of Jason Giambi and Berkman stepping in for Ken Griffey Jr., who tore his hamstring Sunday.
Berkman, who has hit 129 of his 142 career homers left-handed, appeared worn out after a semifinal round in which he hit three consecutive pitches onto Crawford Street, beyond the limestone wall.
Berkman batted first in the finals and managed only four homers. Tejada reached five after only five of the 10 allotted outs–any swing not resulting in a homer.
Tejada hit 27 homers overall in his 52 swings, including 15 in the semifinals. He finished with the highest total and individual round total in the event’s history. Not bad for a guy who is tied for 15th in the American League with 15 homers.
Sosa, who had put on prolific displays in previous contests, wasn’t himself this time around. He seemed too anxious after hitting in the cages under the stands while many of the first six hitters batted.
After being introduced, Sosa took the first pitch from Benny Cadahia, the Cubs’ bullpen catcher, and then swung and missed at the second. He was out in front of the pitch and didn’t really find his timing until he had seven outs. Sosa had homered on only one of his first nine swings, but then he staged an eight-out rally.
Sosa homered on four consecutive swings, including a towering drive off the windows above the limestone wall estimated at 451 feet. But he was stuck at five homers, hitting outfield liners on his last two swings.
Sosa was in fourth place after seven hitters, leaving him in position to be eliminated by Rafael Palmeiro. The former Cub took care of the current one, hitting nine homers to advance to the semifinals alongside Bonds, Berkman and Tejada.
Sosa had finished the first half of the season on a roll. He was 6-for-12 with two homers and six RBIs over the weekend in St. Louis.
“It’s a different game,” said Sosa, who has 555 career homers. “I was trying to hit them for the fans, [but] I missed pretty much on some of my swings.”
The chance to be honored alongside Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Mark McGwire and Ernie Banks meant it was anything but a wasted evening for Sosa.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Based on how hard they rooted for the hometown guy, standing throughout the finals, fans seemed to second the motion.
Home run derby results
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PLAYER TEAM RD1 SEMI FINAL TOTAL LONG
Miguel Tejada Baltimore 7 15 5-x 27 497
Lance Berkman Houston 7 10 4 21 493
Rafael Palmeiro Baltimore 9 5 — 14 425
Barry Bonds San Francisco 8 3 — 11 483
Sammy Sosa CUBS 5 — — 5 423
Jim Thome Philadelphia 4 — — 4 430
Hank Blalock Texas 3 — — 3 453
David Ortiz Boston 3 — — 3 419
x-had 5 outs remaining
Recent winners
YEAR PLAYER TEAM SITE
2003 Garret Anderson Angels U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago
2002 Jason Giambi Yankees Miller Park, Milwaukee
2001 Luis Gonzalez Diamondbacks Safeco Field, Seattle
2000 Sammy Sosa CUBS Turner Field, Atlanta
1999 Ken Griffey Jr. Mariners Fenway Park, Boston
1998 Ken Griffey Jr. Mariners Coors Field, Colorado
1997 Tino Martinez Yankees Jacobs Field, Cleveland
1996 Barry Bonds Giants Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
All-Star lineups
N. AMERICAN TEAM POS
1. Ichiro Suzuki Seattle CF
2. Ivan Rodriguez Detroit C
3. Vladimir Guerrero Anaheim RF
4. Manny Ramirez Boston LF
5. Alex Rodriguez New York 3B
6. Jason Giambi New York 1B
7. Derek Jeter New York SS
8. Alfonso Soriano Texas 2B
9. Mark Mulder Oakland P
N. NATIONAL TEAM POS
1. Edgar Renteria St. Louis SS
2. Albert Pujols St. Louis 1B
3. Barry Bonds San Fran. LF
4. Scott Rolen St. Louis 3B
5. Sammy Sosa CUBS RF
6. Mike Piazza New York C
7. Lance Berkman Houston CF
8. Jeff Kent Houston 2B
9. Roger Clemens Houston P
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