Big stars shouldn't duck the derby
Posted: Monday, July 14, 2008 6:16 PM
Reggie Jackson threw out the first pitch before the 2008 Home Run Derby. Then he stayed on the field to take a few cuts, not at a baseball, but at the guys who don’t want to enter the derby because it might mess up their swings. No names were mentioned, but every fan in the park knew that hometown hero Alex Rodriguez was one of those people.
“It wouldn’t have bothered me, because every time I went to the plate, I was trying to get the ball in the air for three or four seconds,” Jackson told Michael Kay, Yankee broadcaster and P.A. announcer for the derby. “Anytime I hit the ball on the ground, it was a mistake.”
Jackson would have loved the home run derby, and it’s a shame baseball didn’t have it when he was in his prime 30 years ago. Unlike A-Rod and other top sluggers who bypass the derby, he didn’t worry about his swing, and he certainly didn’t worry about the pressure.
I don’t buy for a minute that stuff A-Rod and others say about their swings. It’s not about the swing. It’s about the reputation. He doesn’t want to go up there, get eliminated in the first round and then get pounded again by the media for failing to hit in the clutch.
Lance Berkman of the Astros, who’s done this four times now, doesn’t blame anyone who opts out.
“I respect and understand why guys don’t want to do the Derby,” Berkman told reporters. “Really, it’s a no-win situation. If you out there and lay a goose egg, they’re like, ‘This is batting practice. How can you not hit a ball out of the ballpark?’ It’s just one more stressful event in the course of the season.”
A player can tell himself it’s just for fun, Berkman said, but these are professional athletes, and they’re competitive cusses. The stands are full and there’s an international television audience. “It’s a little nerve-wracking,” he testified.
I suppose he has a point, but so does Reggie. But that’s why Reggie was called Mr. October and A-Rod is Mr. Regular-Season MVP. Reggie loved the big moments, and he didn’t fear failure. If he entered HRD, he’d either hit 20 out or none and if he stunk the joint out, it wouldn’t have bothered him a bit. Of course, he wouldn’t have gone without a homer. Not Reggie. Not in Yankee Stadium. No way.
Reggie named a few others from his era who could hit a little – Orlando Cepeda, Harmon Killebrew and Willie Stargell among them. I’ve got a feeling none of them would have backed out of a home-run derby. And they certainly wouldn’t have whined about their swings.
Baseball could use a few more like them these days, some superstars who aren’t afraid to swing for the fences in an exhibition of power hitting. They’re the guys who give an event like this that extra sizzle that sells it to fans and viewers.
This is no knock on the eight guys who took lumber in hand and swung for the fences Monday night. Chase Utley, Ryan Braun, Dan Uggla and Lance Berkman are among the best sluggers in the National League. And Justin Morneau, Josh Hamilton, Grady Sizemore and Evan Longoria answer to the same description in the AL.
There’s no questioning their credentials, but if you’re going to have a special exhibition and make an entire night out of it, you’d like to see A-Rod, Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols taking part. They’re the biggest names in the game. They should be there.
As far as that goes, baseball should reserve the right to designate a wild-card slugger from each league for years like this. Ryan Howard is the most powerful slugger in baseball, and he leads the majors in home runs and RBI. But he didn’t make the All-Star Team, so we don’t get to see him in the HRD. In the American League, Jason Giambi, a hometown hero with a patented Yankee Stadium swing, all but begged to get in the contest. He should have gotten his wish.
