Cue the monotonous announcement of yet another drawn out batting practice environment to determine the Home Run Derby 2017 winner. You know the one, the Dinger Derby that takes far too long, makes you switch between Call of Duty and probing a bee hive in hopes of producing something more exciting.
Yeah, not so much this time around. This time it was electric. And after it came down to Joc Pederson and the hometown favorite Todd Frazier, Frazier won it 15-14 to claim the 2017 Home Run Derby championship.
Sure, it took some adjusting to. The new rules of four minutes on the clock with only one 45 second break allowed made it seem like a forced event that was moving too quickly. Geez, you can't make anyone happy around here. Anthony Rizzo and his batting practice pitcher seemed out of sync, rushed and unable to find a rhythm. He had eight. Josh Donaldson stepped to the plate and had nine to advance to Round 2.
Okay, it's alright, but I'm not thrilled.
Enter Prince Fielder. Eight of his 13 home runs were over 425 feet. Somewhere some baseballs are huddled in a corner, crying in fear for their fellow baseball lives. But that was nothing compared to Todd Frazier. Home field advantage or no, Frazier made Donkey Kong look like a kitten by the way he sent the ball flying out of the park.
And yes, that nearly happened. Stupid sign. Frazier destroyed a baseball that literally bounced off the Great American Insurance Group giant scoreboard, and would have left the ballpark had it not been in the way. Frazier had 13 by the end of his four allotted minutes of time. He needed just one more to advance. Really, I feel bad for those baseballs (not really).