Bautista Favored In 2011 Home Run Derby
Reigning MLB home run king Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays leads a field of eight participants for the 2011 State Farm Home Run Derby on Monday at Chase Field in Phoenix and has been installed as the 3/1 favorite.
Bautista led all players heading into the weekend with 29 homers after hitting a career-high 54 last season in his seventh year and third in Toronto. Television coverage of the event will begin at 5 p.m. (PT) on ESPN.
The former Pittsburgh Pirate – who played with four different teams as a rookie in 2004 – has been a bit of an enigma in the post-steroids era of baseball. Bautista had never hit more than the 16 dingers he tallied with Pittsburgh in 2006 before last year, but he had also played in more than 128 games only once in his first six seasons.
American League captain David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox is the defending champion and ranks second all-time in Home Run Derby round trippers with 68 after hitting 32 last year. Ortiz is appropriately the second choice among oddsmakers at 9/2 to win the competition that will also pit each league against each other for the first time in history. The winning captain will get $150,000 to donate to his charity of choice while the loser will get $25,000.
As captain, Ortiz got the opportunity to pick three players for the AL and chose Bautista, Red Sox teammate Adrian Gonzalez (5/1) and New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano (6/1). National League captain Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers joins Gonzalez at 5/1 and will have Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp (6/1), St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday (7/1) and Milwaukee teammate Rickie Weeks (15/1) on his side.
Ortiz figures to pass all-time leader Ken Griffey Jr. (70) in the first round of the Home Run Derby, but a fast start has not guaranteed a title over the years. He hit eight in the first round last year, which was topped by Brewers outfielder Corey Hart (13) and Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez (nine). Hart did not hit one in the second round and was eliminated while Ramirez hit 12 before losing to Ortiz in the finals, 11-5.
The player with the most homers in the first round has gone on to win the competition just twice in the past five years, and both winners were tied for the lead with other players (Fielder in 2009 and Vladimir Guerrero in 2007). Two of the past four winners had the most total homers in the competition that year (Fielder and Ortiz).
Only three Home Run Derby winners have gone on to knock one out of the park in the All-Star Game since 1985, with two of them (Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1991 and Garret Anderson in 2003) winning MVP honors.
Reigning MLB home run king Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays leads a field of eight participants for the 2011 State Farm Home Run Derby on Monday at Chase Field in Phoenix and has been installed as the 3/1 favorite.
Bautista led all players heading into the weekend with 29 homers after hitting a career-high 54 last season in his seventh year and third in Toronto. Television coverage of the event will begin at 5 p.m. (PT) on ESPN.
The former Pittsburgh Pirate – who played with four different teams as a rookie in 2004 – has been a bit of an enigma in the post-steroids era of baseball. Bautista had never hit more than the 16 dingers he tallied with Pittsburgh in 2006 before last year, but he had also played in more than 128 games only once in his first six seasons.
American League captain David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox is the defending champion and ranks second all-time in Home Run Derby round trippers with 68 after hitting 32 last year. Ortiz is appropriately the second choice among oddsmakers at 9/2 to win the competition that will also pit each league against each other for the first time in history. The winning captain will get $150,000 to donate to his charity of choice while the loser will get $25,000.
As captain, Ortiz got the opportunity to pick three players for the AL and chose Bautista, Red Sox teammate Adrian Gonzalez (5/1) and New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano (6/1). National League captain Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers joins Gonzalez at 5/1 and will have Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp (6/1), St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday (7/1) and Milwaukee teammate Rickie Weeks (15/1) on his side.
Ortiz figures to pass all-time leader Ken Griffey Jr. (70) in the first round of the Home Run Derby, but a fast start has not guaranteed a title over the years. He hit eight in the first round last year, which was topped by Brewers outfielder Corey Hart (13) and Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez (nine). Hart did not hit one in the second round and was eliminated while Ramirez hit 12 before losing to Ortiz in the finals, 11-5.
The player with the most homers in the first round has gone on to win the competition just twice in the past five years, and both winners were tied for the lead with other players (Fielder in 2009 and Vladimir Guerrero in 2007). Two of the past four winners had the most total homers in the competition that year (Fielder and Ortiz).
Only three Home Run Derby winners have gone on to knock one out of the park in the All-Star Game since 1985, with two of them (Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1991 and Garret Anderson in 2003) winning MVP honors.
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