This year’s highly anticipated Home-Run Derby had some new twists. The Home-Run Derby had team captains and the divisional winner would be crowned along with the individual winner. One unexpected choice for the American League hitters was Yankees 2nd baseman, Robinson Cano. Many don’t expect a second baseman to be a part of the Home-Run Derby since most second basemen can’t hit as many home runs as the sluggers that are normally the hitters in the Home-Run Derby. The All-Star Game had planned to have 85 players but five players couldn’t play. Derek Jeter was going to rest his sore right arm. Alex Rodriguez tore his right meniscus and is expected back on July 29 Mariano Rivera wanted to rest his sore right arm since he hadn’t pitched in three days before the Yankees’ last game before the break. David Price and C.C Sabathia pitched on Sunday and so were ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game; but received introductions with the rest of the players.
In the Home-Run Derby, the American League captain was David Ortiz (designated hitter) of the Boston Red Sox. He chose: Jose Bautista (right fielder) of the Toronto Blue Jays, Robinson Cano (second baseman) of the New York Yankees, and fellow teammate Adrian Gonzalez (first baseman). National League captain Prince Fielder (first baseman) of the Milwaukee Brewers chose: fellow teammate Rickie Weeks (second baseman), Matt Holliday (left fielder) of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Matt Kemp (center fielder) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. What surprised everyone was that second baseman Robinson Cano won the Derby over expected top contenders: Jose Bautista, David Ortiz, and Prince Fielder. Robinson Cano hit a total of 32 home runs and he won in walk-off fashion. Adrian Gonzalez came in second place with 31 home runs. David Ortiz and Prince Fielder tied for third with nine home-runs. Matt Holiday came in fourth with five home runs. Jose Bautista came in fifth with four home runs. Rickie Weeks came in sixth with three home runs and Matt Kemp came in last with two home runs. Matt Holiday, David Ortiz, and Prince Fielder also went through a tie-breaker in the first round when all 3 hit five home runs.
For the All-Star game, the starters for the American League were: catcher Alex Avila of the Detroit Tigers, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez of the Boston Red Sox, second baseman Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees, third baseman Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians, left fielder Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays, center fielder Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees, right fielder Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, pitcher Jered Weaver of the Anaheim Angels, designated hitter David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, and the manager was Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers. The starting line-up for the NL was: catcher Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves, first baseman Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, second baseman Rickie Weeks of the Milwaukee Brewers, third baseman Scott Rolen of the Cincinnati Reds, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies, left fielder Lance Berkman of the St. Louis Cardinals, center fielder Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers, right fielder Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals, designated hitter Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets, pitcher Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies, and manager Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants. The NL won 5-1 with Prince Fielder’s three run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning put the NL ahead for good. The NL has won its second straight All-Star Game this year. Prince Fielder was declared the All-Star Game’s MVP and his game jersey is going to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. C.J Wilson of the Texas Rangers gave up the 3 run home run and so took the loss. Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants received the save and Tyler Clippard of the Washington Nationals got the win. The final score was 4-1 NL. Many NL team fans are quite hopeful that the NL will win next year’s All-Star Game since for the past two years they have won against lineup filled with heavy hitters and very good hitters.
