Giancarlo Stanton beats Frazier in All-Star Home Run Derby
Giancarlo Stanton wore out Petco Park with a record display of power in the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday night, peppering every landmark from the left field corner to center field.
Stanton hit 20 homers in the final round to best defending champion Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox.
Overall, the Miami Marlins slugger hit a record 61 off Pat Shine (Gonzaga Prep, GU), shattering the single-night mark of 41 by Bobby Abreu in 2005.
Stanton’s impressive shots hit the top level of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building in the left-field corner and the top of the batter’s eye in center field. He sent several balls just below the giant scoreboard high atop the left-field stands and several over the bullpens in left-center.
“For sure being on the West Coast and taking the flight out here just for this, you know. I figure it’s a waste if I don’t bring this bad boy home,” Stanton said, hoisting the trophy.
The three-time All-Star is not on the NL roster for Tuesday night’s game after batting .233 with 20 homers and 50 RBIs before the break.
“I had a great time. I had a blast.”
Literally.
His longest shot was estimated at 497 feet. He hit the eight longest homers of the competition and 20 of the 21 deepest drives.
“When I get a few in a row I would kind of bump it up 5 to 10 percent,” he said. “But most the time I stuck at 80-90 percent. I knew I could do it endurance-wise. I was just hoping my swing didn’t fall about.”
Stanton can defend his title at home next year when the Marlins host the All-Star Game.
“That is where I got my childhood memories, watching the Home Run Derby as a kid,” said Stanton, who’s from Los Angeles. “Maybe some kids are watching me. I would like to return that.”
Stanton is baseball’s highest-paid player with a $325 million, 13-year deal. His new hitting coach is home run king Barry Bonds.
Frazier, who’s not on the AL All-Star team, hit 13 in the final round. He was a hometown winner last year while with the Cincinnati Reds. He was traded to the White Sox in December.
The Western Metal Supply Co. Building served as one of the better Derby targets, joining the Warehouse at Baltimore’s Camden Yards in 1993 and McCovey Cove outside San Francisco’s AT&T Park in 2007. Those were both targets for lefty hitters
Stanton hit 24 homers in the first round to eliminate the Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Cano (seven) and 17 in the semifinals to knock out Mark Trumbo (14) of the Baltimore Orioles.
Frazier hit 13 in the first round to beat Carlos Gonzalez (12) of the Colorado Rockies, and 16 in the semifinals to eliminate Adam Duvall (15) of the Cincinnati Reds.
Trumbo, who leads the majors with 28 homers, had two of the most impressive shots of the night, off the scoreboard in left field and onto the top of the Western Metal Building in his semifinal matchup against Stanton.
Wil Myers of the San Diego Padres tried to become the second hometown player to win the Derby. With younger brother Beau – an infielder-outfielder at Appalachian State – pitching to him, Myers hit 10 homers in the first round and was eliminated by Duvall with 11.
Beau Myers even hit his brother with a pitch early in the four-minute period, and nearly nicked him another time.
Sale says Gwynn’s death caused him to quit chewing tobacco
Tony Gwynn will be on everybody’s mind during All-Star Game festivities, perhaps no more poignantly than how his death affected American League starter Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox.
“He actually made a very big impact in my life. I chewed tobacco from 2007 until the day he passed away,” Sale said. “I remember seeing that, and just being so shocked. He was a larger-than-life person. He was an inspiration to the game for many, many people for a lot of different reasons. But I quit that day, and I haven’t touched it since.
“In a sense, I owe him a huge thank you for not only myself but for my family and, you know, hopefully I can maybe sway somebody in the right direction as well like he did for me.”
Gwynn died of salivary gland cancer on June 16, 2014, at 54.
Gwynn was one of the most beloved figures in San Diego sports history, as well as the face of the Padres for two decades. At the time of his death, he was in his 12th season as coach at his alma mater, San Diego State.
The All-Star Game will be played Tuesday night at Petco Park. Gwynn had as much to do as anyone with the downtown ballpark being built. He played for the Padres his entire 20-year, Hall of Fame career, retiring after the 2001 season. The ballpark was approved by voters just two weeks after the Padres were swept by the New York Yankees in the 1998 World Series. Gwynn batted .500 in those four games, including hitting a home run off the right-field facade in Yankee Stadium in Game 1 off San Diegan David Wells.
Gwynn will always be remembered as the greatest Padres player ever. He never played in Petco Park but there are plenty of reminders of him. Days before Gwynn was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, the Padres unveiled a larger-than-life bronze statue of Gwynn beyond the outfield. It depicts him in the middle of his sweet left-handed swing. One of the streets outside Petco Park is Tony Gwynn Drive. His No. 19 is one of the team’s retired numbers that greets fans as they enter the ballpark.
Without giving details, the Padres said Gwynn will be honored during pregame ceremonies Tuesday.
Gwynn’s death stunned baseball.
Still, there are many happy memories of the Hall of Famer, who had 3,141 hits, a .338 lifetime average and won eight NL batting titles.
Some All-Stars have direct connections to Gwynn.
Cole Hamels of the Texas Rangers grew up in San Diego and played at Rancho Bernardo High. Gwynn’s son, Tony Jr., played at Poway High.
“Most of my memories of Tony Gwynn are because he lived very close to where I grew up,” Hamels said. “Being able to see him driving down the street in that Porsche that he had, you’d see him go by. Playing against his son, he’d go hide out in the outfield to watch his son play because he didn’t want to get bothered, and it was kind of cool to know that Tony Gwynn was watching your game, even though he was watching his son. But we always convinced ourselves that Tony Gwynn was there to watch us, too.”
Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals was an unpolished player at West Hills High in suburban Santee, but blossomed under Gwynn at San Diego State, becoming the first overall pick in the 2009 draft.
Strasburg recalled Gwynn as “one of the greatest hitters of all time, No. 1, but one of the greatest people of all time, as well. I grew up a huge Tony Gwynn fan being here. Playing for him I got a chance to develop that relationship with him. I learned a lot, how to be not only the best baseball player, to be a real pro, but also to be, hopefully, a good human being.”
In only a year, Ozuna goes from minors to All-Star starter
A year ago Marcell Ozuna was a newly demoted minor leaguer, sent to Triple-A following a 1-for-36 slump that erased his perpetual smile and magnified doubts about his future with the Miami Marlins.
All of which makes his first All-Star Game that much more momentous for Ozuna, who will start in center field for the National League.
The smile is back as he reflects on his journey of the past 12 months.
“I dreamed of being an All-Star,” he said. “But a starter in one year? It’s impossible.”
Ozuna was promoted to the starting lineup because of injuries to other players, but his statistics are All-Star worthy, thanks in part from the mentoring of first-year Marlins batting coach Barry Bonds. Ozuna is hitting .307 with 17 homers and 47 RBIs, and ranks among NL leaders with 99 hits and five triples.
As for defense, to underscore his excellent play in center field, Ozuna threw out the Reds’ Brandon Phillips on the bases on both Saturday and Sunday.
“Ozo is unbelievable,” teammate Giancarlo Stanton said. “It’s what I’ve seen over the years – you got spurts of it. But it’s a matter of being able to lock that in day in and day out, which he has been doing. It’s only the beginning for him.”
But in early July 2015, Ozuna was literally headed the wrong way – to Triple-A New Orleans. An 0-for-3 performance at Wrigley Field, dropping his average to .249, sealed the Marlins’ decision to demote him midway through his third major league season.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” president of baseball operations Michael Hill said. “He had been having a rough stretch, and in that particular game he just looked overmatched. They were bad at-bats.
“I’ve seen him since he was 16, and it was the first time I had ever seen him hang his head. We spoke after the game, and I was like, `Ozo, what’s up?’ He said, `I don’t know.’ He had no answers. He was completely lost. That was when we decided it was in his best interests to send him down. It’s hard when you don’t see Marcell Ozuna with a big smile; that’s who he is.”
Ozuna spent six weeks with New Orleans and showed some improvement when he rejoined the Marlins, batting .278 with six homers in 44 games. Even so, he was on the trading block during the offseason.
Ozuna concedes he was out of shape in 2015, so this year he reported for spring training lighter and fitter. He immediately began to bond with Bonds, and the home run king began preaching strike zone discipline to the free-swinging Ozuna.
“He talked to me about how you have to be patient and selective,” Ozuna said. “Right now I trust what I can do. I say, `Don’t rush.“’
As a result, he no longer swings so often at bad pitches. His walks are up and his strikeouts down.
What did Ozuna tell Bonds upon learning he would start for the NL stars in San Diego?
“I said, `Thank you,“’ Ozuna said.
The All-Star Game will be his first since Class A in Florida in 2009. His parents, two sisters and two children will be at the game.
“I feel happy for my family because they’re proud of me,” he said.
He’s not the only Ozuna smiling these days.
Derek Jeter marries Sports Illustrated model Hannah Davis
Derek Jeter has reportedly married his longtime girlfriend, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Hannah Davis.
TMZ and the New York Post have published photos of the weekend ceremony at the Meadowood resort in California’s Napa Valley.
The Post reports it was a small wedding with fewer than 100 guests. The newspaper says among them were former Yankee teammates, Jorge Posada, Andruw Jones and Tino Martinez.
Jeter confirmed his engagement to Davis in a post on his Players’ Tribune website in November.
Angels slugger Cron out 6-8 weeks with broken hand, surgery
Angels slugger C.J. Cron is expected to be out for at least six weeks after surgery on his broken left hand.
Cron was hit by a pitch by the Orioles’ Mike Wright on Friday in Baltimore. The first baseman and designated hitter was in his best form of the season, batting .356 with 24 RBIs over his previous 20 games.
The Angels’ have endured a disheartening series of major injuries this season. They’ve lost their top three starting pitchers for most of the season to date, and several position players and relievers have been out for weeks.
Los Angeles recalled Ji-Man Choi from Triple-A Salt Lake last weekend to fill in for Cron.
Cron will have surgery Tuesday.
Kimbrel knee surgery successful, out 3 to 6 weeks
Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel had successful surgery on his left knee to repair a medial meniscus tear.
Kimbrel is expected to be out three to six weeks. The surgery was performed by Dr. Peter Asnis at Massachusetts General Hospital, according to the Red Sox, and Kimbrel should make a full recovery.
Boston acquired Arizona closer Brad Ziegler on Saturday, hours after learning of Kimbrel’s diagnosis. Kimbrel was injured during batting practice before a win Friday over Tampa Bay.
Kimbrel has 17 saves and a 3.55 ERA in 34 appearances this season, his first with the Red Sox.
MLB scraps plans to play in London in 2017
London is not calling for Major League Baseball next year.
The players’ association says MLB has given up plans to play regular-season games in the British capital in 2017.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in January that his staff was working hard at playing in London, and MLB officials looked at the renovated Olympic Stadium as a possible venue.
“There was discussion about London early on,” union head Tony Clark said. “Unfortunately there were a number of moving pieces related to London that shortened our window in an effort to try to find common ground on that happening, and we weren’t able to get it done in time.”