The Home Run Derby: A Model for Professional Sports All-Star Games

Juan Soto captured his first Home Run Derby crown to kick off MLB's All-Star showcase late Monday night but that was hardly the biggest takeaway. The MLB may be "America's Past Time" (and really, it is) but what is still as exciting as ever is the Home Run Derby. Minor changes to the contest's format have kept things interesting for fans. The bracket format keeps the aura of the old contest with a twist for the young fan, the gambler, and your grandmother.

For one, the top power hitters in the league participate and take it seriously. I mean my god, you would have thought Pete Alonso was competing for his life the way he prepared for his Semi-Final duel with Mariner's youngster Julio Rodriguez! Some may say that is ridiculous, but you could clearly tell three-peating would've meant something to him. Imagine if the NBA Dunk Contest had this level of competition. Do you even know who won this past years dunk contest? I sure as hell didn't until writing this article. The winner was some jamoke named Obi Toppin. Hopefully he got a day off from Summer League to enjoy the derby, not that it is that hard to get a game off in the regular season of the NBA. You have to go WAY back to 2018 to even find a recognizable winner to the casual fan when Donovan Mitchell brought home the title. Jamoke's like Lebron James have seemed to make this event not cool enough to participate in. Even Shaq seemed bored of this charade the NBA puts on yearly.

Secondly, this years contest brought a legend into the mix and he actually did well. Albert Pujols didn't shock anyone by upsetting #1 seed Kyle Schwarber in his Round 1 matchup as he continues to produce in his final season. Big Al sent 35 baseballs into LA skyline Monday night on his All-Star send off. It was nostalgic and exciting to watch the 42 year old compete regardless of his results and he proved he was not too big for the competition. A 10 year old from Grand Rapids, MI may not have been around for his dominance but will be able to tell Rick Harrison that the ball he brought to the Pawn Shop was caught by him 20 years ago off of Pujols final Home Run derby appearance.

Finally, the biggest takeaway from this event was that All-Star "games" and "events" can still be fun. The Home Run derby was a breath of fresh air to these lifeless events. Everyone seems to suffer with the NFL's Pro Bowl every year for no other reason than betting the over. The earlier referenced NBA All-Star weekend is about as good as your buddy's mom's meatloaf, and the NHL's All-Star game is about as stale as your hot dog buns left over after the 4th of July. Remember how awesome it was to see Joey Porter bench press 225lbs 35 times ahead of the 2006 Pro Bowl? It wasn't even good enough to beat known Cowboy fat man Larry Allen's 43 reps that year. Remember when Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin dazzled the crowd with their dunk's in the dunk competition? Exactly my point, it WAS awesome. The MLB has continued to successfully showcase their game by using the Home Run Derby to their advantage, leagues should focus on these skills competition instead of trying to build hype for their lacking All-Star "games." This leaves me with one simple solution, force these spoiled millionaires to get over themselves and compete in the festivities or just get rid of All-Star games. Please save us all.