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If you love baseball and happen to be a Cincinnati Reds fan, then you will remember last night for a long time. The All Star Game is in Cincy this year and last night was the Home Run Derby. Reds third baseman Todd Frazier made the Derby slate, which for the first time was determined by taking the top 4 HR leaders in each league and bracketing them in AL vs NL pairs where winners of each one-on-one duel advanced toward the championship round.

The format was also changed this year. Essentially, each player was under a time constraint to take as many swings as possible in a 4 minute period with an option for a 45 second timeout and a bonus 30 seconds added if at least two bombs were estimated at 425 ft+. The rule changes plus dicey weather forecasts (a big storm had already blown thru during the afternoon) had some people wondering whether this event might lay an egg.

Those doubts were sorely misplaced as high drama unfolded on the banks of the Ohio River.

Frazier, who had been talking for months about competing in the HR Derby in his home team's park, picked his brother Charlie to pitch to him. He and his brother walked out of the dugout after some extra BP under the stands to see a 13 spot put up by his first round opponent, two time Derby champ Prince Fielder. He started slow, popping up and grounding a few. But when his first drive left the yard, the home town fans went wild. Frazier fed on the frenzy. With each subsequent shot, the crowd got louder. Adding to it, Charlie started cheering after serving up each blast.

After tying the score with a flurry of HRs as the clock ran down in regulation, Frazier went deep in the 30 second bonus period to dispatch a visibly dumbfounded Fielder.


The fans were going berserk, and if felt like the electricity being generated a few miles down river was flowing right thru my television set at home.

Frankly, I figured that would be the pinnacle of the excitement as that performance seemed hard to top.

In the semifinal round, Frazier's opponent was the Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson, who led with 9 HRs. Once again, Frazier got out of the box slowly but fed on the crescendo of cheers that built with each long ball. There was still some time left in regulation when Frazier took one deep to left and secured a place in the finals. Once more, the crowd went wild.

The finals pitted Frazier against rookie Joc Pederson of the Dodgers. Pederson led off. As he had done in previous rounds, the left handed rookie raised eyebrows with seemingly effortless swings that produced towering blasts to all fields. He left the batter's box after putting up 14 dingers which seemed at the time almost insurmountable.

Frazier strode to the plate backed by the cheering fans and then proceeded, again, to start slow. With 2:35 left and down 14-5, Frazier took his time out. After returning from the TO, he continued to come up empty in his next few swings, prompting commentator John Kruk to assert, "he's gotta get on a big roll right here or Joc Pederson's our champion."

Frazier hit an upper decker at 2:00 and then another HR, but at about 1:30 he was still down 14-7.



Then the magic started. Watch the video and feel the energy as Frazier got his groove on. After knotting the score at 14, he left a fly ball at the base of the wall to end regulation. The interlude for his 30 second bonus round was one solid standing ovation. Everyone felt the vibe as Frazier wiped his brow and strode to the plate.

It only took one pitch.

FANtastic. Not only the Best Home Run Derby Ever, but one of the finer expressions of collective energy that I have witnessed.