{"id":1765,"date":"2012-02-02T08:05:03","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T13:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/?p=1765"},"modified":"2012-02-01T22:19:45","modified_gmt":"2012-02-02T03:19:45","slug":"home-run-derby-alternatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/2012\/02\/02\/home-run-derby-alternatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Run Derby Alternatives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"David<\/a>TholeMoley over at Mr. Met Is My Brother wrote a post about watching the NHL All-Star Game<\/a>. \u00a0Actually she’s wrote a couple of them, but I want to talk about one of them specifically. \u00a0I wanted to watch the festivities this weekend, especially with John Tavares a part of them, but I had other things to deal with and missed it. \u00a0TholeMoley highlighted some of the events in the skills competition, and talks about how much better it is than the Home Run Derby.<\/p>\n

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Now, personally I like the Home Run Derby. \u00a0There is nothing more\u00a0magnificent\u00a0in all of sports than watching a baseball player swing and smash a baseball 400+ feet in the air. \u00a0There’s just a simple\u00a0majestic\u00a0beauty to it, especially if you see it in person like I did in\u00a02006<\/a>. \u00a0(And that’s not just because you can’t hear Chris Berman) \u00a0Most of what people object to about the Derby is the massive amount of time between batters and all the other stuff besides the mammoth home runs.<\/p>\n

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So broadening the spectrum might be fun and could include more than just the Home Run Derby and the random eight players they can find to participate. \u00a0TholeMoley suggests a fastest trip around the bases to\u00a0parallel\u00a0the fastest skater event. \u00a0She also mentions fastest players, hardest throwers, and the most accurate throwers getting their time to shine.<\/p>\n

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You could do an accuracy event. \u00a0Set up some milk bottles on a table, and have the players throw a baseball at them. \u00a0If they hit it they advance to the next round and take five steps back. \u00a0Repeat this until you have a winner. \u00a0If all players miss at the same time, simply repeat that round.<\/p>\n

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Not to take anything away from the kids that get to shag balls in the outfield, but you could position the All-Star outfielders at the walls and let them try to rob home runs all night. \u00a0Most of them clear the fence by quite a bit though.<\/p>\n

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Perhaps giving out more titles is the way to go. \u00a0In a social media society we’re all used to get badges and titles for things as simple as checking in to the ballpark more than anyone else. \u00a0Instead of just crowning a winner, crown the guy with the farthest home run, with the most home runs back to back and the guy with the highest single round total.<\/p>\n

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These are just a couple of suggestions, and none of them seem too much different than simple warm-up activities so there shouldn’t be any real concern about anyone getting hurt. \u00a0It’d be an interesting way to spice up the event and might spike interest that has been fading over the years. \u00a0There are other things they can do to, like break up the idea of National League versus American League since the advent of interleague play takes away some of the mystery of it. \u00a0It’s pretty clear that the All-Star Game is not perfect, and MLB should always be looking to tweak it.<\/p>\n

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TholeMoley over at Mr. Met Is My Brother wrote a post about watching the NHL All-Star Game. \u00a0Actually she’s wrote a couple of them, but I want to talk about one of them specifically. \u00a0I wanted to watch the festivities this weekend, especially with John Tavares a part of them, but I had other things … <\/p>\n

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