The reign of terror is over.
There was no three-peat, or three-Pete, on the Home Run Derby. Mets’ first baseman Pete Alonso chased his third straight victory on the occasion and got here up brief. Mariners’ phenom Julio Rodriguez proved too large of a roadblock, beating Alonso within the semifinals earlier than Juan Soto took him out within the closing spherical. Soto, 23, grew to become the second-youngest individual to ever win the Home Run Derby.
The Home Run Derby is, at its core, a enjoyable and lighthearted occasion. It is normally 99 p.c for the followers, one p.c for the precise individuals.
Don’t inform that to Alonso, who takes the Home Run Derby as critically as anybody ever has. Alonso described himself as “in the zone” in the course of the ESPN broadcast, retaining his interview very brief and regularly mentioning that he was competing for one thing “bigger than himself”, saying his winnings would go to the muse he and his spouse based.
Before issues kicked off, Alonso was lifting weights. Between his rounds, the Mets’ burly bro spent his time within the Dodger Stadium batting cage reasonably than rubbing elbows and swapping smiles along with his fellow All-Stars. Everyone else was there for pleasure; Alonso got here to Los Angeles for enterprise.
Those minutes of meditation, the time spent visualizing a 3rd straight win, the bodily benefit of enjoyable within the air-conditioned stadium reasonably than the sunbaked area. None of it paid off for the two-time defending champ, who has an actual present for this kind of factor, however couldn’t discover the mojo that received him the novelty trophy in 2019 and 2021.
Coming into the night time because the odds-on favourite, Alonso was seen as the person who merely doesn’t lose within the Home Run Derby. The baseball world could have underestimated Rodriguez, who posted the primary back-to-back 30-homer rounds in derby historical past earlier than operating out of fuel within the closing spherical.
Alonso acquired via NL East rival Ronald Acuna Jr. within the first spherical, topping the Braves’ stud 20 to 19. Going second in that spherical, Alonso knew precisely what number of large flies he wanted to maneuver on. The identical was true of the second spherical, however due to Rodriguez’s easy energy, the quantity to advance was 32 as an alternative of 20. That iceberg proved to be too large for the Polar Bear.
Rather than the night time belonging to the Mets’ slugger, it was concerning the future and the previous of the game. Rodriguez goes to be among the best gamers within the universe, full cease. He’s already an All-Star as a rookie — an apparent honor for the first player in league history to submit 15 homers, 50 RBI and 20 stolen bases via his first 90 profession video games — and the 21-year-old has now deposed the Home Run Derby champion.
But Albert Pujols slithered his method into the highlight as effectively. Twice Rodriguez’s age, the first-ballot Hall of Famer pulled an enormous upset within the first spherical. Facing the primary seed in Kyle Schwarber (who earned the seed due to having probably the most homers of anybody within the area), Pujols out-homered the Phillies’ lefty of their head-to-head battle.
Only added to the NL All-Star roster as a kind of lifetime achievement honoree, and positioned within the Home Run Derby to drum up viewership and nostalgia, Pujols ended up sticking round longer than anybody might have guessed. What a shock for the person at the moment taking part in his twenty second MLB season.
Alonso will little doubt obtain some ribbing from his Mets’ teammates when he returns to them after the All-Star break. But with the Mets in the perfect place of Alonso’s profession, the significance of his precise baseball schedule ought to enable for a fast grieving course of.
As one Mariner eradicated Alonso, he additionally prevented the Mets’ towheaded hitter from matching the best Mariner of all time. Alonso’s loss implies that Ken Griffey Jr. remains to be the one participant to win the derby 3 times.
If anybody is aware of that, and is shaken up over it, it’s Pete Alonso. He can nonetheless get revenge subsequent 12 months, because the occasion shifts to Seattle, giving him a chance to show the tables on Rodriguez and Griffey within the metropolis that worships them.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com