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plotty gets 10 karma points for submitting a bracket which looks eerily close to the actual amount.
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mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080714&content_id=3135613&vkey=allstar2008&fext=.jspMorneau stuns Hamilton to take DerbyTwins star holds on despite runner-up's record 28 in Round 1By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- There may have been no Yankees and no Mets. No Alex Rodriguez, No Manny Ramirez, No David Ortiz and No Jason Giambi. But there certainly was a Josh Hamilton.
The second-year Rangers outfielder had a first round for the ages Monday night in the annual State Farm Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, but he lost in the final round to the Twins' Justin Morneau, who outhomered Hamilton, 5-3.
Smacking 28 first-round homers into the far reaches of the old ballpark, which is scheduled to close at the end of the season after 85 years, Hamilton set the all-time Derby record for homers in a single round. He shattered the mark of 24 set by Bobby Abreu, then of the Phillies and now of the Yankees, set three years ago in Detroit's Comerica Park when Abreu won the contest.
Hamilton had a three-round total of 35.
Morneau was the only repeater from last year's Derby in San Francisco's AT&T Park, won by Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels. Morneau, who was eliminated back then in the first round, had 22 homers on the night -- eight in the first round and nine in the second before totaling five in the final round.
The Derby was played on the eve of the 79th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which will be televised nationally by FOX on Tuesday, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
It also will be shown live in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD, and televised around the world by Major League Baseball International.
As has become a Derby custom, each batter got 10 outs per at-bat, and after the ninth, a gold ball was put into play. Each homer hit with the gold ball garnered a $17,000 donation from State Farm and MLB to the Boys & Girls Club of America, MLB's preferred charity.
Ten shots were hit, earning $170,000 in contributions. Hamilton hit 13 out in a row with eight outs during his first-round run, but none when using the gold ball.
During the streak, the highly partisan Yankees crowd of 53,716 chanted "Ham-il-ton, Ham-il-ton" as the left-handed hitter lifted a blast of 502 feet. But when the run ended with a foul pop, the fans jeered, as they can do only in the Bronx.
Two new wrinkles were also added to the competition:
A fan participant -- Bennett Hayes of Brimfield, Ill., -- was asked to "call a shot" before the finals.
Hayes called a shot to right field for Hamilton, who hit a line drive down the right-field line that stayed well in the park. Ditto for Morneau, who popped out to left.
And finally, each of the eight Derby participants was paired with a member of a local Boys & Girls Club. Compliments of State Farm, the winner of the event -- Tiffany Alvarez of the Variety Boys & Girls Club -- won a $50,000 contribution for a teen center at that particular club.
Hamilton so dominated the first round that the other three who qualified for second -- Morneau, Lance Berkman and Ryan Braun -- combined to hit only 23 first-round homers.
The four eliminated -- Dan Uggla, Grady Sizemore, Chase Utley and Evan Longoria -- combined for only 20. Longoria, the American League Final Vote addition from the Rays, had only three homers, the least of the eight players competing in the event.
Berkman, participating in his fifth Derby, and Braun finished with two-round totals of 14 each before being eliminated.
