Yoenis Cespedes Shines In 2013 Home Run Derby

Every so often, a guy will come out of nowhere and surprise people in a home run hitting contest. This year's home run derby had some heavy hitters with the likes of David Wright, Pedro Alverez, Prince Fielder and Chris Davis. However none of those guys were a factor. The winner of this years derby was Yoenis Cespedes. It came down to him and Bryce Harper in the finals and with one swing Cespedes put his name in the record books beating Harper 9-8 in the final showdown. The final homer by Cespedes to win him the event looked a little something like this:



Cespedes became the first player ever to win the home run derby that wasn't a participant in the all-star game the next night. Turns out Robinson Cano knew what he was doing when he plucked Cespedes to participate in this years derby. During the first round, Cano, Wright, Alverez, and Fielder all failed to make the cut and move on. Cespedes took off, clubbing 17 home runs in the round. Cespedes hit about a half-dozen balls into the upper deck in left, never reached by anyone in a game, and banged another couple of shots off the restaurant windows in the corner just below. To say he was in a hitters groove would be an understatement. Those 17 homers from Cespedes in the first round are the 3rd most homers hit in the opening round ever. The two totals ahead of him are the 24 Bobby Abreau hit in 2005 at Comerica Park in  Detroit, and the record of 28 hit by Josh Hamilton in 2008 at the old Yankee Stadium.

Cespedes' crushed a total of 32 round trippers, which tied him for the 3rd most in a derby all time. The other two guys to hit 32 in a single derby are David Ortiz (2010) and Robinson Cano (2011). The totals trail only two guys in derby history:  Bobby Abreu (41 in 2005) and Josh Hamilton (35 in 2008). The longest home run hit of the night went ti Chris Davis, who hammered a 502 foot bomb. Oakland third-base coach Mike Gallego pitched to Cespedes, who averaged 405 feet on his home runs. He became the first A's player to participate in the Derby since Jason Giambi in 2001 and joined Mark McGwire (1992) as the team's only winners.  The AL topped the NL 53-50 on total homers. By hitting 103 home runs in all, the sluggers raised $529,000 for charity.