If Chris Berman were doing play-by-play of Orioles games in 2013, the echoes of his famous Derby catchphrase would still be ringing. Chris Davis has been crushing baseballs out of ballparks across the USA all year long, and we have been lucky enough to witness the possible start of a record being broken – Roger Maris’ 61 in ’61.
It appeared on Monday night that Davis was saving some of his power for the games that really count, as he only tallied 12 long balls in the Chevrolet Home Run Derby. It wasn’t what some expected from the power-hitting league leader, but it doesn’t take away anything from what he is doing this year.
Here’s a little recap of his Derby debut:
First HR: On just his second swing after his first went to right field on what would have been a double, Davis pounded the longest in his first round. He took the “fastball” to straightaway centerfield, something that we have seen time after time. In the air, the ball went 451 feet over one of the Chevy trucks in center.
Second HR: After hitting into three “derby-standard” outs, Crush delivered one of his famous homers. He sent a ball sailing into the left-center field bleachers that traveled 427 feet. Davis going opposite field? I think we’ve seen that a few times.
Third HR: His first back-to-back pair of shots came on homers two and three. He pulled a low pitch into the bleachers for his third of the night.
Fourth HR: This is when Davis started to get into his groove, having three straight swings go for home runs. He took this pitch 433 feet to centerfield, hitting off of the right truck.
Fifth HR: This is where things started to get a bit crazy. Four straight were hit at this point, this one going completely opposite field. The “Hulk” took an outside pitch to left field 364 feet, clearing the fence for another shot.
Sixth HR: Yeah, he hit another consecutive home run. Five shots—back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. This was another opposite field homer that traveled 371 feet.
Seventh HR: He finally got an out before this one, but as of this swing, he hadn’t taken a pitch since after his first home run. Davis took an outside pitch to straight-away center 416 feet away.
Eighth HR: The final home run of the first round was a line drive to right-center field. It went 412 feet, but surely would have gone further without any obstacle in its way.
Ninth HR: His first of the second round was an absolute shot. He took a low inside pitch and pulled it 461 feet to right field, directly next to the Dunkin Donuts sign at Citi Field.
Tenth HR: Another centerfield shot came after making a few outs. He went just left this time, taking the pitch 430 to the seats next to dead center.
Eleventh HR: BREAKING NEWS: Chris Davis likes to go to the opposite field. His 11th was another classic Davis shot—377 to left.
Twelfth HR: The final shot of the night came on his 11th swing of the second round. It was a 440 foot long ball pulled just over the famous Dunkin Donuts sign in left.
It sure was fun to watch Davis in the derby, but let’s focus on what’s important: here’s to a great second half that leads to another playoff run!
3 Responses
I’ll have to check my DVR, but I thought ESPN listed one of his HRs live at 502 feet. I guess that might’ve been way off (Don’t think it was the 1st one he hit), but it was a monster CF shot.
Yes, ESPN showed that graphic, but took it down and later showed his longest HR not being anywhere close to 502. I was shocked when I saw that as well.
Yeah, that was a mistake. It was #3 – line drive shot into right center, but not nearly 502.