Tonight was the homerun derby…and our very own DH David Ortiz was selected to participate. The other participants were: Michael Young, Vernon Wells, Nick Swisher, Matt Holliday, Miguel Cabrera, Corey Hart and Hanley Ramirez.
After the first round, Papi had 8 homeruns and made the cut. Miguel Cabrera joined him with 7 homeruns….Hanley Ramirez with 9 homeruns….and Corey Hart came shooting out of the gates with 13 homeruns. Hart quickly looked like the dark horse in the race.
Nick Swisher…did not make the cut. He got 4 homeruns. That’s just Swishalicious.
In the second round, Papi and Hanley were tied with 21 homeruns when Corey Hart came up to the plate. It had been over an hour since Hart was last at the plate. Poor Corey…got a goose egg…not a single dinger. Poor guy.
I did love the finals of Papi and Hanley…and the lovefest going on in between them. It’s great to have to great friends up there competing. Papi mentored Hanley when he was in the Sox system…and they’ve been close ever since. Papi came up first….and was a FORCE. I know hitting bombs is his job, but it was impressive. Papi walked away…with 11 homeruns in the final round.
Hanley got up..and did the best he could, but he was no match for Papi. Papi even came out in the middle with a drink, a towel and a bear hug for Hanley. He wiped off his brow and gave him some words of encouragement. Hanley looked like he was feeling some nerves…but still managed to get 5 homeruns in the final round.
Sidenote: Red Sox Players and their adorable children were out in force to support Papi. VMart. Little VMart. Pedey. The baby. Beltre and his adorable children. And the most adorable of the bunch was Papi’s own, D’Angelo Ortiz. There was one shot that showed Papi swinging..and D’Angelo in the crowd swinging in unison on split screen. During the final round after Papi was done…D’Angelo just innocently asked Papi how he was doing in the competition. Papi smiled and said, “I’m in the finals. I’m doing good.” Awww. So so cute. I swear, if Papi ever advertises that he needs a nanny…I’m first in line.
PAPI WINS!!!!! 32 HRs BOXSCORE
Photo Credit: ESPN
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
