Ron Kroichick, San Fransisco Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Vladimir Guererro
The bayside ballpark at China Basin seemed like an ideal venue for Monday's Home Run Derby. It was tantalizing to picture homer after majestic homer soaring over the right-field wall, plopping into the chilly waters of McCovey Cove and causing an all-out, souvenir-seeking kayak frenzy.
Or maybe not.
No home runs reached the crowded cove -- zero, zip, nada. Instead, the derby evolved into Vladimir Guerrero, Alex Rios and their right-handed hitting friends peppering the left-field bleachers.
Guerrero emerged the winner, smacking three home runs in the final round to dispatch Rios, who hit two. That came after a lively second round in which Rios brought the capacity crowd to its feet with a string of long balls, Guerrero launched one homer into a parking lot and another more than 500 feet, and Albert Pujols threatened to catch Guerrero and reach the finals.
But the most feverishly anticipated sight -- Bonds-ian blasts finding a watery home -- never happened. All three left-handed hitters in Monday's contest - Justin Morneau of Minnesota, Prince Fielder of Milwaukee and 2006 champion Ryan Howard of Philadelphia -- were eliminated in the opening round, without making any official splashes in McCovey Cove.
Morneau and Fielder each sent one foul ball into the water, but that was the extent of the activity for the flotilla of kayakers. Howard offered the most imposing threat, but he made seven "outs" before his first home run -- and then he hit one to straightaway center field and two to right-center.
Asked about the kayakers heading home empty-handed, Howard shook his head and said, "I thought about that a little. They must be upset, a little disappointed. Sorry."
Alex Rios
If the absence of soggy theatrics disappointed the crowd of 43,615, it also highlighted the difficulty of reaching McCovey Cove. Remember, there have been only 58 "splash hits" in 7 1/2 seasons at the ballpark, and Barry Bonds has hit 34 of those.
By contrast, five home runs landed in the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh -- beyond the right-field wall at PNC Park -- during last year's derby, including two by Howard. Curiously, there had been only one "splash hit" into the Allegheny in the previous six seasons of Pirates games.
At any rate, Guerrero earned his victory. He hit nine homers in the second round, including one (measured at 469 feet) into the Giants players' parking lot beyond the left-field seats. Guerrero later launched an epic, 503-foot blast to left-center -- the ball clearing the seats, sailing toward the giant mitt and ultimately landing beneath the walkway fronting the mitt.
The display probably tormented Giants fans who wanted their team to pursue Guerrero when he was available as a free agent after the 2003 season. The Giants showed no interest in Guerrero, who signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Angels.
"When I was a free agent, I didn't know where I was going to end up," Guerrero said after the derby. "But I've always swung the bat well in this park."
Rios smacked 12 homers in the second round (after hitting five in the first round), finishing with a flourish: He hit five on five swings when he was down to his final out. That earned Rios a standing ovation, pumping energy into an event clearly in need of a jolt at that point.
"It was great hitting with the loud crowd," Rios said.
Albert Pujols
Guerrero and Pujols followed with a nice little show of power. Guerrero was down to his final out, needing another homer to stay alive, when he planted one in the first row of the left-field seats, a precursor to the 503-foot monster. He finished with 14 homers in the first two rounds, one more than Colorado's Matt Holliday.
Pujols was the last semifinalist to step to the plate. He was stuck on 11 homers and needed three more to tie Guerrero -- and Pujols promptly hit two before his final fly ball died on the warning track in left-center.
The final round was anticlimactic, as Guerrero and Rios clearly grew tired. Rios managed only two homers, and Guerrero made seven outs before hitting the decisive No. 3 - and he sauntered away with the ball still in the air, before it even landed in the seats.
Guerrero and David Ortiz combined on a memorable moment in the first round, and Ortiz wasn't even in the derby. He interrupted Guerrero's turn, tossed aside the bat he had been using and presented him a new bat delivered in a special box, a la the "Wonderboy" used by Roy Hobbs in "The Natural."
Guerrero had no homers at the time, but he hit five with his new bat to advance into the second round.
"It was my bat," Guerrero said of Ortiz's delivery. "We had it planned. If I wasn't doing well at the beginning, he was going to bring it out to me."
Bonds, who made big news by declining to join the derby, did make an appearance during the event. He sat down for a live television interview along the first-base line, then wandered toward the third-base dugout to engage Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez in a long, earnest conversation.
But Bonds didn't grab a bat and swing for McCovey Cove -- and nobody else offered a suitable impersonation.
Matt Holliday
2007 -- Vladimir Guerrero, Angels (host: San Francisco)
2006 -- Ryan Howard, Phillies (Pittsburgh)
2005 -- Bobby Abreu, Phillies (Detroit)
2004 -- Miguel Tejada, Orioles (Houston)
2003 -- Garret Anderson, Angels (White Sox)
2002 -- Jason Giambi, Yankees (Milwaukee)
2001 -- Luis Gonzalez, Diamondbacks (Seattle)
2000 -- Sammy Sosa, Cubs (Atlanta)
1999 -- Ken Griffey Jr., Mariners (Boston)
1998 -- Griffey, Mariners (Denver)
1997 -- Tino Martinez, Yankees (Cleveland)
1996 -- Barry Bonds, Giants (Philadelphia)
1995 -- Frank Thomas, White Sox (Texas)
1994 -- Griffey, Mariners (Pittsburgh)
1993 -- Juan Gonzalez, Rangers (Baltimore)
1992 -- Mark McGwire, A's (San Diego)
1991 -- Cal Ripken, Jr., Orioles (Toronto)
1990 -- Ryne Sandberg, Cubs (Cubs)
1989 -- Eric Davis, Reds/Ruben Sierra, Rangers (Anaheim)
1988 -- None (rain, Cincinnati)
1987 -- Andre Dawson, Cubs (Oakland)
1986 -- Darryl Strawberry, Mets/Wally Joyner, Angels (Houston)
1985 -- Dave Parker, Reds (Minneapolis)
Home Run Derby 2007
ROUND 1
Justin Morneau - 4
TIEBREAKER - 1
.
Matt Holliday - 5
Ordonez Magglio - 2
Albert Pujols - 4
TIEBREAKER - 2
.
Alex Rios - 5
Prince Fielder - 3
Vladimir Guerrero - 5
Ryan Howard - 3
ROUND 2
Holliday - 13
Rios - 17
Guerrero - 14
Pujols - 13
ROUND 3
Rios - 2 (19)
Guerrero - 3 (17 Total)
By the numbers
0
Splash hits and the number of left-handers to advance past the first round.
3
Homers hit by Prince Fielder, the NL leader with 29, and defending champion Ryan Howard.
7
Number of "outs" by Howard before his first homer.
12
Homers hit by Alex Rios in the second round, the most by any player in any round.
31
Total number of homers (not including tiebreaker) hit in the first round (Bobby Abreu hit 24 by himself two years ago).
503
Distance in feet of the longest homer hit in the competition (Vladimir Guerrero).
E-mail Ron Kroichick at rkroichick@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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