I'm 36 going on 76 when it comes to made-for-TV "sports" events like Home Run Derby. My general attitude is, Let me know when real sports comes back. But I was watching tonight -- yes, because of a bet I made, thanks for asking -- and saw Josh Hamilton whack home runs at Yankee Stadium like he was banging balls at a driving range.
Speaking of the range, Hamilton's power prowess reminded me of a scene I witnessed at the 1998 U.S. Amateur golf tournament at Oak Hill in Rochester. Oak Hill's range is relatively short. A net, 40 feet high or so, protects beautiful homes from being drilled by the occasional golf ball that travels north of 300 yards. One competitor, Hank Kuehne, was driving balls over the net. They made him put the driver away, as I recall, but I doubt the other competitors at the range at the time soon forgot Kuehne's display either. He won the event.
Hamilton made walloping homers look so easy that I wonder if any fans happen to think that it is. Let's say you get your own personal pitcher, like Hamilton had. Let's say your grandpa pitched. Do you think you'd homer off your grandpa at Yankee Stadium?
I don't think I could homer off my grandpa at Yankee Stadium but I think I'd smack a single or two. Maybe I'd even hit one the opposite way and have announcers give me credit for "serving one" into left, and for a "nice piece of hitting". Josh Hamilton hit 28 home runs on 38 swings, yet no one at ESPN once gave him credit for a "nice piece of hitting". Sad.
And while we're at it, how long would real baseball games take if each hitter got to use his own personal pitcher, like in Home Run Derby? How many runs would a team typically score in a game? My guess: Seven hours, and about 50.
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