CINCINNATI – There’s no reason to try and overcomplicate the relatively simple and straightforward, like what to do in a home run derby.
Really, what more is there than to step in the box, manage fatigue, get your pitch and swing hard? Nobody’s splitting the atom here.
Hence the perfect reply of Toronto Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson, when queried about his approach to the annual power display in the leadup to Monday night’s exhibition: “My game plan,” he answered succinctly, “is to hit home runs.”
And how many, came the follow-up, did he need?
“One more than (first-round opponent Anthony) Rizzo,” he replied.
Donaldson delivered on that front, following up the Chicago Cubs slugger’s eight spot with nine dingers to advance to the second round, where he was bested 10-9 by Cincinnati Reds third baseman and eventual champion Todd Frazier.
The hometown favourite answered the 14 spot put up by young Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Joc Pederson during his allotment of time before cranking out No. 15 on his first swing of the 30-second bonus time he earned, making Great American Ball Park rattle with joy.
It was a good fun all around.
“About 30, 40 seconds into (the second round) I could hear people starting to boo me and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ and then by mid-swing I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going up against Frazier,’” said Donaldson. “Good for them, he put on an awesome performance, I’m happy for him.”
Donaldson’s own solid showing came in the debut of the derby’s revamped format, one he helped shape with input based on his experiences a year ago, when he didn’t make it out of the first round. The new rules called for batters to be given five minutes apiece with up to 90 seconds of bonus time available in distance bonuses, but that was shortened to four minutes because of concerns about rain, with the eight participants seeded and paired off in single elimination brackets.
Given how often the derby has dragged in recent years – has there been a truly memorable one since Josh Hamilton in 2008 at old Yankee Stadium? – the revisions breathed new life into the event.
“It was fun,” said Donaldson. “You didn’t necessarily have to worry about making an out, you could try to hit a homer and if you made an out it wasn’t that important, you’re just kind of against the clock and I think that made it a better situation for the guys participating in it, and overall I just think it was better.”
The bracket format also injected drama into each pairing, with the first batter trying to set a bar the second couldn’t reach. Pederson was the only one to manage that, hitting 12 in the second round to edge Albert Pujols’ 11 before his 14 in the final wasn’t enough to hold off Frazier.
“I was hoping with the last 15 seconds to get one more, I ended up getting two to tie it, I knew it was basically over after that,” Frazier said of the final. “I get 30 seconds (bonus time), I get at least five, six swings, I’m going to get at least one.”
The second hitter largely ruled: Frazier knocking out Prince Fielder 14-13; Pederson edging Manny Machado 13-12; and Pujols surpassing Kris Bryant 10-9 in the first round; and Frazier besting Donaldson in the second before Pederson broke the streak.
“There’s definitely an advantage going second in the format because you have a number you have to beat,” said Donaldson. “There’s obviously more pressure on you as the first guy going but there’s going to be an advantage somehow and I think they got it right with having an advantage for the higher seed, as the higher seed you deserve an advantage.”
Donaldson fell victim to that against Frazier, who with the crowd chanting his name, cleared the fence with a buzzer-beater to move on.
“Dramatic,” was how Frazier described the round. “All you’ve got to do is get through it. That’s bracket style, that’s the best part of it.”
Bobby Tewksbary, a private hitting instructor whose video breakdowns of swings helped Donaldson lock in on his approach, pitched to his pupil adding to the moment.
“I know where his hot zones are,” said Tewksbary. “I was trying to get the ball up so it would be easier to elevate, groundballs don’t do him any good, so I was trying to help him get it up in the air a little bit.”
Frazier hit off his brother, Charlie, whom he promised a special gift for the victory, but helped deliver a special gift of his own to baseball, a derby worth watching.
“I felt like a little kid out there sometimes in the backyard, swinging at everything,” Frazier said. “It was pretty cool.”
Refreshingly, yes it was.