Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the deep dive. Today. We're really digging into
something electrifying, an event that grabbed the whole baseball world's attention,
the twenty twenty five t Mobile Home Run Derby.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That's right, Monday, July fourteenth, Truest Park in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Exactly. And look, this wasn't just you know guys hidden
baseball's hard. It felt like more this year.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Oh definitely historic, first, incredible power, even some really nice
family moments mixed in.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Right, So, our mission for you today is pretty straightforward.
We want to break down all the essential stuff from
this derby, get you quickly up to speed on why
it felt well so special.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, it's about understanding the core of it, more than
just the final scores. How the format worked, the drama
created the individual stories.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Okay, let's do it. So eight of baseball's biggest hitters
came together. What jumped out at you about this particular group?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well is that mix, wasn't it? You had your established stars,
but then these really exciting young guys, a lot of
them making their first Derby appearance. Yeah. Like obviously cal Rawley,
the champ from Seattle, came in leading all catchers and homers,
but then his final opponent, Junior Camonero from the Race,
a twenty one year old kid, highly highly.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Touted, incredible. That mix really does say something about baseball
right now.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It does.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
You've got the Vets still doing their thing, but this
wave of young power is definitely coming. You felt it
that night and.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It wasn't just those two. The whole lineup felt stacked totally.
You had O'Neill Cruz from the Pirates. Everyone talks about
his exit VLO.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Just raw power, scary power.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Byron Buckston, Twins, Brent Rooker from Oakland who had a fantastic.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
First half, Yeah, breakout year for him.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Then the rookie James Wood Nationals Jazz Chishom junior now
with the Yankees, always brings energy, and Matt Olson, the
hometown guy for the Braves, stepping in for a Kunya
junior who was hurt.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Right, A lineup built for a show like this definitely
promised fireworks.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
And delivered a lot of that. Thanks to the format,
you know, the three round head to head bracket. It
keeps the action going, builds that tension.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Absolutely. Let's quickly touch on how that works because it's key.
Round one. Eight guys, three minutes each three.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Minutes, yeah, or up to forty pitches. Timer starts on
pitch one and they get one time out forty five
seconds strategic pause.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Okay, but then there's the bonus period after the time
runs out.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
That's crucial, super crucial. It's not just keep swinging. You
hit until you make three outs and an out is
any swing that isn't a home run? Oh okay, but
tt here's the kicker hit one four hundred and twenty
five feet or further.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You get an extra outback exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
It earns you an additional out to play within that
bonus period. So it really encourages guys to not just
make contact but to absolutely crush it.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
For distance adds a whole different dimension. So how are
ties handled and how did it change later?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Well, Round one ties were broken simply by the longest
homer hit in that round, straight distance. Okay, semi finals,
the pressure ramps up. Time drops to two minutes or
twenty seven pitches, plus the bonus period. Tighter window, much tighter,
and if there's a tie there, it goes to a
sixty second swing off, no bonus, no timeouts, just hit. Wow,
still tied after that? Then it's successive three swing swing
(03:10):
offs until someone wins. Pure drama, nail biting stuff. In
the finals use the same two minute, twenty seven pitch
plus bonus rules. Importantly, the scores reset each round.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Right, clean slate every time.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, makes every matchup its own battle, high stakes all
the way through. You see why fans love it.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
No kidding and that drama. It perfectly sets up the
story of the champion, Cal Rawley. His win was something else.
It really was six foot three, twenty eight years old
switch hitter, which is pretty rare for a Derby chap.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Very rare, showed power from both sides.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Marators fans call him big Dumper. But what really made
his wind stand out I think was the family element.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Oh absolutely, that was special. You had his dad, Todd Raley,
pitching to him the whole night.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Imagine that pressure and that connection, right, and.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Then his younger brother, just fifteen years old old Todd Junior,
was actually catching.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Him get out of here, fifteen.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Fifteen behind the plate for the whole thing. Talk about
a support system right there on the field. It just
added this really human, heartwarming layer to all the slugging.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Totally okay, So Rally's path wasn't easy. Round one against
Brent Rooker, Rooker hit seventeen homers.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Respectable solid round.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah, Rally steps up and matches him seventeen seventeen, first high.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Of the night, and it goes to the tiebreaker longest distance.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Get ready for this, Rally's longest four hundred and seventy
point six two feet, Rooker's longest four hundred and seventy
point five four.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Feet wait point zero eight feet.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Less than an inch?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, that is insane.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Can you imagine he moves on by less than an inch?
That's instantly an all time Derby highlight.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
No kidding. Rooker said afterwards, I should be a little
bit stronger understatement of the year.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Maybe, Ah yeah, talk about fine margins. So after squeaking
through that, he's got to face Byron Buxton in the semis.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Right, Buckston's got that electrics bead and power combo.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
But Rolly just kept hitting put up nineteen in that round. Consistent.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah, seemed like he found a grou after that tight
first round, showed real composure. Nineteen gets him into the.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Final against the kid, Junior Camenaro, who had.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Been amazing all night, just twenty two years old hitting bombs.
He put a fifteen in the.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Final round, another good number, but Rolly needed more.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
And he delivered again. Smashed eighteen homers in the final
clinches the title. Just clutch hitting when it mattered most.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
An incredible performance and historic in so many ways.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Right, let's tick him off. First catcher ever to win
the home run Derby.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Think about that all these years, never a catcher that
shatters a ceiling.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
It really does challenges that old thinking about catchers being
defense first. Maybe it inspires more power hitting catchers down the.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Line could be.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
And he was the first switch hitter to win it outright.
Ruben Sierra shared the title back in eighty nine, but
Rally's the first solo switch hitting champ.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yep joins Ken Griffy Junior is the only Mariners to
win it.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Pretty lead company there ol a fang company.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And his total fifty four homers across the three rounds
that's the most ever by a catcher in the Derby
shows power.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And endurance, just an all around phenomenal showing. Okay, so
Raleigh was the story, but there were other huge moments.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Oh yeah, plenty of highlights. O'Neil Cruz Pittsburgh pirates.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
That swing as something else.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
He launched the longest homer of the whole night, five
hundred and thirteen feet in the first round.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Five hundred and thirteen feet. That's just monstrous.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
It tied for one of the longest ever recorded by
a STAD cast outside of cors Field, up there with
Aaron Judge Territory. Just jaw dropping.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Power, unbelievable. And Kevin Aro, even though he lost in
the final.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
What a performance like he said, twenty two years old,
hit forty four total homers, averaged four hundred and thirty
five feet. Promer showed incredible poise for his age. He's
gonna be scary.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Good, definitely, announced himself. And James Wood, the rookie from Washington.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Also impressive, had a four hundred and eighty six footer himself.
These young guys were not intimidated by the stage at all.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
So the winner gets more than just bragging rights in
a trophy.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Right, Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Cal Rawley took home a cool one million dollar prize.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
A million bucks. That's serious cash. Almost doubles his salary
for the year, right pretty much.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Plus he gets that custom home run Derby chain you know,
the big flashy necklace worth tens of thousands easily a
nice bit of blank Not bad.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
For a night's work, not bad at all.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
And you see why the event itself is so popular,
huge viewership, lots of buzz.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, it's pure power, none of the usual game strategy.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Just hitting exactly, the head to head matchups, the clock,
taking down the bonus rules. It all creates this built
in drama and it's a massive platform for guys like
Camonaro would cruise to really make a name for themselves nationally.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
A glimpse of the future, maybe.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I think so. Definitely feels like it.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Okay, so let's wrap this deep dive up. The twenty
twenty five T Mobile Home Run Derby, a huge success,
ending with cal Rawley making history.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Absolutely first catcher, first outright switch hitter, champ and that
whole family angle just made it a great story.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
But beyond Raleigh, you had O'Neil Cruz hitting one over
five hundred feet, Junior Cameronaro looking like a future superstar.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, the young talent really shown through the format. Delivered
the drama, the stars delivered the power. It just cements
the Derby, as you know, a must watch part of
all Star.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Week, celebrating pure slugging power, long balls, tight finishes, and
a deserving winner, a night baseball fans won't forget.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Quickly Well said, it really had it all.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
So thinking about all this, it really makes you wonder,
doesn't it. With talents like Caminero, Wood and Cruse blasting
onto the scene like this, how might the twenty twenty
five Derby signal maybe a broader shift, a new era
of slugger shaping baseball's power landscape for the next decade.
What do you think