{"id":9471,"date":"2014-06-30T09:07:30","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T13:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=9471"},"modified":"2014-06-30T09:07:30","modified_gmt":"2014-06-30T13:07:30","slug":"who-really-should-be-in-the-hr-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=9471","title":{"rendered":"Who *really* should be in the HR derby?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Puig<\/a>

Puig would *make* the home run derby. photo mlb.com<\/p><\/div>\n

I have to admit it: the home run derby has probably become my favorite part of the all-star game festivities. \u00a0That and the futures game of course. \u00a0The all-star game itself has devolved into a farce with a slew of issues (I posted a lot of these criticisms in my 2011 Nats all-star piece<\/a>, and they remain issues today, so no need to go back into them here).\u00a0 Lets talk about the Home Run derby.<\/p>\n

I kind of like the wrinkle of naming “captains,” which for this year occurred on 6\/23\/14<\/a>.\u00a0 But the captains have to pick the right guys.\u00a0 I hate the format; when a guy like\u00a0Josh Hamilton<\/strong> is remembered for his epic performance in an early round moreso than the winner, something’s wrong with the format. \u00a0 But they’re changing it this year. \u00a0 And the players take *way* too many pitches. \u00a0But whatever. \u00a0This year’s captains are\u00a0Troy Tulowitzki<\/strong> and\u00a0Jose Bautista<\/strong>. \u00a0Fans can vote<\/a> on who they want to see in the competition.<\/p>\n

Here’s my ideal home-run derby slate of participants.\u00a0 In the interest of keeping the competition “small” i’ve limited this to 5 per league:<\/p>\n

National League<\/span><\/strong>:<\/p>\n