Despite MLB’s good intentions, new Home Run Derby format falls flat
I’m probably one of the few baseball fans who always watches the Home Run Derby. It stems from childhood, where my friends and I would each pick a player, and then watch to see which one of us came out on top.
Those traditions have carried over to today. I’ll still text my friends to see who they like in the Derby, and I’ll still watch the event.
While I enjoy seeing men bash a tiny ball as far as humanly possible, I admit that the old Home Run Derby format had its flaws. The event was long and repetitive. Watching guys hit bombs for an hour is fun. Watching guys hit bombs for three hours feels like a chore.
Because of that, I completely understand why Major League Baseball would want to revamp the event. But the new format the league came up with is lame, and makes it look like MLB is trying too hard.
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The two main changes being made to the event involves the use of brackets, and a greater focus on time. Both of these additions could backfire spectacularly.
Introducing brackets to the event is awful. I get that MLB wants to pit players against each other in order to make the event seem personal, but a single-elimination bracket is terrible.
Let’s say, for example, Bryce Harper takes on Mike Trout in the first round. Harper hits 13 bombs, while Trout hits 11. In the old format, we would wait around to see whether three other players could top Trout and prevent him from advancing. There was at least some suspense involved.
In the new format, Trout gets eliminated immediately. This is a problem, particularly because a guy like Trout should be allowed to stick around as long as humanly possible. His presence is good for the game.
To put it in different terms, think about fantasy football. If you play in a head-to-head league, there has probably been a week where your team scored the second-highest point total in the league, but you lost because your opponent scored the highest point total. The new bracket system is like that.
Much like the brackets, the new time system doesn’t completely work. Players will have five minutes to take as many swings as they can, basically. There are some weird time stoppage rules too, but we’ll get to that later.
MLB had good intentions with the idea, but it falls flat. No one likes watching batters take pitch after pitch at the plate during the Derby. With the new system, fans will probably see more swings, and that’s good.
At the same time, we’re going to see some awful cuts. As time winds down, you’ll start to see players chase pitches, or swing at balls down by their feet, in order to beat their opponent. It will be pretty cool when those swings result in dingers, sure, but when they end up as a grounder to second, that’s less than inspiring.
There are also strange ways to make the timer stop. Once batters are under a minute, the timer will stop if a player hits a home run. It won’t start again until they make an out. Players can also receive bonus time based on how far some their home runs traveled.
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This is just … confusing. Sure, it’s supposed to add suspense to the event, but it’s weird. And while the bonus time based on distance is an interesting thought, it seems arbitrary. If you’re going to do that, just set up little one-minute targets in the bleachers. If a player hits those with a home run, they get more time. Both ideas could be fun. They are just incredibly random.
I’ll probably still text my friends and watch the event despite the changes. But there won’t be as much drama or suspense due to the new bracket system, and we’ll all probably be confused by the frequent clock stoppages and added times. In the end, there will still be one winner, so one of us will be able to gloat.
Look, we’re talking about the Home Run Derby here, so it’s tough to really be outraged by the changes. While MLB had good intentions, the new format falls flat. We may not have to endure three hours of coverage, but there’s a good chance we’ll experience a watered-down product.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
