A Home Run Derby for Pitchers? Yes Please.

My buddy Trent texted me last night to tell me that Kershaw suggested on ESPN radio that they do a pitchers hr derby. So naturally, that led into a debate about who would be the 8 pitchers to participate and how would it turn out. After a night of Coors, Chris Berman, and Homers, the debate had turned into an absolute mess. My boy RV and I got together this morning to iron everything out. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

The 2011 Pitchers Homerun Derby presented by NextLevelBallplayer.com.

The Great Eight (Sorry Kershaw- great suggestion, but you didn’t get picked)

Carlos Zambrano- Switch hitting monster who is always enjoys crushing things with a bat.
CC Sabathia- Handled the wood quite well in his Brew Crew days and has the girth to hit some BOMBS
Micah Owings- Still holds Georgia’s high school all-time HR record and has been used as a pinch hitter on multiple occasions.
Mike Leake- Arizona State standout with the bat. Has hit around .300 his whole career with the Reds
Tim Hudson- Hit 18 jacks his last year while winning SEC player of the year and All-American honors.
Zack Greinke- Lures you to sleep with his lost puppy face, but has big fly potential. Plus we’d hope his wife (Miss Florida) shows up for support.
Livan Hernandez- Sticks it with the best of them and has the “power body” needed for the derby
Yovani Gallardo- Pure hitter who hopefully wouldn’t change his swing like Weeks. 9 jacks in 210 ABs is more than respectable from a pitcher.

Top 4 in the First Round

Owings

Zambrano

Gallardo

Sabathia

Top 2 in the Second Round

Zambrano

Gallardo

Your 2011 Pitchers Home Run Derby Champion:

Yovani Gallardo!!!!!!!!

Side stories of the 2011 Pitcher’s HR derby

-Mike Leake hit all line drive singles and finished with an 0-fer

-Sabathia wore his tilted Yankees hat so goofy that he couldn’t see the ball with both eyes AND STILL made it to the second round

-Zambrano had a questionable HR ruled an out and went berserk. Fortunately there were no coolers in sight and all his cussing was in Spanish.

-Livan was caught on film eating a donut in the batting cage under the stadium while waiting for his turn to hit.

-Tweet of the night came from Greinke before he came to bat in the 1^st round: “My wife is hot. I don’t even care how I do tonight.”

-Nobody took 7 five minute breaks during each round

-The entire derby took under 2 hours to complete and was highly entertaining