New York Mets rookie Pete Alonso won the 2019 Home Run Derby on Monday night in Cleveland, edging out Toronto Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 23-22 in the final round.
So, Alonso is officially the winner, but most people that watched the event will come away thinking more about the show Vlad Jr. put on, because it was absolutely incredible.
Heck, Guerrero hit *34* more home runs on the night than Alonso did.
https://twitter.com/jasoncollette/status/1148424311482527744
Vlad Jr. didn’t take long in the Derby to show why he entered the season as the consensus top prospect in baseball. In the first round, the 20-year-old cranked 29 dingers to break Josh Hamilton’s record for home runs in a round (granted, the Home Run Derby format has changed since Hamilton hit 28 in 2008).
https://twitter.com/Baer_Bill/status/1148397642998833157
And in the semifinals, all Vlad Jr. did was… hit 29 homers, again.
However, so did the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson. After two bonus rounds, Vlad Jr. finally came away with an insane 40-39 semifinals victory.
Here’s a neat GIF showing the spray chart of all 91 home runs Vlad Jr. hit on the night:
And the performance got an OMG from dad.