-
Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas — Each summer, Major League Baseball strives to fill out the eight-man Home Run Derby field with as much star power as possible. Depending on which sluggers volunteer, some collections shine brighter than others. In recent years, many superstars have participated once to check the box or avoided the event entirely. But the league has been able to rely on one constant for the past half-decade: New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.
Alonso is unlike any of his star peers. The slugger embraces the Home Run Derby with a spirited polar bear hug. He loves the Home Run Derby, so he didn’t hesitate to accept another invitation to Monday’s contest at Globe Life Field when he got the call last week that he had made the National League All-Star team. He posted a highlight video announcing his decision to compete on his Instagram page by the end of the day.
“It’s just one of those things that I’m keeping a promise to my childhood self because it was a dream,” Alonso, 29, said. “And now, with a lot of help from so many great people in my life, I’ve put myself in a position to [participate]. It’s such a blessing and a dream come true.”
This will be Alonso’s fifth career Derby appearance — and fifth straight. He won it in his first two attempts, in 2019 and 2021, before falling short the past two years. Alonso’s inclusion gave MLB an easy storyline: Since its inception in 1985, Ken Griffey Jr. is the only player to win the Derby three times. Alonso is chasing longball history.
Alonso wasn’t expected to make the All-Star team as the Mets’ lone representative. He’s on pace for career lows in home runs and on-base percentage this season. Shortstop Francisco Lindor and outfielder Brandon Nimmo are teammates with stronger résumés. But the league chose Alonso as an NL reserve, which conveniently guaranteed Alonso would be there to participate in the Home Run Derby. MLB declined to comment on the decision to add Alonso to the All-Star team.
Alonso told ESPN last week that he hadn’t thought about whether he would’ve volunteered for the event if he wasn’t an All-Star. Alonso won the 2021 Home Run Derby in Denver despite not making the All-Star team. This year, Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis García will partake in the event at his home ballpark as the only non-All-Star participant.
This year’s field has just three participants with Home Run Derby experience: Alonso, García, and Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramirez. Alonso is the only one with multiple appearances. American League MVP candidates Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Witt Jr., two of the sport’s best young stars, are among the other entrants. In all, six of the entrants rank in the top 25 on the 2024 home run leaderboard. First-time All-Star Alec Bohm‘s 11 home runs are the fewest in the group — and rank 89th in baseball.
The Home Run Derby is far from facing the decline the NBA’s slam dunk contest has experienced over the past decade. Bench players aren’t populating the field. Minor league players aren’t participating in, let alone winning, the event. Baseball’s superstars still occasionally show up.
But it doesn’t attract the game’s top sluggers as consistently as it did in the days when home run kings such as Griffey, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were regular competitors. Griffey, a 13-time All-Star and the face of baseball in his prime, made a record eight Derby appearances. McGwire made seven. Bonds and Sosa each made six.
For years, players have declined invitations, citing fear that the draining exercise could hamper their performance after the All-Star break. The splits, however, show Alonso has been better after competing in the Derby: For his career, Alonso’s batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage are all higher in the latter half of the season.
“I feel like it helps lock me in for the second half,” Alonso said.
This year’s iteration will not feature several of MLB’s most popular power hitters. Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Yordan Álvarez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are among the All-Stars who have participated in a Home Run Derby in the past but will be spectators this year.
Ohtani, a participant in 2021 and the NL’s home run leader, initially said he wanted to take part, but the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t give him the green light as he continues his rehab from elbow surgery to pitch next season. Bryce Harper, the 2018 winner, recently spent time on the injured list with a left hamstring strain. Juan Soto, the 2022 champion and an impending free agent, has played through forearm inflammation for most of the season and with a sore right hand in recent weeks.
“We analyzed that with my agent [Scott Boras] and everyone,” Soto said in Spanish. “I thought about it, but in the end I decided to not do it. Only for the season, we’re in a very important season for the team and we have a good future, and I think the best thing is to try to rest, play in the All-Star Game, enjoy the show and try to come in the second half and try to play in as many games as possible to be able to take the team to the playoffs.”
Judge leads the majors with 34 homers but hasn’t participated in the Derby since winning it as a rookie in 2017. He has said he would take part again when the All-Star Game returns to New York, though there isn’t a guarantee that’ll happen during his career. Guerrero, last year’s winner, and Álvarez, who has never participated, both recently told reporters they simply weren’t interested in this year’s event.
Alonso is on a different wavelength. He remembers getting hooked on the Derby watching Josh Hamilton crush a record-setting 28 home runs in a round at Yankee Stadium in 2008. Alonso made his Derby debut 11 years later, smashing the competition in Cleveland, then finishing the season with a rookie-record 53 home runs. He hasn’t missed a Derby since.
The Mets slugger’s motivation this year stretches beyond his love for the event: Alonso said New Era has agreed to donate $70,000 to his charitable foundation if he reaches certain milestones, on top of any prize money he wins. Since 2019, the prize pool for the event has been $2.5 million, with $1 million going to the winner.
“With that, we’re going to help fix up a lot of fields that need some tender love and care in some not-so-great areas,” Alonso said. “And give kids a chance to fall in love with the game and hopefully inspire some kids to be motivated to play the game of baseball.”
Maybe he’ll inspire the next Home Run Derby champion along the way.