Let’s face it. The Home Run Derby, a spectacle for chicks (and perhaps children) who dig the long ball, has been a pointless, unnecessary activity during MLB’s All-Star break for decades.
So there’s finally talk of dumping it, a subject that will be debated by executives during baseball meetings in November.
Homer king Barry Bonds refused to waste his time in the Derby last July and Canadian slugger Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins has vowed that, if the event should continue in the future, he will never again participate.
In fact, Morneau’s home-run swing against real pitching has been messed up since the Derby. He had 24 homers before the All-Star break; six in the second half.
“I don’t want to make it sound like an excuse,” the B.C. native said, “but I just haven’t felt the same since then.”
The Blue Jays’ Alex Rios, incidentally, entered last night with only six homers since participating in the Derby. He stroked 17 before the break.
• The most significant MLB pennant race from a Canadian perspective is in the NL Central, where the Chicago Cubs started last night a game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers, who are run by general manager Doug Melvin and assistant GM Gord Ash — both Ontarians … Russell Martin, another Ontarian, rivals Morneau as baseball’s top Canadian player and is about to erase Mike Piazza’s record for most games caught in a season for the Los Angeles Dodgers … The New York Mets are in a race, too, but Shawn Green won’t play for them this weekend because of Yom Kippur, the highest of Jewish holy days. Ryan Braun will play for the Brewers. His father is Jewish. His mother is Catholic.
• Underdogs, remarkably, were 12-3-1 against the spread in the NFL this past weekend … And I’ll mention (because no one else will) that I went 4-0 against the spread in my CFL picks on the weekend and am 30-12-2 on the season. Hey, you’ve made good money if you’ve followed my picks in my weeklyCFL Reports… Videotaping signals and cheating a la the New England Patriots have gone unpunished in the CFL for years. I’ll elaborate in my CFL Report this week. It will be online tomorrow … When he played in the CFL, Daved Benefield was a loud, harsh critic of media types. Now, Benefield’s getting criticized. Toronto Star columnist Chris Zelkovich, for one, has urged CBC to pull the plug on Benefield’s stuff. Danny McManus and Adrion Smith are other ex-CFLers who played the game but struggle when discussing it on the air.
In three-plus decades as a columnist and broadcaster, Marty York has built a network of solid contacts and a renowned reputation for his hard-hitting, groundbreaking style. The tradition continues in Metro Sports.
