PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jordan Walker silenced Philadelphia's boo birds by homering on his last six swings, chasing down Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber in the final round and becoming the first St. Louis Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby on Monday night.
Schwarber hit 11 homers during his 15-swing turn in the final round. Philly fans, who loudly booed everyone but Schwarber and Bryce Harper throughout the night, quietly headed toward the exits when Walker’s winning shot soared over the left field wall.
“I was once told you don’t boo nobodies,” Walker said. “So it feels pretty good.”
Schwarber advanced out of the first round and then beat Boston’s Willson Contreras in a head-to-head matchup in the second round to face off against Walker, a 24-year-old who beat Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero in Round 2.
Schwarber, the major league baseball home run leader, had fans roaring on every swing.
Swinging away with the top button on his Cardinals jersey undone, the 24-year-old Walker seemed nonplussed by the jeers and the massive stage during All-Star Game festivities.
“He earned it,” Schwarber said.
Walker chewed a big wad of bubble gum and wore his cap backward just like Hall of Famer and Derby great Ken Griffey Jr. He celebrated with his family immediately on the field, while his father rejoiced in recalling how Walker started hitting long home runs when he was 6 years old.
He fulfilled this childhood dream in dramatic fashion. Walker hit his seventh homer with two swings remaining and his eighth on the next swing to earn bonus swings. Needing to hit four straight homers to win, the right-handed Jordan knocked one off the top of the center field fence 401 feet away. He reached 10 homers and Philly fans booed with all their might, only for Jordan to finish the sensational surge and celebrate as fireworks shot off around him.
“That was impressive,” said Schwarber, a Derby runner-up for the second time. “That was impressive what he did.”
Walker is a first-time All-Star for the Cardinals who is having a breakout season. He already has a career high 22 homers this season after struggling with a combined 11 over the previous two years.
Those final six in Philly are now stamped on the Derby highlight reel.
A revamped Derby format delivered great drama
MLB ditched its timed clock this season and returned to a swing format, with each hitter continuing to swing if he went deep on his final one.
The extra time between swings gave hitters time to track their home runs — and Philly a smidge more time to unleash those throaty boos at Contreras and Walker.
Each player had 20 swings in the first round and the top four advanced. Hitters were seeded for the second round, where No. 1 faces 4 and 2 meets 3.
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Each player got 15 swings in the second round, with batters homering on their final swings continuing until not homering.
Philly came ready to celebrate its slugging stars
Phillies fans were wildly optimistic that Schwarber and Harper could somehow reach the final and crown the franchise's third Derby champion.
Harper hit only eight in the first round and was the final slugger to try and advance. Schwarber could only watch as Harper failed to join him. Schwarber, then with the Chicago Cubs, made the finals in 2018 at Nationals Park before losing to Harper when he played with the Nationals.
“Bittersweet,” Schwarber said after the first round Monday. “I wanted both of us to move on.”
Schwarber and Harper — the first pair of teammates to participate in the Derby since 2018 — received roaring ovations when famed ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced them ahead of the competition.
As for the other six sluggers in the field, all wearing their home jerseys with red, white and blue uniform numbers?
Yeah, they were about booed out of the ballpark, with the loudest jeers saved for Yankees slugger Ben Rice. He gamely laughed as he walked out of his Liberty Bell entrance.
Harper — who said earlier Monday this would be his last Derby — waved his arms and exhorted the crowd to get louder as he walked to the home plate platform placed at second base. Harper about broke the ring ropes as he shook them like a pro wrestler, and the Philly crowd went bonkers for the star known as The Showman.
The ball-shagging kids in the outfield were even booed.
The Derby’s public address announcer implored the fans to cheer during some quiet stretches when homers — non-Phillies edition — were hit.
The fans did get a rise when Kansas City's Jac Caglianone smoked one into Ryan Howard territory into the third deck in right field. Contreras socked ’em into the rarified air of the left field upper deck. One homer cleared the last row of stands in that section and bounced off the concourse in front of a bar. His 490-footer was the longest of the first round.
This was the first Home Run Derby and All-Star Game held at Citizens Bank Park since it opened in 2004 and the first derby in Philadelphia since Barry Bonds outslugged Mark McGwire in 1996 to win an afternoon event in front of thousands of empty seats at Veterans Stadium.
This derby was sold out and aired on Netflix for the first time, with the streamer getting into the game this season with a three-event package. Netflix already aired the opening night game, and the third attraction is the Field of Dreams game between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 13.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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