
LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – The MLB Home Run Derby Lineup 2011 tonight is the result of a new format instituted since last season. MLB’s Home Run Derby tonight (start time 8 PM EST) may feature some familiar AL and NL players in its lineup. But the roster was picked via a whole new format. Will the change improve the Derby? Critics aren’t so sure.
For 2011, MLB took the past two Derby winners — Prince Fielder and David Ortiz — and appointed them league captains. Fielder and Ortiz were then given the duty to select the Home Run Derby lineup for Monday night. Fielder chose Rickie Weeks, Matt Kemp, and Matt Holliday. Ortiz for the AL chose Adrian Gonzalez, Robinson Cano, and Jose Bautista.
The Derby format (live results below) features an eight player three round event. During the first round, all eight player will be given a ten “out” format. The can hit as many home runs as they can deliver. An “out” is categorized as swing that doesn’t end in a home run. Fans are reminded that players need not swing at each pitch.
The four players with the top score advance to the second round. Any tie is broken by a five out swing. The second round follows the same format as the first. But by the end of the second round, players will be eliminated by the lowest combined score from rounds one and two.
The Home Run Derby has been a beloved addition to All-Star week since its addition by MLB in 1985. The format had grown to ten players in the late nineties but went back to an eight player format in 2000.
Seven years ago, the Home Run Derby made news with a new record of the most home runs in a single round: fifteen. A year later, the record was destroyed by Bobby Abreu hitting twenty-four in the first-round.
Last year’s lineup featured David Ortiz (Bos), Corey Hart (Milwaukee), Chris Young (D-backs), Nick Swisher (Yankees), Hanley Ramirez (Marlins), Vernon Wells (Blue Jays), Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) and Matt Holliday (St Louis). In the first round results last year, Hart had thirteen home runs , Ramirez had nine and Ortiz had eight. But in the second round, Ortiz skyrocketed with Ramirez, both reaching twenty-one home runs.
Tonight’s Home Run Derby Lineup kicks off on ESPN and ESPN3.com start time at 8 p.m. EST. Click HERE for live results round by round.
Ortiz is the player dominating news predictions today as your 2011 winner. This is Ortiz’s fifth appearance. Last year, his come from behind shocked news. Ortiz’s greatest threat is believed that second round action. Ortiz has a career 366 home runs. Moreover, of the lineup this year, Ortiz, Gonzalez, Fielder, and Holliday are the only returning competitors.