Terry and Tito Francona need not apply. Tony Gwynn and Tony Gwynn Jr. can also save the application fee. No extra credit for the third generation, so the Bells are out.
And after last night's barren performance, Brandon Inge can bring Babe Ruth back and have the Sultan of Swat adopt him, and he's still not getting another go.
Fathers playing catch with sons is an American theme. But fathers and sons crushing the heck out of the ball is smaller, less universal club. One in which Prince Fielder emphatically staked his surname's membership in Monday's Home Run Derby. Sure, it wasn't Josh Hamilton blasting off or Bobby Abreu hitting 40-plus dingers, but Fielder gave us what we wanted -- a guy swinging with enough force to put Tiger Woods to shame and occasionally hitting the ball more than 500 feet.
He also did it far more consistently than his dad, Cecil, ever did in three appearances in the Home Run Derby. But whatever their current relations, how would the Fielders fare against two other families with almost 1,000 home runs between the generations? Since we're cruelly denied a chance to vote for Jose and Danny Tartabull, we're voting Griffey.
- It's not going to the Ivy league but the Derby gets a passing grade from the 'Nation.
- How many home runs will Fielder hit in his career? Vote on Derby-related issues.
- All-Time Derby: Barry Bonds fared well on his own against the legends.
- Chat: Ask Rob Neyer about Danny Tartabull's greatest hits (and more) at 12 ET
“The derby last year was 20x more interesting than last night. Last year the whole derby was filled with energy and the stadium was going crazy. I been to a Cardinals game and I do like the atmosphere there but the whole derby last night was borderline boring to watch. I also didn't like how they spent the whole night kissing up to Pujols I understand it's his home park but still it came off as staged and annoying.
” -- _nysportsfan_
“Yea, you won the home run derby, now do something important and reconcile with your Dad and show everybody your a real man, Cecil should have been there with to give the derby a little drama and positive feel. You can hit a ball far but can you do something hard like forgive someone. Man, the young fans could use a story like that. Shame on the powers that be for putting inge in there, it was a mockery enough with the doping.
” -- rent-a-ron
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