Wake Up With Ken Griffey Jr Winning the 1999 Home Run Derby In Fenway Park
With the derby in DC tonight, I thought it was only fair to start KGM off with his winning performance in the 1999 derby from Fenway. Griffey would go on to win this derby after he hit 16 total homers. He hit 3 in the first round to advance from the AL side of the bracket, he hit 10 in the second round to advance to finals, and then hit 3 in the finals against Jeromy Burnitz, who hit 2. This was his third Home Run Derby title, and second in 2 years after he won it in 1998 at Coors Field.
I used to watch these all the time as a kid, couldn’t get enough of it. The long, majestic homers flying into the night. Chris Berman sweating while in a full suit with a jacket yelling “BACK, BACK, BACK, BACK, GONE!”, or him saying “THAT ONE MAY LAND IN (insert random town close to the stadium where the derby is). Now I kind of realize they were boring back then. 16 homers? Bobby Abreu was doing that in his sleep in 2005. The guys now hit 16 and don’t even advance. I mean Griffey hitting 3 in the first round? Woof! I remember Jason Bay hung a goose egg a few years back. Jason Bay stunk though, so that was wasn’t too surprising.
Hoping for a nice showing tonight out of the derby, even though it is a weak group. Weird ballpark to have it in too, DC doesn’t have the big towering stands in left like most stadiums, they have theirs in right. Left field is a section of seats and then a ton of open space for walkways, guess we’ll see. Give me Bregman.