Teoscar Hernandez wins Home Run Derby
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Lorenzo Delgado, Contributor
- July 16, 2024
Teoscar Hernandez becomes first Dodger to win Derby
ARLINGTON, Texas – Bobby Witt Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez had The Eyes of Texas on their feet Monday night for the 2024 T-Mobile Home Run Derby. It was only right to have well known ring announcer, Michael Buffer, introduce the finalists for the finals matchup before Hernandez made history as the first Dodger to win the Derby.
Hernandez and Witt Jr. met at home plate. The sluggers looked as if they were going to box each other center stage under the bright lights at Globe Life Field.
Witt Jr., a native of Colleyville, Texas, had one ball left in his bonus round. The ball was traveling toward the bullpen in left-center and came two feet away from clearing the wall. The home run would’ve tied Hernandez’s 14 home runs and sent it to an epic swing-off.
“Oh, man. I was nervous,” Hernandez said of Witt Jr.’s finals round. “Not when I see that ball. The last one. When he still got two outs and one homer to tie with me. And then the last shot that he got, he was a little, like, too close to tie.
“But thank God it didn’t went out. So super happy.”
Teoscar Hernandez makes Dodger history
Hernandez edged out Witt Jr., 14-13, to win the Home Run Derby and become the seventh native of the Dominican Republic to win the All-Star event.
In addition, Teo is the third consecutive Dominican to win the Home Run Derby, following Juan Soto in 2022 and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2023.
Guerrero Jr. walked across home plate sporting the new Home Run Derby necklace across his neck. He also wore a vintage Blue Jays’ Teoscar Hernandez jersey from their days together in Toronto. Hernandez spent six seasons with the Blue Jays and made his first All-Star appearance with them.
“That was a surprise of the night,” Hernandez said of Guerrero Jr. wearing his Blue Jays jersey. “He said from here to the hotel, ‘I got a surprise for you. I’m going to show it tomorrow.’ So he brings my jersey from Toronto.”
Vladimir Guerrero advice
Guerrero Jr. won the 2023 Home Run Derby in Seattle. During Hernandez’s timeouts, Guerrero Jr. walked to home plate with the rest of Hernadez’s Dodger teammates. He would give his former teammate encouraging advice and try to calm him down in each round.
The Phillies’ Alec Bohm and Hernandez each hit 14 home runs in the semifinals. They then had a monumental swing-off to determine. With only three swings to work with, Hernandez homered twice to eliminate Bohm and move on to the finals.
Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel pitched to Hernandez. Hernandez hit 19 home runs in the first round, 14 in the semifinals, and 14 more in the finals. The native of Cotui, Dominican Republic, mashed 47 home runs in total.
Ebel has previous experience pitching in the Derby. He pitched to Vladimir Guerrero Sr. in the 2007 Home Run Derby and won the event in San Francisco.
Furthermore, Ebel pitched to Albert Pujols in the 2015 Home Run Derby and Joc Pederson in the 2019 Home Run Derby. Ebel helped Hernandez become the first Dodger in franchise history to win the event.
“His calmness. That’s what he brings,” Ebel said of Hernandez. “I always say the bright lights, it’s never bright for him. He knows how to slow the game down. He knows how to slow himself down. Just in this last series in Detroit, we kind of had a little practice, a couple days of practice rounds.
“And I saw it and just knew. … Tonight, when we got to the finals, I knew he was going to show up, and he did. So that’s Teo. That’s what he does.”
Lorenzo Delgado
Contributor
Lorenzo Delgado graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and is currently attending the University of Houston to earn his master’s degree. Lorenzo was formerly a contributing baseball writer for Call to the Pen on the Fansided Network. He is the host of an Astros baseball podcast called Full Seam Ahead, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever podcasts are found.
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