Despite launching 35 bombs into the New York skyline on Monday night, Texas Rangers’ outfielder Josh Hamilton was the runner-up in this year’s Major League Baseball Home Run Derby.  The winner was Minnesota Twins 1B Justin Morneau, who despite hitting 13 less Home Runs overall, outhomered Hamilton in the final and deciding round, 5-3. 

Although he hoisted the trophy at the end of the night, even Morneau knew it was Hamilton’s night.  In the first round, Hamilton put on a show for the ages, hitting 28 home runs, an all-time record for one round.  The closest player to that achievement was Bobby Abreu in 2005, who hit 24.  Other than Abreu, no player had ever gotten within 10 of that mark in the first round, and no player EVER hit more than 28 in an ENTIRE NIGHT other than Abreu (who ironically, also did not win the derby).  

It wasn’t just the number of Home Run’s that Hamilton hit either that wowed the New York crowd–it was the manner in which Hamilton hit them.  Upper deck shots, moonballs, absolute SHOTS!  Severall balls hit over 500 feet, one almost entirely left Yankee Stadium–a feat that has never been accomplished.  The display of strength and power was unmatched–even by those gorillas in the steroid era, the Mark McGwire’s of the world with their tree trunk biceps, barrel chests, and oversized craniums. 

It was Hamilton’s night, and the other players knew that.  This was the man’s first Home Run Derby and his first all-star selection in his first full-season in the big leagues. Not a bad start for the man,  he’s already driven in 95 runs at the break!  A former #1 overall draft pick, Hamilton’s story is that of failure and resurrection.  The man fell off the wagon and was addicted to drugs, suspended from baseball, and nearly dead just a few years ago.  Now he’s back, clean, and hitting baseballs like they were the demons that drove him down a dangerous path.  Yes, Justin Morneau won the 2008 Home Run Derby, but everybody knows that this was the coming out party for one Josh Hamilton.

Photo courtesy of Scott Rovak/Us Presswire