The Home Run Derby was last night, and if you watched it through to the end, you'd know that Prince Fielder ended up beating Nelson Cruz in the final round. However, if you did indeed watch the whole thing, you probably have a splitting headache, thanks to either Chris Berman's incessantly annoying catch-phrase schtick, or the copious amount of alcohol that you were forced to consume merely to make the even tolerable.I used to be a big fan of the Derby. Even up until last year, I found it to be pretty enjoyable. Berman annoyed me, but I was able to get past it, because it was still exciting to see Josh Hamilton crush baseballs all over the place, and then lose to Justin Morneau anyway.
This year, however, was unbearably bad. I'm not sure what pushed it over the edge this year, but here are a few thoughts after the event. Take them or leave them, these are just my observations.
- Joe Mauer should not have been there. He's having a great year, and his power numbers have spiked nicely, but he's still not a HR hitter. Period.
- Regardless of how poorly he did, Brandon Inge DID deserve to be there. Just like the Bills deserved to be in Super Bowl XXVII. Inge embarrassed himself just like they did, but also earned the right to be there, just like they did. His 0-HR performance is irrelevant. To say otherwise is foolish.
- The Ball Tracker is stupid. Get rid of it. It might even be WORSE than the old Puck Tracker from back in the day, if that's even possible.
- ESPN hates the fans, as evidenced by their broadcast crew of Berman, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips. When a Joe Buck appearance is the most tolerable portion of the show, you know something is wrong.
- It's a damn good thing that Erin Andrews was there.
- As boring as it was on TV, it must have been even worse to actually be there.
- I can not stress this enough. Chris Berman is terrible. Tenure be damned, he should NOT have a job that involves being seen or heard in public.
- The Home Run Derby was way better back when everyone was on steroids.
- Once again, Chris Berman sucks. Just ask Twitter.
- If you have ever attended batting practice before a Major League game, then there is no reason to ever watch the Home Run Derby.
- Chris Berman needs to go.
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