ATLANTA — A viral clip made the rounds earlier this month of Cal Raleigh as a child dreaming of one day winning the Home Run Derby.
On Monday night in Atlanta, he made that a reality.
With his father, Todd, throwing to him and his little brother, Todd Jr., catching, Raleigh became the first catcher ever to win Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby when he bested Junior Caminero — who nearly became the youngest player to win the event — 18-15 in the finals.
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Raleigh, who leads the majors with 38 home runs at the break and is the first Mariners player to win the Home Run Derby since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999, finished the event with 54 home runs.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Raleigh said afterward while donning an extravagant Home Run Derby chain around his neck. “You don’t think youre going to be invited, and then you get invited, and the fact that you win it with your family, super special. What a night.”
Here are four more takeaways from the event:
Oneil, oh my
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Last year, the longest home run of the derby was hit 473 feet by Marcell Ozuna. The first hitter of the night Monday cleared that number by 13 feet, when James Wood hit a ball 486 feet.
Then, Oneil Cruz bested them both.
Cruz hit five homers even farther than Wood, including a 513-foot blast that went 40 feet farther than the longest home run from last year’s derby. That monster home run was also the longest blast in the Derby since Juan Soto sent a ball 520 feet in 2021 at Coors Field, where baseballs are routinely sent into orbit.
That kind of carry is not quite as common at Truist Park. The homer from Cruz was the longest ever hit at the venue. Vladimir Guerrero Jr watched it and pointed to the air in awe. Ronald Acuna Jr put his hands on his head and looked around in disbelief.
Cruz, who earlier this year recorded the hardest-hit home run of the Statcast era (since 2015) with a 122.9 mph missile off the bat, hit nine of the 10 farthest home runs in the Derby.
Cruz and Wood, who were both competing in the event for the first time, were the only players in the competition who had hit multiple balls at least 450 feet this season.
A decimal decision
Raleigh almost didn’t make it out of the first round.
The switch-hitter switched sides in the middle of the opening round, starting out as a lefty, getting on a roll as a righty after a timeout, then switching back to the left side and finishing with 17 home runs, which tied him with Brent Rooker.
It also led to some confusion.
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Cruz (21 homers), Junior Caminero (21) and Byron Buxton (20) were the clear top three finishers. The tiebreaker to decide the fourth spot between Raleigh and Rooker would come down to home run distance.
But each of their longest homers were charted at 471 feet.
When Rooker saw that, he went down in the tunnel to move around and get loose in case he needed to hit again. In the final two rounds, after all, ties are decided by a swing-off.
But when Rooker went back up the steps to the field, Raleigh delivered the news that he was moving on by inches, advancing by mere decimal points.
“Just crazy,” Raleigh said. “An inch off and I’m not even in the final four, which is amazing. I guess I got lucky there. One extra biscuit.”
Raleigh’s farthest home run was tracked at 470.61 feet, while Rooker’s went 470.53.
“Maybe if they have that to the decimal point, they should display that during the Derby and not wait until everyone’s done to bring out that information,” Rooker said. “That might be helpful.”
It was not the only controversy of the round. Rooker said he was also shorted two of the 40 baseballs that were supposed to be allotted.
“They told me before I went up there that I could take two pitches, but we didn’t know when they told me that there were only 40 balls already in the crate,” Rooker explained. “So I took two pitches that didn’t count, but when I went to do the round, there were only 38 remaining.”
Despite the earlier exit than he had hoped, Rooker still had a great time.
“Truly a blast,” Rooker said. “What a special opportunity and special experience.”
Hometown star comes up just short in opening round
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Initially, Ronald Acuña Jr. was going to represent the hometown Braves. A back injury forced a change of plans, and Matt Olson filled in as Acuña’s replacement.
Olson finished just a couple homers short of Raleigh and Rooker with 15 in the first round, picking up steam late and making it close as 41,912 fans in attendance — many of them Braves fans — cheered him on.
He figured there would be a lot of Braves fans, but he was taken aback by the sound as he made his late push. He said it felt more like a Friday night home game.
“The reaction of the intros and the support during the round was awesome, probably the loudest I heard the place when I kind of got going there a little bit,” Olson said. “Ton of fun, wish I could’ve advanced but got off to a bad start, had to take the timeout a little too early. Bad strategy. But it was a blast.”
‘A dream come true’
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
From the time Raleigh was in diapers, his father, Todd, was teaching him how to switch-hit.
Raleigh would swing a small bat, and Todd, who coached at Western Kentucky University and later the University of Tennessee, would switch his son’s hands, then try it again.
“I didn’t want either one of my boys to ever say, ‘Am I right-handed or left-handed?’” Todd said. “I wanted it to be from day one.'”
Fast-forward to Monday night, and Raleigh showcased his ambidextrous skills on the Home Run Derby stage while hitting baseballs from his dad like he did when he was little.
“It goes all the way back to him coming home and forcing him to throw me a ball and hit it in the backyard or in the house, which we probably shouldn’t be doing,” Raleigh said. “And it goes back to his coaching days when he was coaching in college. Straight after school, it was straight to the field, I’d hop in with the guys, hang out, do some drills sometimes, hit in the cage, just be part of it.”
That experience helped shape Raleigh, who is now one of the top power threats in MLB. He is already just 10 home runs shy of tying the record for the most home runs in a season by a primary catcher.
In the Home Run Derby, Raleigh launched 17 home runs in round one while switching sides of the plate. In the semifinals, he decided to hit only from the left side and launched 19 homers to defeat Cruz. In the finals, he got some help from one of the kids on the field, who robbed a potential Caminero homer.
“I paid him off,” Raleigh joked. “I didn’t see it, I heard them talk about it.”
Luckily, it wouldn’t have mattered if that swing from Caminero counted, as Raleigh won the round by three homers.
Raleigh’s father described the Home Run Derby experience as “a dream come true” for him and both of his sons.
“I can’t say how lucky and blessed I am,” Todd said. “This Derby was huge when we heard about it, but when we involved the family, the complexion of it changed.”
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.
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