Better late than never for Griffey

Junior reconsiders, slugs way to HR Derby title

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Posted: Monday July 13, 1998 08:53 PM

No. 1 with a bullet: Griffey hit 19 total home runs, but only needed three in the finals

DENVER (CNN/SI) - The All-Star Home Run Derby was supposed to be the Big Mac show, largely because the American League's top slugger was supposed to be a no-show.

But Junior made a surprise appearance, while Mark McGwire's power was suddenly missing in action.

Ken Griffey Jr., the leading vote-getter in fan balloting with more than 4 million votes, had intended to pass up the glamour event at this year's All-Star Game. But he changed his mind after being booed during batting practice and was a last-second entrant -- and winner.

"I don't like to get booed," Griffey said. "There were 4 million reasons why I did it."

And McGwire, expected by many to win the competition or at least dent the Coors Field scoreboard in the mile-high altitude, hit just four homers and failed to get beyond the first round.

"I like the ball middle in, and the pitches were middle away," said McGwire, who did thrill the fans with a 510-footer -- the longest of the day.

"So, sorry everybody."

Cleveland's Jim Thome, who failed last year in front of the hometown fans at Jacobs Field to hit one homer, finished second to Griffey, who outhomered him in the final round 3-2.

Splintering: Thome cracked four homers of more than 460 feet in the second round

Early Monday afternoon, Griffey was insisting he would pass up the chance to rocket balls through the thin Colorado air. He was booed loudly the first time he was introduced and fans continued to get on him during his BP swings.

But when his name was announced as the final American League entrant, he received a warm ovation and by the time he walked to the plate for his first round, many of the more than 50,000 were standing.

After connecting eight times to advance, he slowly walked back to the AL dugout, tipped his cap to the fans and hugged his 4-year-old son, Trey.

Then it was McGwire's turn. He hit two weak grounders before driving one over the wall in straightaway center, hitting a sign just below the Rockpile -- or bleachers -- section of seats. The announced estimated distance of 510 feet surpassed the unofficial stadium record, a 496-foot shot hit by Mike Piazza last year.

Thome, Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro, Colorado's Vinny Castilla and Houston's Moises Alou all finished the first round with seven homers, but Alou was eliminated because he has less regular-season homers than the others.

Atlanta's Javy Lopez and Seattle's Alex Rodriguez had five homers each. Detroit's Damian Easley led off the event and managed just two homers, one more than the Braves' Chipper Jones.

Griffey, the 1994 champion, spent more than an hour before the event defending his decision to skip it.

McGwire hit the longest homer -- traveling 510 feet -- but was eliminated in the first round

"I made my decision a month ago," he said when asked if anyone had tried to change his mind. "Isn't this an invitation? Don't you have the right to say that you want to do it or don't want to do it?

"It's not like they held a gun to my head and said, 'You're doing it.' They asked me, and I said no."

Fortunately, McGwire didn't. In fact, McGwire has had a difficult time saying no to anyone lately.

His pursuit of Roger Maris' single-season record for homers is the talk of baseball, and recently the Cardinals placed restrictions on the media in order to give McGwire a break from the constant attention.

"Well, I don't know if I'll ever enjoy it," McGwire said of dealing with the press. "That's just not me as a person. But I've come to realize that I have to do something about it, and that I have to talk about it."

Talk that he belongs among the great home-run hitters in history makes McGwire shake his head in disbelief.

"It still blows me away, it really does," he said. "Considering that when I was a kid, all I wanted to do was pitch. It wasn't until my sophomore year in college that I turned into a hitter, never knowing I'd get a chance to go to the big leagues.

"The next thing you know, they're talking about my name along with Babe Ruth, Maris, Mantle down the line. It's overwhelming. I don't think it will really hit me until I'm retired."

Related information
Stories
1998 HR Derby Results Home Run Rally: Play CNN/SI's new baseball video game! A Sports Illustrated Photo Gallery: All-Stars So Far There's something in the air at Coors
Stats
1998 HR Leaders 1998 Leaders in HR Ratio
Multimedia
Griffey Jr. explains why he decided to re-enter the Home Run Derby   • Start(1.24 M .MOV) Ken Griffey Jr. says he didn't anticipate receiving some boos (274 K) Griffey describes his emotions during the event (177 K) Griffey says the game of baseball is having a great year (193 K) Mark McGwire says he couldn't get in a groove (198 K) Jim Thome says watching McGwire hit was still a thrill (480 K) Click here for the latest audio and video
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.