London treated to epic finish in debut of Home Run Derby X
Michael Clair
@michaelsclairOn a hot, sunny day in London, thousands of baseball-hungry fans dressed up in all of their favorite baseball gear traveled to Crystal Palace Park to watch the Yankees outslug the Red Sox in the final round of the first FTX MLB Home Run Derby X. Many teams were represented in caps and jerseys, and they flocked to the speed pitch stands to show off the skills they use for their local clubs like the London Mets or the Norwich Iceni.
And that was before the Home Run Derby even began. Let's break down a contest that ended in the most perfect, nail-biting way possible. For full game-by-game point breakdowns, click here and scroll down the sidebar.
Preliminary 1: Red Sox 38 - Cubs 37
A tight, back-and-forth affair was the perfect way for the HRDX to start. Geo Soto was the first ever HRDX batter, and he put up nine points. No one knew just what to expect -- and Soto's dingers were just what the homer-hungry audience wanted:
Jonny Gomes then gave the Red Sox a 16-9 lead and it looked like it might hold until the very end. But in his final at-bat, Cubs Rookie and Great Britain National Team player Jordan Edmonds launched five home runs, including one on his second-to-last swing to tie the game at 37. With teams able to score points by catching fly balls, it was possible that the Cubs could win when Red Sox Rookie Kennard Dawson stepped to the plate.
Currently attending Brewton Parker College, Dawson -- one of the few baseball players from the British Virgin Islands -- made sure that there would be no doubt which team was moving to the finals. One game in, and we already had a walk-off winner.
Preliminary 2: Yankees 61 - Dodgers 41
Nick Swisher knows how to get a crowd on its feet. The always popular, endlessly energetic Swisher came out and lifted a very special Union Jack-painted bat above his head to rapturous applause from the UK crowd. The smilin' slugger then went supernova, putting up a whopping 22 points off 13 home runs that included five target hits and four hot streak points.
Though Adri¨˘n Gonz¨˘lez gave it a good go -- hitting 10 of his own home runs -- it was already too little too late. Softball superstar Erika Piancastelli picked up 13 points, with some of the absolute loudest blasts of the day coming from her bat. She did get a little pick-me-up from Swisher during her timeout, too. Swisher, in a bowler's hat (because of course he was wearing a bowler's hat), gave her a few tips that she used to immediately crush some dingers.
"It's his energy. I need him next to me at all times," Piancastelli said. "He was honest. He said, 'You're here for the fans. You're where you're supposed to be, just have fun.' That allowed me to calm down, I didn't feel like I had to do something. That took a lot of pressure off of me."
The Dodgers put up a fight, but the deficit was simply too much to overcome. The finals were set, the Yankees and the Red Sox would square off in London -- as they did in 2019. It was destiny.
But first, we had a third-place playoff to watch.
Third-place playoff: Dodgers 53 - Cubs 38
Now, before you think that this was simply so some team could be given a bronze medal, you should know that this game counts. While neither team could win Saturday's event, there are points to be earned in the season table that could help one of these clubs take the overall title after the next two events in Seoul and Mexico City are complete. (Teams get five points for a win, three for a second-place finish, and one point for coming in third.)
Gonz¨˘lez left nothing to chance. The slugger, who played in the most recent Tokyo Summer Olympics for Mexico, showed that there's no rust in his bat. He hammered a record 23 points in a single round.
The Cubs put up a good effort -- Spencer Owen certainly did his best to keep the Chicago fans buzzing:
Ashton Lansdell of the USWNT baseball team also scored 13 points for the Cubbies with some absolute scorchers, but there was simply no way to crawl out from the deficit that Gonz¨˘lez put them in.
There was one more heartwarming moment for the Dodgers, too: Yoongy Kwak, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in speedskating, had failed to score a point in the first-round matchup against the Yankees. Midway through his second round, he still had a goose egg -- proving just how difficult baseball is, even for an incredibly gifted, internationally recognized athlete. Finally, he got one -- though Edmonds nearly Rodney McCray'd himself through the fence.
And then we were here: the final.
Final: Yankees 42, Red Sox 40
It couldn't have finished any better even if it were scripted. "The Natural" has nothing on how the explosive HRDX finished. Gomes and Swisher had already started exchanging some lighthearted jousting before the event and now they were squaring off here in the final.
There would be no blowout this round.
Gomes put up 18 points. Swisher countered with 13 of his own, but lost out on two catch points -- snagged by Gomes, of course. Naturally, one of them was a diving catch from a player not known for his defense (but always known for his hustle.)
The superstars came up next. Paige Halstead, who won the 2019 Women's College World Series with UCLA, showed off plenty of power but the more narrow HRDX field -- the foul lines are at 45 degree angles -- meant that many of her pull-side hits went foul. She put up five points.
Piancastelli again went off, blasting six home runs and scoring a whopping 12 points for the Yankees. With all the catch points also factored in, the Red Sox led 28-27 halfway through.
After Liv Cooke, a six-time world record holder in football freestyle put up one point, former Mexican Olympian Daniel Corral showed off the form that made him the best Wild Card performer of the day with two more home runs.
With the score 31-29, the two local players stepped up to the plate. There was Dawson, who had already won the first game for the Red Sox with a walk-off home run. He added 10 points, but gave away three on catch points -- including an unbelievable diving snag from Piancastelli.
"I just wanted to make a catch. I really did. I've been thinking about it the whole time, like, 'I just want to make a cool catch,'" Piancastelli said after the game. "I tried the first game and it popped out of my glove and I was like, 'I need to get another catch.' ... Gomes made a good point. He made a diving catch and I asked him, 'How'd that feel?' And he said, 'If you catch it, it doesn't hurt.' So, [my catch] didn't hurt, but it didn't look super graceful either."
Then it was up to Richard Brereton. Born in London, but growing up in Darien, Conn., Brereton was a Yankees fan as a child. He had willed himself from Emory -- a DIII school -- to a transfer to Duke and a summer in the elite Cape Cod Baseball League. He briefly was in the Cubs system, too -- as a pitcher.
Now with a bat in his hands, he went to work. After cranking two early home runs, he quickly called for his hot streak. He wanted the double points and knew he would get them. He homered and homered again and homered one more time. Down by one point, Brereton looked to amp up the crowd. With one final swing, he lifted the ball over the wall and gave the Yankees the victory. It was over.
The champagne was popped and the onstage celebration began.
"It was a lot of fun, glad to have awesome teammates," Brereton announced on the stage. "Could not ask for a better crowd. Thanks for being here."
Because of her power and amazing, potentially game-saving catch, Piancastelli was named the inaugural HRDX MVP.
"If you would have asked me this in the morning, I mean, I'm just here to have a good time! I did not expect to be MVP," Piancastelli said. "But that's just what happens when you're surrounded by such amazing people, when you're surrounded by such an amazing atmosphere -- London really brought it today."