Joining Bo, Moose and others, Witt becomes 5th KC Royals player in Home Run Derby
Young Kansas City Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. on Monday became the fifth player in club history to be selected to participate in a Home Run Derby ahead of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.
Witt, who had hit 15 home runs this season entering Tuesday’s I-70 Series game against the Cardinals in St. Louis, follows in the footsteps of such KC luminaries as Salvador Perez and Bo Jackson, who was recently inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame.
This year’s Home Run Derby will take place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Monday, July 15. The All-Star Game follows the next evening — Tuesday, July 16.
Here is a look at the Royals’ previous four Home Run Derby participants and how each fared on the game’s biggest stage for bashing balls over fences:
Salvador Perez, 2021
Team captain Perez entered the 2021 Home Run Derby with 21 homers for the Royals. He smashed 28 more at Coors Field in Denver, site of MLB’s 2021 All-Star festivities.
That would’ve been sufficient to win many years, but not this one: Mets slugger Pete Alonso bested Perez in the opening round, belting 35, and went on to win the event for the second straight year.
But Perez didn’t go down quietly. At one point during the bonus round, he deposited six straight pitches over the outfield walls.
“I didn’t get discouraged or anything,” Perez said in Spanish, per mlb.com. “At that point, I just told myself that I just needed to have fun.”
Mike Moustakas, 2017
“Moose” became the first Royals player to participate in a Home Run Derby since 1991, when Danny Tartabull (see below) took part in the event.
Moustakas didn’t make it out of the first round despite hitting 10 home runs, falling to Minnesota Twins bruiser Miguel Sano. Afterward, the smiling Royals third baseman took it all in stride.
“That was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” Moustakas told mlb.com. “Adrenaline was building, everything, the whole time. A lot of fun, cool to be out there, cool to hear the fans.”
Danny Tartabull, 1991
Royals outfielder/DH Tartabull took part in the 1991 Home Run Derby at Toronto’s SkyDome (known today as Rogers Centre).
He hit two dingers that day, helping the American League top the National Leaguers 20-7.
The other AL sluggers: Cal Ripken Jr., Cecil Fielder and Joe Carter. Ripken led all entrants with 12 home runs.
Bo Jackson, 1989
Not a bad trip to Southern California for Jackson, who not only became the first Royals player to take part in a Home Run Derby but the next day went on to win All-Star Game MVP.
In the derby, Jackson — who had belted 21 homers to that point in the season and would finish the year with 32 — was a bit of a dud: He managed to park just one over the fences in Anaheim.
Of course, the barrel-chested Jackson then hit a leadoff homer during the ensuing evening’s All-Star Game, leading the AL contingent to a 5-3 victory over their NL counterparts in Southern California.
... and Billy Butler (not selected)
A final footnote here, especially because it happened in Kansas City: We can’t forget the 2012 Midsummer Classic’s edition of the Home Run Derby at Kauffman Stadium.
American League captain and New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano had indicated he would include a Royals player on the AL Derby roster if a KC position player was selected for the All-Star Game. The first part happened when DH/first baseman Billy Butler got the nod.
But Cano did not include Butler in the AL lineup for the Home Run Derby, going instead with the Angels’ Mark Trumbo, Toronto’s Jose Bautista and Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder, who went on to win it that year at The K.
And thus the #BooCano movement was born: Spurned Royals fans let Cano hear it each time he came to the plate during the All-Star Game, and for a good long while after that whenever the Yankees were in town.
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 12:18 PM.