King of Queenz
07-10-2007, 12:00 AM
Vlad definitely represented for the Dominican Republic winning his first homerun derby. He not only took the crown he also hit the longest shot in AT&T Park. The homerun went over 503 feet and landed in the parking lot beyond the left-field bleachers in the second round. Vladimir Guerrero didn't get off to a good start, not hitting a homerun until his fourth out. Thanks however to help from "Big Papi" David Ortiz, Vlad bounced right back to hit 5 homeruns in the first round and share the lead to eventually get into the second round. Ortiz provided Vlad with a bat he brought to home plate in a wooden box. He took Vlad's bat threw it away and presented Vlad with the new bat. The second round wasn't easy for Vlad, Matt Holliday crushed 8 homeruns and no one was catching Alex Rios' 12 homeruns. Vlad however was able to knock out 9 homeruns, just enough to get him ahead of a streaking Albert Pujols, who needed to hit 10 homeruns but fell one short of forcing a swing off. In the end the young Rios was fatigued and only hit 2 homeruns in the final round while Vlad hit three to claim the title. Alex Rios surprised everyone though getting past sluggers Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard, , Justin Morneau, and Magglio Ordonez in the first round. Then hit more homeruns than everyone in the second round.