Griffey is a legend. And here at Korked Bats, he’s beloved by all of us. It’s why we dedicate an entire day to him on social media: #GriffeyMonday. So on the day of the Home Run Derby, and more so, on the day of the Home Run Derby returning to the thin-aired Coors Field, we’ve got to revist the day Griffey went legend. Turning straight boo’s in Coors to nothing but the sound of jaws hitting the floor.

Here’s the story in a nutshell:

In a matter of hours on Monday, July 6, 1998, Griffey went from Colorado’s No. 1 villain to the reestablished No. 1 star of our national pastime.

Considered baseball’s best and most popular player leading into the highly-anticipated Home Run Derby at power-freakish Coors Field – four years before engineer Tony Colwell invented the humidor – Griffey had stated a month prior to the contest he would not participate.

Wait, what?

Never mind that other sluggers like Juan Gonzalez, Sammy Sosa and Greg Vaughn used various excuses to not participate, or that Griffey cited fatigue from the arduous travel teams from Seattle must endure. A Home Run Derby at Coors Field was simply a too-hyped event for the game’s best player to not participate.

During the American League batting practice session early Monday – a few hours before the start of the Home Run Derby – Griffey was roundly booed by the Coors Field fans. Those boos, and a talk from Hall of Famer Frank Robinson who advised Griffey to give the fans what they want, changed Griffey’s mind.

And being the great player that he was, Griffey not only participated, he won the darn thing, hitting a combined 16 homers in the first two rounds, then beating Jim Thome, 3 home runs to 2 in the finals.

via 9News

Ken Griffey Jr. is the man. He was the greatest in his sport and still showed up to give the fans what they wanted, even when he probably didn’t want to. If you don’t like Griffey, you don’t like baseball, and you don’t like America.

If you wanna watch the full thing, you can here:

The post Let’s Rewatch Griffey Going Legend At The Derby The Last Time It Was At Coors Field appeared first on Korked Bats.

Calling the Home Run Derby can be a very difficult task, so we decided to offer up some helpful lines and phrases that will work well with the viewing audience for the broadcast.

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“Going, going… gone!”

This is a great descriptor of the home run because it lets viewers know of the direction of the ball in real time. For example: If a player hits a ball and it is heading towards the outfield wall, you say going. Then you repeat that. And repeat that. And continue to repeat that until the ball lands in the outfield stands.

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“He crushed that one!”

Only use this line if a player actually “crushes” one. Never if a player “belts” or “mashes” one. The viewing audience will know the difference.

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“Wow!”

People LOVE palindromes, and this one tends to work better than “Mom!”, “Racecar!”, or “Dammit, I’m mad!”

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“We might need to measure that one in miles!”

This line is great because normally they measure home runs in feet, but you’re suggesting that a ball was hit so far, you should measure it in MILES!*

(* – If you’re broadcasting to a Canadian market, please use KILOMETERS.)

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“Back, back, back, back… gone!”

Pretty sure this one is trademarked by a former Home Run Derby announcer. So if you so much as hint at using this line, Chris Berman’s team of lawyers will see you in court. It would make Berman very angry, and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. Then again, you wouldn’t like him when he’s not angry either.

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“That one was hit to [neighboring city].”

Oh man, this line is PERFECT! Because you’re pretending that a player hit the ball so far that it landed in a nearby city. LOL! Classic! This line will earn you bonus points for being original. You’ll earn even more bonus points if you can utter this line WITHOUT laughing!

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“This is like watching a video game!”

You can use this line whenever a player hits a ball really far or when a player steals a car, beats up a hooker, and uses a rocket launcher to blow up a building.

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“Aaron Judge looks like the villain in a James Bond film. Good God that man is disgustingly massive.”

Everyone is already thinking it, might as well just go ahead and put a voice to it.

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“Tonight’s Home Run Derby is brought to you by T-Mobile.”

You’re actually contractually obligated to use this line. Failure to do so is grounds for termination.

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“My wife left me.”

If you’re going to break down and get personal on air, wait until around the third round to do so when a majority of the viewing audience has already switched channels or turned the event on mute.

Or if you can’t wait, just do it during Miguel Sano’s turn when everyone will be refilling their chip bowl, taking their bathroom breaks, or just zoning out on their phones.

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“[something in Spanish]”

This will go over great with viewers who only understand Spanish.

The post 11 Suggested Lines For Home Run Derby Commentators appeared first on Korked Bats.

Puig must be Cuban for Romo.

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This post was created by Austin. You can follow him and his jokes on Twitter: @TheAHuff

Also, for up-to-the-minute sports jokes, follow Korked Bats on Twitter: @KorkedBats

The post PICTURE: Yasiel Puig’s Home Run Derby Haircut Conspiracy appeared first on Korked Bats.

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This post was created by Austin. You can follow him and his jokes on Twitter: @TheAHuff

Also, for up-to-the-minute sports jokes, follow Korked Bats on Twitter: @KorkedBats

The post 2014 MLB Home Run Derby Bingo appeared first on Korked Bats.

This is the most fight Kauffman Stadium has seen out of someone in a Royals jersey since ’85.

The post Kansas City Fans Show Some Fight [VIDEO] appeared first on Korked Bats.

It’s the All-Star Break. The halfway point in the long MLB season. لعبة الرهان الرياضي This year the festivities take place in Anaheim, California (Or Los Angeles of Anaheim, California as the Angels like to call it). موقع لربح المال Last night was the State Farm Home Run Derby. A chance for some of the biggest hitters (and Chris Young) in the Major Leagues to show off their talents of hitting the long ball.

Many of you just watched the Derby as a casual fan last night. Myself, however, as the blogger journalist that I am, I took notes during it. Here is a rundown of the notes I made.

• Chris Young only hit one home run. That’s not ideal.
• Chris Berman at one point in the night referred to the State Farm Gold Balls (that are used for the final out for each batter) as easier to see for these players because they are “bling-bling.” I was embarrassed for him.
• One of the most exciting points in the night was when Will Ferrell joined the booth and talked.
• Chris Young hit one more home run than Brandon Inge in last year’s Home Run Derby.
• I was excited to see that Corey Hart was participating in the Home Run Derby.
• I was disappointed to realize it was the Milwaukee Brewers’ Corey Hart and not Sunglasses At Night Corey Hart.
• The line of the night from any commentator came from Will Ferrell: “Check your watches. Guess what time it is? It’s home run o’clock.”
• I’m not sure who had a worse performance, the band Train playing their hit single Hey, Soul Sister to kick off the derby, or Chris Young.
• How do they always manage to scout out the most unathletic children on planet Earth to play the outfield during the Home Run Derby every year? كيفية لعب البوكر للمبتدئين Those kids suck.
  • However, those kids could probably still hit more home runs than Chris Young did.
• Talking about past or present second basemen in the league has the same effect on Joe Morgan as Viagra.
• Brandon Inge had as many home runs in this year’s Home Run Derby as he did in last year’s.
• ESPN Baseball Analyst Bobby Valentine has a voice for narrating children’s books on tape. Not sports broadcasting.

• Corey Hart hit 13 home runs in the first round. His beard hit 6 of those.
• (In the first round) Chris Young had more home runs than Corey Hart (had in the second round).
• Of all the New York Yankees, we got the privilege of seeing Nick Swisher swing for the fences? Are you kidding me?
  • That’s like putting Mark Wahlberg in a comedy along side Will Ferrell. …Oh wait.

• The Final Round was more of a fashion show than a home run contest. Hanley Ramirez and David Ortiz both had ridiculously cool/stylish/gay/new/colorful cleats on.
• David ‘Big Papi’ Ortiz won the 2010 State Farm Home Run Derby, although Chris Young gave him a run for his money.
• In his post Derby interview, Big Papi said that he “rilly enhoyed weening da home run dirbee.”
• More like Chrissy Young… Am I right?!

The post 2010 Home Run Derby Notes appeared first on Korked Bats.