With family support, Cal Raleigh becomes first catcher, switch-hitter to win Home Run Derby
Only this time, there were tens of thousands looking on at Truist Park and a US$1 million prize.
'It goes all the way back to him coming home and me forcing him to throw me a ball and hit it in the backyard or in the house or something we probably shouldn't be doing,' a beaming Cal said, flanked by Todd and Todd Jr. after defeating Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero 18-15 in the final round Monday night.
Todd Raleigh, former coach of Tennessee and Western Carolina, threw the pitches and Cal's 15-year-old brother, Todd Raleigh Jr., did the catching. A first-time All-Star at age 28, Cal became the first switch-hitter and first catcher to win the title. He's the second Mariners player to take the title after three-time winner Ken Griffey Jr., who was on the field snapping photos.
'Anybody that's ever played baseball as a kid dreams of stuff like this,' Cal's dad said. 'I dreamed of it. He dreamed of it. When you're a parent, you look at it differently because you want your kids to be happy.'
Leading the major leagues with 38 home runs at the All-Star break, Cal almost didn't make it past the first round. The Mariners' breakout slugger nicknamed Big Dumper and the Athletics' Brent Rooker each hit 17 homers, and Raleigh advanced on a tiebreaker for longest long ball: 470.61 feet to 470.53 — or 0.96 inches. At first, Cal wasn't aware whether there would be a swing-off.
'An inch off, and I'm not even in the final four, which is amazing,' Cal said. 'So I guess I got lucky there. One extra biscuit.'
Raleigh totalled 54 homers. He won his semifinal 19-13 over Pittsburgh's Oneil Cruz, whose 513-foot first-round drive over the right-centre field seats was the longest of the night.
Cal's brother, nicknamed T, kept yelling encouragement to the brother he so admires.
'His swag, the way he plays, the way he hustles,' T said.
Hitting second in the final round, the 22-year-old Caminero closed within three dingers — MLB counted one that a fan outfielder caught with an over-the-wall grab. Using a multicoloured bat and down to his last out, Caminero took three pitches and hit a liner to left.
'I didn't think I was going to hit as many home runs or make it to the finals,' Caminero said through a translator.
Cal was just the second Derby switch-hitter after Baltimore's Adley Rutschman in 2023. His dad was a righty and wanted both his sons to hit from both sides.
'Did it from the first day, when he was in diapers, literally,' Todd Sr. said. 'I would take that big ball and he had a big red bat. I'd throw it slow and he'd hit it. Then I'd say stay there, pick him up, turn him around, switch his hands and do it again. I was a catcher. I played a little bit, and I just knew what a premium it was. I didn't want either one of my boys to ever say, am I right-handed or left-handed?'
There was a downside.
'I don't recommend it if you have two kids, they're both switch hitters, if you want to save your arm, because that's a lot of throwing,' said dad, who had rotator cuff surgery.
Raleigh hit his first eight homers left-handed, took a timeout, then hit seven right-handed. Going back to lefty, he hit two more in the bonus round and stayed lefty for the rest of the night.
'Was grooving a little bit more lefty so we were like, since we have a chance to win, we might as well stick to the side that's working a little better,' Cal said.
Caminero beat Minnesota's Byron Buxton 8-7 in the other semifinal. Atlanta's Matt Olson, Washington's James Wood, the New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Rooker were eliminated in the first round of the annual power show.
Cruz's long drive was the hardest-hit at 118 miles per hour.
Wood hit 16 homers, including one that landed on the roof of the Chop House behind the right-field wall. Olson, disappointing his hometown fans, did not go deep on his first nine swings and finished with 15, Chisholm hit just three homers, the fewest since the timer format started in 2015.
After it was all over, the Raleighs headed out. Stephanie, the boys' mom and Todd Sr.'s wife, is surrounded by baseball.
'We kind of leave it in the cage. We've got a cage at home, a building,' Todd Sr. said. 'Or we leave it in the car on the rides home. There's probably been a few times where she says, yeah, that's enough.'
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Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
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