Team Strannon: From crack addict to home run addict. Josh Hamilton just broke the first round record at the home run derby tonight at Yankee Stadium. That makes for two great stories now. After 54 pitches from his old high school coach (71-year-old Clay Council), Hamilton hit 28 home runs before reaching his 10 outs. He broke the previous record of 24 pitches set by Bobby Abreu in 2005. Most the homers weren’t small, they were strong and long (518 feet at times) and the crowd was going crazy. At one point David Ortiz who had the most hits in round one leading up to Hamiltons at bat walked off in frustration as Hamilton belted them to the crowd one after another. This is the last time the derby will be held at Yankee Stadium before it is torn down as they are building a new stadium across the street. Congrats Josh Hamilton! And way to go Clay Council, nice pitching arm you have after all these years!
In the end Hamilton made the final with Justin Morneau, but ran out of gas. Morneau won the trophy. Hamilton won over our hearts.