Austin Dean (31) of the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization has won the Home Run Derby.
Austin won the ‘2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO All-Star Comcast Pro Baseball Home Run Derby’ held after the ‘2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League’ Futures All-Star Game at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on May 5, hitting five home runs (including a sudden death) in the preliminary round and five home runs (including a sudden death) in the final round.
This year’s Home Run Derby was held as an individual event, with seven eliminations and 10 finals per player. The 12 All-Star selections with 10 or more home runs in the first half of the season were Choi Jung (SSG), Kim Do-young (KIA), Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha), Jonathan Peraza (Hanwha), Austin Dean (LG), Park Dong-won (LG), Kim Hyung-joon (NC), and Mel Rojas Jr. (KT), who were the top vote-getters as voted by fans, and started in reverse order of their votes.
Rojas, who batted first, had 21 home runs in the first half of the season. But in the Home Run Derby, he struggled to get the ball in play early on and went through three outs. In his fourth at-bat, he hit his first home run over the right field wall. After back-to-back homers to right, Rojas was quiet for a while, but with five outs, he hit another over the wall in right. He finished the qualifiers with three home runs. The longest was 130 meters.
Kim Hyung-joon was next to bat.
Kim, who hit 12 home runs in the first half, hit one foul ball, but his balls didn’t travel far and he didn’t hit a home run until the sixth out. However, in his seventh at-bat, he finally hit his first home run. He then launched the next pitch high and over the left field fence. His third pitch landed in front of the left-center field fence to complete his two-homer night. His longest shot was 125 meters.
Despite calling Jamsil Stadium home, an extremely pitcher-friendly ballpark, Park Dong-won, who has hit 13 home runs, was unable to hit a pitch until the fourth out. 무료고스톱다운받기 The batting ball pitcher, Park Chan-ho, demanded to be replaced so that he could bat. After laughing with the fans, Park immediately hit two home runs. His third home run with five outs gave him three home runs and a longest distance of 125 meters.
Park’s teammate Austin, who has 17 home runs, hit a foul ball for his first home run with three outs. After back-to-back home runs, Austin hit his third home run in the fourth inning to take the lead. He added another home run in the fifth to take the lead for good. No more home runs followed. His longest shot was 120 meters.
Peraza, who has hit 16 home runs in his KBO debut this year, blasted a home run in his first at-bat. He followed that up with a home run with one out to showcase his power. Three more homers in the third inning and four in the fourth put him in a tie for the lead, and five more homers in the sixth put him in sole possession of the lead with nine homers.
His longest was 125 meters.
Noh, who led the league with 31 home runs last season and has 18 this season, hit his first home run in his second at-bat. However, he was unable to follow up with a home run and ended his at-bat with a single.
Kim Do-young has emerged as one of the biggest stars in the KBO this year, dominating the league with 23 home runs and 26 stolen bases in the first half of the season. Kim lived up to the hype and connected with a home run on his first swing. After hitting her second home run with one out, she followed it up with a third and another with six outs, giving her four home runs. Her longest shot was 125 meters.
Choi Jung-jeong, the final batter, is South Korea’s leading home run hitter. He broke the KBO’s all-time home run record with 479 this year and finished the first half with 21 home runs. However, he failed to hit any home runs in the Home Run Derby.
Pereza, who hit nine home runs in the qualifiers, advanced to the finals, while Austin and Kim, who hit four home runs each, rounded out the finalists. Austin batted first and hit a home run, while Kim fouled out, giving Austin the win.
Batting first in the final,
Austin homered on her first swing. After hitting his second home run with one out, Austin hit his third home run with two outs. Austin’s fourth home run came with four outs, but he couldn’t get it over the fence to finish with four home runs. Peraza got off to a good start with a home run in the first inning. After a quick second home run, Pereza followed with back-to-back home runs in the third and fourth innings to tie Austin. Pereza, who had a good chance of winning, was unable to hit another home run, sending the game into extra innings.
Back in Sudden Death, Austin fouled off his first pitch. Peraza fouled back to the plate and the game was tied. On the second shot, Austin went over the fence first. Facing defeat, Peraza was unable to hit a home run and Austin won the game in overtime.
For his victory, Austin received a trophy, $5,000 in prize money, and an LG CineBeam Cube as a consolation prize. For his runner-up finish, Peraza received a trophy and $1 million in prize money.