Ken Griffey Jr. has won the Home Run Derby three times. He made it look easy, too. The backwards hat. The effortless swing. The ball just kept leaving the yard.
But 32 years after his first win at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Griffey is finally letting everyone in on a secret. The Derby is harder than it looks. Not because of the pitchers or the crowd or the pressure. It’s something else entirely.
“The hardest part is trying to get in a rhythm,” Griffey said during an appearance on MLB Network. “Just go out and have some fun.”
That sounds simple. But anyone who has watched a Derby knows it’s not. Batters stand in the box for four minutes (or longer with bonus time) and try to launch ball after ball. There’s no at-bat to settle in. No defensive half-inning to breathe. It’s just swing, swing, swing until the horn blows.
Griffey won his first title in 1994. He doubled up in 1998 and 1999, both times at Coors Field. That 1998 season was the summer of Sosa and McGwire, when the whole baseball world was obsessed with home runs. Griffey still managed to stand out.
Back-to-back Derby winners didn’t happen again until Yoenis Cespedes did it in 2013 and 2014. Pete Alonso matched that feat in 2019 and 2021, with the 2020 event canceled because of COVID-19. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. set a single-round record with 91 homers in 2019 before Alonso took the title.
This year’s Derby is at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Kyle Schwarber is the hometown favorite and one of the top contenders. He’s talked openly about channeling Griffey’s approach. The Mariners legend appreciates the nod but doesn’t overthink his advice.
“Go out and have some fun,” Griffey said. That’s it.
Cal Raleigh of the Mariners is the defending champion. He’ll be in the field too. But the guy with the most Derby rings in history is just telling everyone to relax. Maybe that’s the real secret.
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