The Home Run Derby, officially known as the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, is an annual home run hitting competition in Major League Baseball (MLB) customarily held the day before the MLB All-Star Game, which places the contest on a Monday in July. In the context of the competition a "home run" consists of hitting a baseball in fair territory out of the playing field on the fly. It differs from a home run hit during legal gameplay in that the batter is not competing against a pitcher and a defensive team attempting to make an out. In the Home Run Derby, all pitches are purposefully thrown slowly and at a closer range than the official distance, usually by a coach behind a pitching screen. In addition, like batting practice, the batter remains in the batter's box after each swing and does not run, nor circle the bases to score a run. In 2023, Julio Rodríguez set the single-round home run record with 41 homers, topping Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s 40 home runs in 2019.
The batter also does not have to conform to the usual league uniform standards, and as all pitches are tossed in the strike zone without any threat of beanballs, may choose to wear a regular baseball cap instead of a batting helmet. As the event traditionally takes place at sunset where the sun is of no factor to the batter, they can choose to wear their hat casually and backwards.
Since the inaugural derby in 1985, the event has seen several rule changes, evolving from a short-outs-based competition to multiple rounds, and eventually a bracket-style timed event.
T-Mobile has been the title sponsor of the Home Run Derby since 2016.
History
The inspiration for the event was a 1960 TV series called Home Run Derby. The televised event included baseball legends Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays. The show ran for 26 episodes with the winner receiving $2,000.
The event has grown significantly from its roots in the 1980s, when it was not televised. Prior to 1991, the Home Run Derby was structured as a two-inning event with each player receiving five outs per inning, allowing for the possibility of ties. It is now one of the most-watched events broadcast on ESPN.
In 2000, a "match play"-style format was instituted for the second round. The player with the most home runs in the first round faced the player with the least among the four qualifying players, as did the players with the second- and third-most totals. The contestant who won each matchup advanced to the finals. This format was discontinued after the 2003 competition.
The field of players selected currently consists of four American League players and four National League players. The first Derby in 1985 featured five from each league, and the 1986 and 1987 events featured three and two players from each league, respectively. In 1996, the field was again expanded to ten players, with five from each league (though in 1997, the AL had six contestants to the NL's four).
In 2000, the field reverted to the current four-player-per-league format. The only exception was in 2005, when Major League Baseball changed the selection criteria so that eight players represented their home countries instead of their respective leagues. The change was believed to be in promotion of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, played in March 2006. In 2006, the selection of four players from each league resumed. In 2011, the format was revised so that team captains selected the individual sides.
For the first time in Derby history, Shohei Ohtani became both the first pitcher and the first Japanese player to participate in 2021.
Some notable performances in the Derby include Bobby Abreu in 2005, who won the Derby with a then-record 41 homers, including a then-record 24 in the first round. In 2008, Josh Hamilton broke the record for most home runs in a single round, with 28. This included 13 consecutive home runs and 7 that traveled over 500 feet. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. broke the first-round record in 2019 with 29 home runs. He broke that record in the following round, hitting 40 home runs in 2 tiebreakers. The previous overall record was set in 2016 by Giancarlo Stanton, who finished with a total of 61 home runs, defeating Todd Frazier in the final round. The current overall record is held by Guerrero Jr. at a mark of 91, set in 2019. Only three participants, Yoenis Céspedes, Stanton, and Pete Alonso, have won the Home Run Derby without being selected to the All-Star Game. Alonso broke Guerrero's first-round record in 2021 with 35 homers on his way to his second straight Derby Title (the first being in 2019 with a final round win over Guerrero).
With his win in 2023, Guerrero Jr. joined his father Vladimir Guerrero (the 2007 winner) to become the first father-son duo to win the Derby.
Overview
Format Eight players duel in a home run challenge.
1985–1990 In the early years of the Home Run Derby, 4–10 players from both the AL and NL were selected to participate. Each player was given two "innings" to hit as many home runs as possible before reaching five outs. For the derby, an out is defined as any swing that is not a home run. The winner of the contest was the player with the most total home runs in the two innings.
1991–2005 Beginning in 1991, the format changed to a 3-round contest. From 1991 to 2006, 8–10 players were selected and hit as many home runs as possible before reaching 10 outs in each round. The tally reset for each round, with the top four advancing to the second round, and the top two advancing to the final.
In honor of the World Baseball Classic, the 2005 contest featured eight players from different countries. The format remained the same.
2006–2013 The format changed slightly in 2006. Instead of the tally resetting for each round, it was only reset before the final round. Therefore, the players with the four highest totals after Round 1 advanced to Round 2, and the players with the two highest sums of Round 1 and 2 advanced to the finals.
2014 The Home Run Derby format was changed significantly in 2014, as MLB sought to speed up the contest and increase the drama. In the new bracket format, five players from each league faced the other players in their league in Round 1, with each players having seven "outs". The player in each league with the highest Round 1 total received a second-round bye, and the players with the second- and third-highest Round 1 totals from each league faced off. The Round 2 winner from each league faced the Round 1 winner, and the Round 3 winner crowned the league winner. The final featured the winner of each league. Each round stands alone, with the score reset for each round.Derby to feature bracketed play as part of new format Ties in any round are broken by a 3-swing swing-off. If the players remain tied, the players engage in a sudden-death swing-off until one player homers.
2015–2019, 2021–2023 The format was changed once again in 2015. The most significant change was the elimination of "outs", which was replaced by a time limit. Eight players are seeded based on their season home run totals and are given five minutes to hit as many home runs as possible. The winner of each head-to-head matchup advances, until a final winner is determined. If a tie occurs in any match-up, two sets of tiebreakers are employed: first, a 1-minute swing-off decides the winner; thereafter, multiple swingoffs of 3 swings until a winner is determined. Further, a player can get "bonus time" in the last minute of each round. During that time, the clock would stop for each home run, and would not restart until a swing does not result in a home run. Additional bonus time could be earned for distance. Players who hit at least two home runs measuring at least are given an extra minute of bonus time. An additional 30 seconds of bonus time is granted if at least one home run measures over .
Weather concerns in 2015 led to a reduction in time from five minutes per round to four minutes. The clock was not stopped in the final minute, and one minute of bonus time was granted only for hitting two home runs of at least .
The four-minute round length was made permanent in 2016, while the minute of bonus time was reduced to 30 seconds and required two home runs of at least . The additional time was removed. Each batter is allowed one time-out during each round, and two in the finals.
For 2017 and 2018, the first tie-breaker was increased from a 1-minute swing off to minutes. However, it was not needed in either of these years. The swing-off reverted to one minute in 2019, the first year in which it was used.
In 2021, the time limit was changed to three minutes plus a bonus of thirty seconds, with an additional thirty seconds of bonus time (for a total of one minute) added if a player hit a home run over 475 feet during regulation. In case of a tie, the contestants get one additional minute. If there still is a tie, each contestant gets three swings and repeats on ties thereafter. In the final round, the finalists get two minutes.
In 2022, the additional bonus time requirements reverted back to two home runs of at least 440 feet. Separate from the regular home run derby, if the 2022 All-Star Game itself had been tied after nine innings, a second home run derby would have been held to determine the winner. This derby would have been under somewhat different rules. It would not be timed, and each manager would pick three players to make three swings each to hit as many home runs as possible. If the tie persisted, extra players would have had triple-swing rounds until one team outslugged the other, with the winner getting a run and hit credited. A similar format would have been used in 2023 if the All-Star Game was tied after nine innings.
2024–2025 The format was revised prior to the 2024 event. The first round has reverted back to an open round, where the top four competitors advance. They now have three minutes, or 40 pitches, to hit as many home runs as possible. During this run, the hitters are entitled to one 30-second timeout. After their initial run ends, the hitters go into a new, un-timed "bonus period", where they attempt to hit as many home runs as possible before making three outs (any swing that is not a home run). During this period, if a competitor hits a home run that travels over , they earn an additional out to work with. Ties are broken by the distance of the longest home run; otherwise, if both players tie, a one-minute playoff, and if needed, multiple three-swing rounds to decide it.
The second round is a bracket-style round, where the competitors are seeded based on their performance in the previous round. The winners of their respective head-to-head matchup advance to the finals. The rules for the round remain the same, with the tiebreaker rules from the previous format remaining as well.
The final round remains largely the same, except for the time limit reducing to two minutes and the pitch limit reducing to 27 pitches. Whoever hits the most home runs in the round is declared champion; otherwise, players go into a one-minute playoff, and if needed, multiple three-swing rounds to decide it.
2026–present In 2026, the format was changed to do away with the time-based system. Now, hitters receive 20 "swings" in the first round, and 15 in the semifinal and final rounds. If a player is down to their last swing and hits a home run, they may continue hitting until they fail to hit a home run.
Gold balls