The Home Run Derby has become almost as compelling as the All-Star game itself. We look back on how this came to be so.
1985: MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth bets a drinking buddy he can get idiot fans to pay to see eight guys take batting practice for a couple hours
1991: Cal Ripken, Jr. slugs a then-record 12 home runs in one round to capture the…wait. Oh, God, Cal couldn’t have done steroids, too, could he have?
1996: Fan Richard McCarthy catches every home run hit into stands
1999: Mark McGwire hits a ball through the Green Monster
2003: Albert Pujols does a 360 while jumping over a car, hits the pitch through his legs, and then swish: nothing but bleachers
2005: Bobby Abreu breaks the record with 41 utterances of the word “home run” during his post-Derby interview
2007: Unable to pace himself, Alex Rios wastes all of his home runs in one swing, blasting a 8,653-foot bomb
