Monday, July 14, 2008

Josh's 28 HR adds to Yankee legend

Sure, it's the house that Ruth built.

But on Monday night, Josh Hamilton effectively closed out Yankees Stadium in style. The Stadium will be tore down at the end of this year with a new one opening across the street in 2009.

Hitting off of Clay Council, 71, and a volunteer coach with the Cary American Legion team over in the Triangle, Hamilton set the one-round Home Run Derby record with 28 long balls in the first round, passing Bobby Abreu's unthinkable 24 jacks in the first round of 2005.

How dialed in was Hamilton?

He launched shots of 518, 504 and 502 feet, deep into the majestic night, high above the Stadium. The lefty at one point connected on 13 consecutive balls off of Council's steady diet of meat pitches.

Here's his 502-foot rocket:




The Yankee faithful quickly were sold on Hamilton, something ARod hasn't fully accomplished. When they weren't cheering wildly for each new bomb, they were chanting "Hamilton."

But as much fun as Hamilton was having Monday night, you could tell Council was having the time of his life.

Hamilton promised years ago that if he ever made it to the Home Run Derby, that Council would be the person he'd want to throw to him.

Monday night, Hamilton proved good on his word. And that his first half (21 HR) was no fluke.

Possibly burying the lead, Minnesota's Justin Morneau actually beat Hamilton in the finals, which wiped the slate clean. Mourneau won 5-3 over Hamilton, who was clearly fatigued.

Fantasy spin: I'm not going to raise the red flag here, but Hamilton was already showing signs of fatigue right before the All-Star break, going 75 at-bats between HRs at one point. But just because Abreu had a power outage after the 2005 HR Derby, doesn't mean Hamilton will. He's young and is in impeccable shape. If you were having doubts about Hamitlon's second half production, now might be the perfect sell-high time, as he simply can't keep up his 160-RBI pace. If he stumbles out of the gate for the first week or two, his trade value may take a significant hit.

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