2. Ken Griffey, Jr.
Griffey has arguably the prettiest swing that has ever graced a major league batter’s box. He will be going into the Hall of Fame this summer, and he’s about the most entertaining home run hitter in the last 30 years.
Griffey finished his career with 630 home runs, and without injuries that plagued him after his trade to Cincinnati from Seattle in 2000, it’s possible that he could have made a run at 800 home runs. Griffey at 29 years old had 398 home runs and had led the league in home runs four times. Heck, in 1994, if it hadn’t been for the strike, Griffey had a real shot at challenging Maris’ record.
However, if there was any way that Griffey made his mark, it wasn’t the 13 All-Star games or MVP award. It was the Home Run Derby. The derby seemed to be made for Griffey.
Overall, Griffey was in the derby in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 and won in 1994, 1998 and 1999. His backward hat, beautiful swing and his easy power was something that was absolutely remarkable to watch.
1. Hank Aaron
I’m going to likely get a lot of flack here, and I’ll gladly take it, but it would take a remarkable player to move beyond Griffey. Henry Aaron was that player.
The original TV show was a great production. It was hokey, yet the raw commentary along the way was one of those things that you just couldn’t script as players would offer random one-liners along the way that the announcer tried to keep moving through.
When announcer/host Mark Scott passed away suddenly and tragically in 1960 from a heart attack, the show was canceled and a second season was never completed. Mantle made the comment in an interview later that had he been forced to face Aaron, he wouldn’t have signed on for a second season.
Aaron wasn’t a guy who leveraged his swing in-game, but his wrists were so fast and so powerful that he could easily drive out balls, even when he wasn’t trying to leverage his swing for a homer, as evidenced by the fact that he knocked 755 balls out of the ballpark. His swing in the Home Run Derby, though, included leverage into those powerful wrists, which made him nearly untouchable.
If it hadn’t been for the rule of having a player continue going if he won, and the show’s schedule of filming frequently 3-4 episodes in a single day, Aaron may have kept going. He stated in one interview that he simply got tired in the one game he did lose in his entire run on the show to Wally Post. Overall, Aaron went 6-1 on the show.
Next: 2016 Draft Winners and Losers
So who would be on your list? Who would you have to have in your Home Run Derby competition?