The participants in the Home Run Derby for the National League will be Albert Pujols of the hometown St. Louis Cardinals, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres. All four of these players are first basemen, clearly showing the power in the league is coming from the first basemen. The American League participants will be announced tomorrow. Pujols leads the majors in home runs with 31 home runs and Howard won the 2006 Home Run Derby in Pittsburgh.
I am surprised Gonzalez and Fielder decided to take part in the derby. It looked to me as if the players were beginning to shy away from the event because it was messing up with their swing. Fielder is a player who is needed on the Brewers team who is looking to make the playoffs for the second straight season. Gonzalez is the best hitter on the Padres and he is one of the best hitters, if not the best behind Pujols, in the National League.
Pujols has to be careful that his swing won't be messed up. He was a participant in the event before, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. He clearly partipated because he plays for the Cardinals and the event and the All-Star Game will be in St. Louis. Howard most likely participated because he was born and raised in St. Louis. However, Howard is still not swinging the bat in his career with efficiency, and instead of taking part in this event, he should work on his swing. He strikes out way too much and this could mess up his swing, even though it didn't happen before.
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