Brent Rooker eliminated from Home Run Derby by less than 1 inch
Published:
Former Mississippi State star Brent Rooker was eliminated from the Home Run Derby by the slimmest of margins on Monday night.
Rooker blasted 17 home runs in the opening round of the Derby, and for awhile it looked like that might be enough to advance. But then Seattle’s Cal Raleigh also hit 17 bombs to tie Rooker for the 4th and final spot in the next round.
The tiebreaker for the Derby these days appears to be simple: Who hit the longest home run?
Not so simple, as it turns out. There was a brief period of confusion on ESPN’s broadcast as both Rooker and Raleigh’s longest homer was 471 feet. But then the folks at Statcast dug a little deeper and found Raleigh edged out Rooker’s distance by less than an inch.
Raleigh’s longest homer was 470.61 feet while Rooker’s best blast went 470.53 feet.
Like baseball itself, the Home Run Derby can certainly be a game of inches.
It was still a respectable showing for Rooker, who will participate in his second MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta. Rooker is one of seven ex-Mississippi State players to reach multiple mid-summer classics.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
