Robinson Cano stole the show at last season's Home Run Derby, taking down the competition and winning the crown. Matt Kemp had quite a different experience, knocking only two balls out of the yard, good for the lowest total of the night.
July 9 in Kansas City, the two will captain the Home Run Derby teams for their respective leagues, Major League Baseball has announced. In addition to choosing their teammates, Cano and Kemp also get to choose a charity. From MLB.com:
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In terms of choosing their teams, here are some of the obvious names that will be considered:
Kemp (NL): Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Gonzalez, Carlos Beltran, Ryan Braun, Matt Holliday, Jay Bruce, Joey Votto and Andre Ethier (just because he's Kemp's teammate).
Cano (AL): Adam Dunn, Curtis Granderson, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, Adam Jones, David Ortiz, Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera. Josh Hamilton would be here, but he has already said he won't be participating.
It's worth noting that last season the Arizona fans heartily booed Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks as Fielder chose Weeks (his teammate at the time) instead of Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks. So maybe Cano goes with Billy Butler, much to the joy of the hometown fans?
Finally, here are some not-so-obvious-but-possibly-fun names:
NL: Bryce Harper, Bryan LaHair, Pedro Alvarez, David Freese ... and if Kemp picked Carlos Zambrano, it would easily be the highlight of the night -- whether good, bad, ugly or hilarious.
AL: Mark Reynolds, Jeff Francoeur, Dayan Viciedo, Mike Napoli and -- my personal request -- Yoenis Cespedes.
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