Giancarlo Stanton entered the 2014 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby at Target Field in Minnesota as the favorite. The Miami Marlins slugger bowed out with a goose egg in Round 3, but not before he turned some heads.
Stanton jacked six home runs in the first round of Monday’s long ball competition. One homer nearly left Target Field altogether, landing only a few rows from the top in the third deck in left field. The ball traveled an estimated 422 feet, although the projected distance was 510 feet.
Making things even better was that the home run came with Stanton on his final out, resulting in a $10,000 donation. Gillette and MLB combined to donate $10,000 to designated charities for each FlexBall homer, in addition to the $5,000 donated for every non-FlexBall homer.
Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes ended up winning the competition, making him the event’s first repeat champion since Ken Griffey Jr. won back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999.
