In a competition where distances are measured in hundreds of feet, you wouldn’t expect it to come down to a measurement of less than an inch. But that’s how Cal Raleigh advanced to the semifinals in Monday’s T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Atlanta’s Truist Park.
And it paid off, too, when the Mariners’ catcher took that inch and won the title by outlasting the Ray’s Junior Caminero, 18-15, in the final round. Raleigh hit 54 home runs total in the tournament.
Raleigh and Brent Rooker each finished the first round with 17 home runs, tied for fourth-most among the eight sluggers. With the top four contestants advancing to the semifinals, a tiebreaker was needed to determine whether Raleigh, MLB’s home run leader with 38, or Rooker, who hit 20 in the first half, advanced. With no swing-offs in the first round, the determining factor is the player’s longest homer.
At first glance, it looked like the two tied in that respect as well: The leaderboard had each one’s longest blast at 471 feet. But digging deeper showed more accurate distances:
Raleigh: 470.62 feet
Rooker: 470.54 feet
That’s right: the Big Dumper advanced by .08 feet, or 0.96 inches.
“My goodness gracious, that’s close,” Raleigh said afterwards. “I mean, like, it’s just crazy. An inch off, and I’m not even in the final four, which is amazing. So I guess I got lucky there. One extra biscuit.”
