Baseball fans love the long ball. The crack of the bat, the soaring flight, and the roar of the crowd when a ball clears the fence—it's pure baseball magic. For nearly four decades, the Home Run Derby has been a highlight of All-Star week, but the contest's roots go back much further, to a black-and-white TV show that captivated fans in the early 1960s.

The Original Derby: A TV Hit
In 1960, television producer Lou Breslow had a simple idea: get baseball's best sluggers together and let them swing for the fences. The result was "Home Run Derby," a show filmed at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles (not the Cubs' ballpark, but a minor league stadium used by the Hollywood Stars).

The format was simple. Two power hitters faced off, taking turns hitting. A home run was worth a point, but three outs—anything that wasn't a homer—ended your turn. The winner took home $2,000 (about $20,000 today), and the loser got $1,000. If you won three straight shows, you earned a $500 bonus.

The show ran for 26 episodes during 1960, featuring 19 of baseball's biggest stars, including:

  • Mickey Mantle (OF, NYY)
  • Willie Mays (OF, SF)
  • Hank Aaron (OF, MIL)
  • Ernie Banks (SS, CHC)
  • Harmon Killebrew (3B, MIN)

Host Mark Scott kept the action moving with play-by-play and friendly banter with the sluggers. The show gave fans something they'd never had before: an up-close look at their heroes in a casual, competitive setting. You could hear Mantle grunt when he swung and chuckle when he missed. This was new territory for baseball broadcasts.

Hank Aaron was the king of the original Derby, winning 6 of his 9 appearances and taking home $13,500—a nice boost to his $35,000 salary that year. Mickey Mantle crushed the longest homers, but won just 2 of his 5 matchups.

Sadly, host Mark Scott died of a heart attack after the first season, and the show wasn't renewed. But baseball fans never forgot those head-to-head slugfests.

The Long Gap: 1960-1985
For 25 years, the Home Run Derby concept sat dormant. Baseball had its All-Star Game, but nothing that specifically showcased the game's power hitters.

By the mid-1980s, baseball was looking for ways to jazz up All-Star week. TV ratings for the All-Star Game had dipped, and the league wanted to turn the mid-season break into more of an event. According to former MLB executive Jim Small, "We were looking back at what worked in baseball's past, and someone brought up that old TV show."

Baseball had changed a lot since 1960. Free agency had arrived. Players made millions, not thousands. Teams played in massive multipurpose stadiums built in the 1970s, many with distant fences that limited home runs. The game needed some power-hitting excitement.

The Modern Derby Is Born: 1985
The first official MLB Home Run Derby took place at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on July 15, 1985. The format was nothing like today's extravaganza. Five players from each league got five outs per round (later changed to 10 outs). No brackets, no timed rounds, no fancy graphics—just hitters taking their hacks.

That first Derby lineup included stars like:

  • Jim Rice (OF, BOS)
  • Eddie Murray (1B, BAL)
  • Carlton Fisk (C, CHW)
  • Dale Murphy (OF, ATL)
  • Ryne Sandberg (2B, CHC)

Cincinnati Reds rookie Dave Parker (OF, CIN) won with a modest total of 6 homers, beating the Yankees' Tom Brunansky (OF, MIN) in the final round. The whole event took about an hour.

"None of us knew what to expect," Parker said years later. "We treated it like batting practice with a little extra juice. Nobody was trying to hit balls 500 feet or flip bats. We just wanted to put on a good show."

The crowd of about 46,000 liked what they saw. So did MLB officials. The Derby wasn't televised that first year, but word spread about how fun it was to watch baseball's best sluggers swing for the fences with no pressure except bragging rights.

Growing Pains and Breakout Moments
The Derby returned in 1986 at the Astrodome in Houston, won by Wally Joyner (1B, CAL) and Darryl Strawberry (OF, NYM), who tied with four homers each. The event was still finding its footing.

ESPN began broadcasting the Derby in 1993, changing everything. Now millions could watch, not just the All-Star Game attendees. The network brought multiple camera angles, microphones on players, and stats galore. Suddenly, the Derby wasn't just a pre-game exhibition—it was must-see TV.

The 1990s saw the event grow in popularity thanks to the era's power surge and colorful personalities. Ken Griffey Jr. (OF, SEA) became the face of the Derby, winning it three times (1994, 1998, 1999) with his sweet swing and backward cap.

The 1998 contest at Coors Field in Denver marked a turning point. Mark McGwire (1B, STL), in the middle of his record-breaking 70-homer season, launched balls into the third deck and onto the concourse behind left field. His longest shot traveled an estimated 510 feet. Though Griffey won the event, McGwire's moon shots stole the show.

"That was the first time I saw fans showing up just for the Derby, not caring as much about the All-Star Game," said ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman. "McGwire was like a one-man rock concert out there."

Format Tweaks and TV Gold
Over the years, MLB has constantly tweaked the Derby format to keep it fresh:

  • 1991: Introduced a three-round format
  • 2000: Added the semifinal round
  • 2006: Brought in a three-round, 10-out format
  • 2014: Introduced bracket-style head-to-head matchups
  • 2015: Switched to timed rounds (4 minutes per batter)
  • 2016: Added bonus time for distance

These changes aimed to create more drama and showcase more power. They worked. The 2008 Derby at Yankee Stadium lasted over three hours, with Josh Hamilton (OF, TEX) hitting a record 28 homers in one round, though he lost the final to Justin Morneau (1B, MIN).

The 2015 format change to timed rounds completely transformed the event. Instead of waiting for perfect pitches, hitters swung at everything, creating rapid-fire action. Todd Frazier (3B, CIN) won at his home park in Cincinnati with 15 final-round homers, capped by a buzzer-beater that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The Derby Today: A Baseball Spectacle
The modern Home Run Derby is barely recognizable from that first contest in 1985. It's now a primetime TV event with custom uniforms, flashing lights, fireworks, and celebrity appearances. The 2019 Derby in Cleveland drew 8.3 million viewers—more than many regular-season MLB games.

Pete Alonso (1B, NYM) has established himself as the new Derby king, winning in 2019 and 2021. His 2021 victory earned him $1 million—500 times what Hank Aaron made for winning on the original TV show.

The contest has also sparked debates about whether Derby participation affects a player's second-half performance (the so-called "Derby Curse"), though statistical analysis hasn't found any consistent impact. Bobby Abreu (OF, PHI) hit 18 homers after his 2005 Derby win, compared to 24 before it, while David Ortiz (DH, BOS) hit 22 homers before and after his 2010 Derby victory.

Perhaps the most memorable recent Derby came in 2021 at Coors Field, where Shohei Ohtani (P/DH, LAA) became the first player to participate in both the Derby and as a pitcher in the All-Star Game. Though he didn't win, his 500-foot blasts reminded fans why the event remains popular—there's nothing quite like watching the best power hitters let loose.

From TV Experiment to Fan Favorite
That original TV show—filmed at a minor league park with a small crew and modest prizes—sparked something that has become an essential part of baseball's calendar. While the modern Derby has exploded into a high-tech spectacle with elaborate rules and million-dollar prizes, its heart remains the same: great hitters swinging for the fences, showing off the raw power that fans love.

Six decades after Mark Scott introduced Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays on a black-and-white broadcast, the Home Run Derby continues to capture baseball's joy and power. What started as a simple TV show has become one of baseball's most anticipated annual events—proving again that sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones.

References

  1. Baseball Almanac, "Home Run Derby History"
  2. Baseball Reference, "All-Star Game Home Run Derby Winners"
  3. ESPN, "Home Run Derby Records and History"
  4. MLB.com, "Home Run Derby Winners by Year"
  5. SABR Baseball Research Journal, "Television's First Home Run Derby"
  6. Ziminda, Don. "From Wrigley Field (LA) to the All-Star Game: The Evolution of Home Run Derby," SABR Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 36 (2007)
  7. Sports Illustrated, "The Evolution of the Home Run Derby," July 2015
  8. USA Today, "How the Home Run Derby Changed Baseball's All-Star Break," July 2018
  9. The Athletic, "From Afterthought to Main Event: The Rise of the Home Run Derby," July 2019
  10. Baseball Prospectus, "Analyzing the 'Derby Curse' Myth," August 2016
  11. MLB Network, "The Original Home Run Derby," documentary, 2010