July 15th, 2014 at 9:10 am 
by Ron Cervenka With the 2014 edition of the MLB Home Run Derby now behind us, many fans are undoubtedly curious as to how the new format was perceived by those who stuck it out through the 45 minute rain delay.
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Oakland A’s slugger Yoenis Cespedes became only the second player to win back-to-back Home Run Derbies joining Ken Griffey Jr., who did so in 1998 and 1999. (Photo credit – Jesse Johnson)
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I voted that it took too long but the hour rain delay probably affected my vote. Quite frankly, they are always too long. I don’t like the new format and I don’t think I would like longest ball. I do like the charity part. I believe the 7 balls prevent the batters “getting into the groove” which means no one will ever break the records with only 7 outs. Unfortunately I haven’t thought of a good option for change.
Ron, what’s your take on this?
Last night, the ESPN announcers intimated that Yasiel Puig was uninformed that he needed to select someone to pitch to him in the Home Run Derby. Apparently, Puig had only asked Jose Cano to pitch to him earlier that morning. Chris Berman stated that Yasiel only took five pitches from Cano to warm up during the rain delay. If this were the case, then one would think Yasiel would have invited one of the Dodgers BP pitchers to throw to him… if nothing more than to have the familiarity of practice.
I’m not exactly sure what to make of this. It seemed that Yasiel was completely unprepared for the moment. Maybe a combination of nerves and being unfamiliar with the particulars of the event?… I don’t know.
It’s a good contest, no matter what the rules are. I only hope someday we’ll have a Dodger that can be more competitive.