[情報] Tejada ready to rip at Home Run Derby
CLEVELAND -- It's probably unfair to expect Miguel Tejada to exceed or even
replicate his achievements from the last Home Run Derby in which he
participated. After all, Tejada wowed the Minute Maid Field crowd in 2004
with 27 total home runs. He won that Derby when he beat out hometown favorite
Lance Berkman in the final round.
But despite that impressive legacy, Tejada is going to return to the Home Run
Derby scene and try to keep up the good work. This time, Tejada will do his
mashing in picturesque PNC Park in Pittsburgh during the CENTURY 21 Home Run
Derby on ESPN on Monday night.
"We had a lot of fun," Tejada said of the 2004 Derby, when he competed
against best friend David Ortiz.
Tejada, more of a line-drive, extra-base hitter than a pure home run hitter,
has 17 long ones on the year. The Orioles played three games at PNC Park last
year, and though the club lost two of three to the Pirates, Tejada flourished
in the environs. He was 5-for-10 with two walks and two home runs.
For the Orioles, who have struggled to a 40-49 first half and have fallen
well behind the front-runners in the American League East, Tejada's entry
into the Derby represents a chance to showcase a positive face for the club.
"It's good to have him back [in the Derby]," manager Sam Perlozzo said. "I
think he enjoys that kind of thing, too -- he kind of gets into it. I know
it's a situation where you want to win out there, but it's good to see the
kids have some fun."
Tejada professes to have no special strategy or tactics at the Derby. For
Tejada, it's all about one thing: Fun.
"We just bowled straight ahead," Tejada said of himself and Ortiz. "We really
cherished the time."
Many clubs worry about the Home Run Derby's effect on a hitter's swing,
thinking that a batter will mess up his rhythm in trying to upper-cut
moonshots. But Tejada said the Derby in 2004 had no affect on his swing "at
all," and Perlozzo said he is unconcerned.
"It's just one day of batting practice," Perlozzo said. "It would be like you
and I running out there and trying to whack it a little bit, then coming to
our senses and realizing what we were supposed to be doing."
Tejada is scheduled to hit first in the Derby
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