SEATTLE (AP) — Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. joined Vladimir Sr. to become the first father-son duo to win the All-Star Home Run Derby, beating Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena 25-23 in the final round on Monday night.
Guerrero defeated Julio Rodríguez 21-20 in the semifinals after the Mariners star hit a record 41 in the first round in front of his hometown fans.
Batting against Blue Jays manager John Schneider, Guerrero was the last semifinalist to swing and the first finalist, setting a final round record for homers to top the mark Pete Alonso set when he beat Guerrero 23-22 in 2019.
Vladimir Guerrero Sr. won the 2007 derby in San Francisco while with the Los Angeles Angels, beating the Blue Jays’ Alex Rios 3-2 in the final.
With Guerrero Jr. catching his breath while watching, Arozarena hit against Tampa Bay field coordinator Tomas Francisco. Arozarena started his final 30-second segment with 21 homers and had 23 with 7 seconds left before lining and popping up on his final swings.
“(Vladimir) obviously, the power that he has was incredible,” Arozarena said through an interpreter. “For me, I felt good going into that round. But also he was able to get a minute of bonus time. I only had the 30 seconds of bonus time. He did a great job.”
Arozarena had the most overall homers over the three rounds, 82 to Guerrero’s 72. Arozarena overcame Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox 35-22 in the semifinals. Robert hit the longest drive of the night, a 484-foot shot to left in the second round. That topped the high of 476 feet by Barry Bonds in the 2001 derby in Seattle.
Trying to become the youngest Derby winner at age 22, Rodríguez knocked out Alonso, a two-time champion who hit 21. Rodríguez beat Corey Seager 32-24 in the first round last year at Dodger Stadium, then knocked out Alonso 31-23 before losing to Juan Soto 19-18 in the final.
Arozarena beat Texas’ Adolis García 24-17 in the opening pairing before a crowd of 46,952 at T-Mobile Park. García is the godfather to Arozarena’s daughter, and the two jumped into each other’s arms during warmups.
Robert knocked out Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman 28-27 in the opening round. Rutschman hit 21 left-handed, and the switch hitter then turned around to the right side and hit six more right-handed during a 30-second bonus round. From Portland, Oregon, Rutschman grew up attending Mariners games.
Guerrero, back for the first time in four years, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts 26-11 in the first round. Four years ago at Cleveland, Guerrero hit 29 in the first round and 40 in the second, then lost to Alonso in the final.
Alonso was trying for his third title in four years. Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. is the only three-time winner, taking the title in 1994, ‘98 and ‘99.
Only three players have won the title at home: the Chicago Cubs’ Ryne Sandberg in 1990, Cincinnati’s Todd Frazier in 2015 and Washington’s Bryce Harper in 2018.
By Ronald Blum
