ATLANTA (AP) – Former Florida State player Cal Lowry has come closer to the All-Star home run derby like a day on the grass. Dad was on the mound and my brother was behind the plate.
This time only, there were tens of thousands of people looking for Truist Park and a million dollar prize.
“It should not come back to him and I should have forced him to throw the ball at me and hit it in my backyard or in my house, or maybe something,” Beaming Cal said.
Former Tennessee and Western Carolina coach Todd Lowry threw Pitch and Cal’s 15-year-old brother Todd Lowry Jr. Cal, the first All-Star at the age of 28, became the first switch hitter and first catcher to win the title. He is the second Mariners player to win the title after three-time winner Ken Griffey Jr. was on the field and then took a photo.
“Anyone who has ever played baseball because kids dream of something like this,” Cal’s dad said. “I dreamed of it. He dreamed of it. When you are a parent, you want your child to be happy, so you see it differently.”
Cal, who led the major league league with 38 home runs in the All-Star break, wasn’t past his first round. The Mariners breakout slugger hitters were hit by Big Damper and Athletics Brent Luker each with 17 home runs, while Lowry advanced with a tiebreaker on the longest ball: 470.61 feet to 470.53 – or 0.96 inches. At first, Cal didn’t know if there was a swing-off.
“We’re a little an inch away, but I’m not even the last four. That’s amazing,” Cal said. “So I think I’m lucky there. One extra biscuit.”
Raleigh had a total of 54 homers. He won the semi-finals 19-13 on the One Cruise in Pittsburgh. His first round drive at 513 feet on the field sheet in the middle right was the longest of the night.
Cal’s brother, T, called T, continued to scream encouragement from his brother, whom he admired so much.
“He’s stolen goods, how he plays, how he usd,” T said.
Kaminero, 22, the second hit in the final round, was closed within three dingers. MLB counted fans’ outfielders getting caught up in a wall glove. Kaminero used his multi-colored bat to take three pitches until his final outing and hit the liner to the left.
“I didn’t think I was going to hit so many home runs or make it to the final,” Kaminero said through a translator.
Cal was the second Derby switch hitter in 2023 after Baltimore’s Adrie Latchman. His father was on his right, hoping that his sons hit from both sides.
“I literally did that since the first day he was in the diaper,” Todd Sr. said. “I took that big ball, he had a big red bat. I’d throw it slowly and hit it. Then I stayed there and to get him, swinging around him, switching his hands, and trying again. I played a little.
There were drawbacks.
“If you have two kids, if you are both switch hitters, I wouldn’t recommend it if you want to save your arm.
Rory hit the first eight home runs left-handed, then hit seven right-handed players after a timeout. Back to left-handed he slammed two more in a bonus round and left-handed the rest of the night.
“We were a little more left-handed, so we have the opportunity to win, so we might stick to the side that’s working a little better,” Cal said.
Kaminero defeated Minnesota’s Byron Buxton 8-7 in the other semi-finals. Matt Olson of Atlanta, James Wood of Washington, Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees, and Rooker were eliminated in the first round of the annual power show.
Cruz’s long drive was the most intense hit at 118 mph.
The wood crashed into 16 homers, including one that landed on the roof of the chophouse behind the wall in the right field. Disappointing fans in his hometown, Olson went deep on his first nine swings and finished at 15.
After that, Lowries went out. Stephanie, the boy’s mom and wife of Todd Sr., is surrounded by baseball.
“We’ll keep it in the cage. We have a cage at home, we have a building,” Todd Sr. said. “Or we’ll leave it in the car inside the house. She probably said it a few times, yeah, that’s enough.”
