The Home Run Derby: Top 5 in All-Star Game History

The Major League Baseball Home Run Derby is one of the grandest traditions in all of baseball. It happens on one of the two nights of the year where there are no other games in any of the four major sports, meaning the game's biggest stars have the night all to themselves to show off their talent. There's nothing more beautiful, exciting or awe-inspiring than a long, towering home-run, and the Home Run Derby allows the game's brightest stars to entertain fans with a number of towering bombs. Here are five of my favorite Home Run Derbies from years past.

2000 Home Run Derby at Turner Field, Atlanta

In the year 2000, Sammy Sosa put on one of the greatest displays in Home Run Derby history. Looking back eight years later, his performance seems lessened due to allegations of steroid use, but at the time, it was an amazing performance. Sosa was going head-to-head with Ken Griffey Jr. who had won the previous two Home Run Derbies, and Sosa blew Griffey, as well as the field, out of the water. While Griffey eked through the semifinals with three homeruns, Sosa hit an amazing 11, and Sosa easily won the final 9-2.

1999 Home Run Derby at Fenway Park, Boston

People often forget how great Ken Griffey Jr. was, thanks to a number of injury-plagued years with Cincinnati, but he was probably the best player of the '90s, and it was always special when he participated in the Home Run Derby. Griffey participated in 8 eight Home Run Derbies, and won three, but this was arguably the best, because he was up against stiff competition in Mark McGwire, the best power-hitter of the era, and Jeremy Burnitz. To add to the grandeur of the event, the All-Star game that year was held at historic Fenway Park, with the imposing Green Monster in left field.

2005 Home Run Derby at Comerica Park, Detroit

The participants in this year's event weren't as memorable as some other years, but this one will always be special to me because it was held at Comerica Park in Detroit, near my hometown. Hometown boy Pudge Rodriguez gave a valiant effort, coming in second place with an exciting semifinal round where he hit 8 home runs in the round, but the event belonged to Bobby Abreu, who ran away from the competition with a total of 41 home runs. Abreu's feat was made all the more impressive by the fact that Comerica Park is a pitcher's ballpark, and it can be difficult to hit home runs due to the deep dimensions of the park.

2006 Home Run Derby at PNC Park, Pittsburgh

This Home Run Derby will always be remembered as the dawning of a next era of great young home run hitters. Three youngsters in Ryan Howard, David Wright, and Miguel Cabrera put on a great show at Pittsburgh's new PNC Park. Howard eventually out-swung Wright, winning the final 5-4. As baseball tried to move away from the Steroid Era, these young players showed that it was possible to hit jaw-dropping homers without performance-enhancing drugs.

2008 Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, New York

I know it hasn't happened yet, but I'm more excited for this year's Home Run Derby than any in recent memory. Josh Hamilton already has a reputation for putting on dazzling shows during batting practice, and if he can translate that to the competition, he could put up huge numbers. Chase Utley has one of the purest swings in baseball, and Milwaukee's Ryan Braun is perhaps the best young power-hitter in baseball. They'll be playing in Yankee Stadium, perhaps the most historic site in baseball, and this final event at Yankee Stadium, could be one of the most special in stadium history.