Oakland Athletics slugger Yoenis Cespedes brushed off the Minneapolis rain and worked his way through a revamped format to become only the second player to successfully defend baseball's Home Run Derby title on Monday.
In the prelude to Tuesday's All star game, Cuban Cespedes came out top as baseball's best long hitters put on a display of strength, hand-eye coordination and timing after an hour-long rain delay at Target Field. Only Seattle's Ken Griffey Junior (1998-99) had previously won back-to-back titles in the contest, which has kicked of the All Star festivities since the mid 1980s. continue after the cut
Cespedes said through a translator: "I'm somebody who's very conscious of the power that I have, so I don't need to put more of a swing or more of an effort in order to hit a home run. I just have to look for a good pitch and put a good swing on it and it usually takes care of itself"
Cespedes narrowly escaped the first round after he needed a tiebreaker swing-off to beat Oakland team mate Josh Donaldson. From there he caught fire, as he smashed seven home runs to eliminate Toronto's Jose Bautista and advance to the final, where he added nine more blasts to overpower Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds.
Cespededs has hit 14 home runs this season for the American League West-leading Athletics, which ties him for 19th in the league. However, he rises to the occasion in the derby
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