Fielder wins Home Run Derby again

Kansas City, MO – The prince of pop showed off his power again at the Home Run Derby.

Detroit first baseman Prince Fielder smashed 12 homers in the final round to seven for Toronto's Jose Bautista to win the competition for a second time.

Fielder, the 2009 Home Run Derby champion and All-Star Game MVP in 2011 both times representing Milwaukee, became the first player to win the derby for both leagues.

Ken Griffey Jr. won the derby in consecutive years in 1998-99, but representing the American League both times with the Mariners. Griffey also won it in 1994 for Seattle.

"It means a lot, just being mentioned with him is real special because as a kid when I was at their age, he was the first person with an NBA Jam in their house," Fielder said. "So my dad would let me go over and play video games all day. He always took care of me when I was a kid, so to be mentioned with him is real special."

The other time Fielder won, the event was also held in Missouri, at St. Louis.

"I guess it's the great fans here. Missouri has great fans," Fielder said during an on-field ceremony.

Fielder hit a total of 23 homers, including six in the finals three years ago when he edged Texas' Nelson Cruz for the title. This time, he smashed 28, including a shot of 476 feet, the longest of the night.

Bautista, who was eliminated in the first round last year, batted last in the finals, but couldn't match Fielder's strength.

Amazingly, Fielder, who was participating in the competition for a fourth time, smashed eight home runs before he got his second out in the last round. Also, one of his 12 homers was disputed, as it hit the top of the fence in right-center field.

The 12 homers in the final round equaled the record hit last year by New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who garnered some of the biggest cheers of the night at Kauffman Stadium, but for the wrong reasons. The celebratory chants came each time he got an out, as the defending Home Run Derby champion was shut out of long balls.

Fans at Kauffman Stadium also booed Cano through his struggles, mostly due to the fact he didn't pick Royals designated hitter Billy Butler for the derby. Butler leads KC with 16 homers at the break.

"He handled it great. He's on the Yankees, so I'm sure he gets booed at a lot of places because they win a lot," Fielder said. "I'm sure it's not the first time. Someone told me, if they are booing you, you have to be doing something good. They wouldn't be booing someone that wasn't doing much."

A local airplane flew overhead while Cano, Butler and others took batting practice on Monday with a sign that read, "Congrats Billy! You blew it Cano." The message was tagged as from sports radio station 810 WHB.

Cano was sarcastic after being eliminated.

"I can't believe I have so many fans in KC lol smh can't win them all," he said via Twitter.

Fielder didn't second-guess Cano's selections.

"Whoever the captain picks, that's why he's the captain," Fielder said when asked if he'd be pressed to choose a member of the Mets for next year's competition at Citi Field. "Whoever the captain wants to pick, that's who he wants to pick. There's no maliciousness involved. Sometimes you just don't pick someone. He's not mad at Billy at all. It's all right."

Mark Trumbo of the Angels was eliminated in the second round after losing a swing-off to Bautista. Both had a total of 13 long balls before the swing-off, three less than Fielder. In the elimination portion, Trumbo had one homer, on the last of his five swings, while Bautista went deep on his first two attempts to advance to the finals.

St. Louis Cardinals slugger and ex-Royal Carlos Beltran, in the derby for the first time, had a total of 12 homers through two rounds before being eliminated.

Others eliminated in round one were Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen, and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp.

Kemp, who was named to the All-Star team but won't participate in Tuesday's game due to a hamstring injury, hit one home run. He is currently on the disabled list.

Gonzalez clubbed four homers, while McCutchen, who tops the majors in batting at .362 at the All-Star break and has Pittsburgh in first place in the NL Central, was done after hitting four homers.