Summary:
- Cal Raleigh won the Home Run Derby, helping the Seattle Mariners defeat Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18–15 in the final.
- The first catcher and switch-hitter to complete the feat was joined by his father as a pitcher and his 15-year-old brother as a catcher.
- Raleigh narrowly advanced past the first round on a tiebreaker and finished with 54 total homers.
Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh’s Home Run Derby win Monday night felt less like a million-dollar contest and more like a backyard family tradition, only this time, tens of thousands baseball fans packed Truist Park to watch.
With his dad, Todd, pitching and his 15-year-old brother, Todd Jr., catching, Raleigh outslugged Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18–15 in the final round.
Raleigh said with a grin, flanked by his father and brother,
It goes all the way back to him coming home and me forcing him to throw me a ball and hit it in the backyard or in the house or something probably shouldn’t be doing
Todd Raleigh, who once coached at Tennessee and Western Carolina, handled mound duties, while “T” as Cal calls his younger brother, crouched behind the plate offering encouragement.
At 28, Raleigh became the first catcher and first switch-hitter to ever win the Derby, joining Ken Griffey Jr. as just the second Seattle Mariners player to take home the crown. Griffey, a three-time winner, was there snapping photos of the moment.
Todd Sr.,
Anybody that’s ever played baseball as a kid dreams of stuff like this. I dreamed of it. He dreamed of it. When you’re a parent, you look at it differently because you want your kids to be happy.
Raleigh’s night almost ended early. He and Brent Rooker tied at 17 in the first round, advancing only because his longest homer edged Rooker’s by less than an inch.
An inch off, and I’m not even in the final four, which is amazing. So I guess I got lucky there. One extra biscuit.
He powered through the semifinals, beating Oneil Cruz 19–13, before holding off Caminero in the final despite the Rays rookie’s late push.
Caminero, swinging a multicolored bat, nearly closed the gap on his last swing. “I didn’t think I was going to hit as many home runs or make it to the finals”, Caminero said through a translator.
Cal Raleigh’s switch-hitting roots go back to his diaper days. “Did it from the first day, when he was in diapers, literally”, said Todd Sr., who taught both sons to hit from both sides. “I didn’t want either one of my boys to ever say, am I right-handed or left-handed?”
As the family left the field, mom Stephanie, long surrounded by baseball, may have been quietly relieved. “We kind of leave it in the cage”, Todd Sr. joked.
Will Cal Raleigh continue his dream season with the Seattle Mariners? Get the best odds for the MLB season here
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