It’s HR derby time

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, July 8, 2001

By Scott M. Johnson

Herald Writer

SEATTLE – The sidewalk running one block east of Occidental Avenue along Royal Brougham Way is a typically sedate stretch of pavement. Even during the busy weekend, the walkway served primarily as a thoroughfare taking All-Star FanFest patrons from the parking garage to the exhibition center.

But this afternoon, it could look like Chicago’s Waveland Avenue.

For anyone wanting to catch a piece of history who can’t be inside Safeco Field today, Royal Brougham Way is the place to be. Should one of the Home Run Derby contestants poke a ball all the way out of Safeco Field today, it would land somewhere on Royal Brougham Way. No ball has ever been hit there before.

“I think this should be the day,” Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said. “With the weather we’re having, I fully expect a good right-handed pull hitter to hit one out. I saw Sammy Sosa hit a shot last year in Atlanta that definitely would have gone out of here. (Mark) McGwire has hit some shots that would have gone out of here. I think we’re going to see it.”

While McGwire won’t be competing, Sosa is the most likely of the eight participants in today’s Home Run Derby at Safeco Field (5 p.m., ESPN) to take one over the stadium wall in left field. Mariners officials have estimated a ball would have to travel more than 440 feet to go from home plate to the street below via the left-field line, meaning Sosa’s 508-foot shot during last year’s Derby in Atlanta would have had the distance to get out of Safeco. Three of today’s participants – Luis Gonzalez, Todd Helton and Barry Bonds – are left-handed hitters who probably won’t hit toward left field. Another three – right-handed Alex Rodriguez, Troy Glaus and Bret Boone – have had their share of chances to hit one out, but to no avail.

Historically, the Home Run Derby has brought out the best in baseball’s top sluggers. Three of last year’s participants hit homers that went farther than 440 feet, while McGwire had eight home runs that went beyond 450 feet during the 1999 Derby. In 1993, Ken Griffey Jr. had hits of 473 and 455 feet when the Derby was held at Baltimore’s Camden Yard. At least one player has eclipsed the 450-foot mark in six of the nine Derbys since 1992.

Of course, it all leads to an annual discussion about whether Derby balls are juiced – something Major League Baseball has repeatedly denied.

“I don’t know if it is or not,” said the Mariners’ Jay Buhner, who participated in the 1996 Derby in Philadelphia. “They talk about it every year.

“Two years ago, when there was the big home run barrage, and they said how the balls were loaded, they went down and did a study and there was no difference. So I think it’s all a crock. But you tell a couple people you think it’s juiced, and that way it just juices up the story.”

Of course, there are several reasons why Derby home runs seem to have more distance than those hit in regular play. Opposing pitchers, each of whom is chosen by the hitters, are trying to throw the ball to participants’ sweet spots. And pitches during Home Run Derbies are at least 20 miles per hour slower than a typical major league fastball.

Because of the way Safeco Field is configured, the only place to hit a home run out of the stadium is to left field. McGwire hit a home run to left during a preseason batting practice that landed two stairs from the upper deck concourse, a measurement of 423 feet. Anaheim’s Mo Vaughn has the longest homer at Safeco, a 441-foot shot into he fourth deck in right field in 1999, while Edgar Martinez holds the stadium record for Mariners at 421 feet.

This afternoon’s Derby is expected to have home runs that exceed those totals. Whether or not they clear the stadium in left field, well, that’s a different story.

“There hasn’t been one hit out yet, so we don’t expect it to happen (tonight),” Seattle police sergeant Mike Coomes said Sunday.

The Seattle Police Department is so sure of it, in fact, that they won’t close off the street or beef up security at Royal Brougham and Occidental. The only policeman on duty there will be a traffic officer at the intersection. Coomes said closing off Royal Brougham, the main street bordering Safeco’s north side, was not an option.

Even if nobody turns out in search of a historical baseball, there will be at least two people standing on the corner of Royal Brougham and Occidental well into this evening. Carl King, a 62-year-old real estate broker from Auburn, will be selling newspapers there. And Tim James, an 18-year-old who came all the way from Philadelphia to help sell programs for Major League Baseball, will be close by. Both said they will act quickly should a baseball find its way onto Royal Brougham Way, despite their primary duties.

“I’ll leave my post and grab it,” King said.

James will also be keeping his eyes peeled.

“If one comes over, I’ll get that ball because I’d want to sell it,” James said.

Isn’t seeing history enough?

“Nope,” James said. “It wouldn’t mean too much to me. That’s why I’d sell it.”

Maybe history isn’t what it used to be.