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PHILADELPHIA — With hometown favorites Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both participating in Monday’s Home Run Derby, the Philadelphia faithful booed the other six participants loudly as they were introduced and later stepped to the plate. In character, Red Sox slugger Willson Contreras embraced the villain role before ultimately bowing out Schwarber in the semifinals.
The fiery Contreras repeatedly put his hand to his ear to ask the crowd to boo him louder, egging them on both during introductions and in the semis, which Schwarber won, 9-8. In his first Derby experience, Boston’s first baseman made sure he had fun.
“That’s what they do here. It’s nothing new,” Contreras said. “They’ve been booing me for 10 years, so I had fun with it.
“I like when I get booed,” he added. “It inspires me a little bit.”
Though St. Louis’ Jordan Walker won the event with a dramatic comeback to beat Schwarber in the final round, it was Schwarber — in the head-to-head 15-pitch semifinal round — who knocked out Contreras, his ex-Cubs teammate. Schwarber went first and hit nine homers and Contreras was at eight blasts with one swing to go. He popped out to shallow center field and the crowd went crazy as Schwarber advanced.
True to form, Contreras was also hit by a pitch in the semifinal round by bench coach José Flores, who was throwing to him. The league included magenta-colored baseballs in the contest when the hitters were down to one swing, allowing the hitter to continue if they homered in that scenario. Those baseballs were slippery and one got away from Flores, who couldn’t help but chuckle on the mound.
“It was funny,” Contreras said. “The reaction of the crowd was that they laughed. It was all about the show.”
Contreras, the first Red Sox player to participate in the contest in 15 years, set the high-water mark with a strong showing in the first round. As the first competitor to hit in the eight-man field, he hit 13 homers on 20 swings and finished the round tied with Walker for the lead. The top four competitors (Contreras, Walker, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero and Schwarber) advanced under the new rules, which were introduced for this year’s contest and included untimed rounds. The absence of a clock allowed drama to build throughout the event, especially as Walker chased down Schwarber in his home ballpark at the end.
“The new format and the way of the Home Run Derby makes it fun, and it’s way better than before,” Contreras said.
In the first round, Contreras hit the left-field wall with his first swing and took a couple swings to find his footing before getting hot, knocking out seven of his first 10. With Flores throwing to him, Contreras cooled down a little bit in the second half. He pulled all 13 of his first-round home runs, hitting eight more than 450 feet. His longest was his eighth blast, which went 490 feet with a 115 mph exit velocity. One of Contreras’ goals was to hit the left-field scoreboard but that was just out of reach.
In the semis, Contreras pulled six homers and hit two to center. His longest of that round was 461 feet. In total, Contreras hit 1.76 miles of homers.
Contreras’ Derby bat — which depicted the Mario character Bowser, which inspired his nickname this season — was taken by a Baseball Hall of Fame official after the event. Contreras said he wants to do the Derby again in the future after enjoying the experience so much Monday. He wanted to win it but was happy to be knocked out by a friend in Schwarber, with whom Contreras won a World Series title in Chicago in 2016.
“We’re good friends. I love Schwarber,” Contreras said. “He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.”
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