Bizarre Bungled National Anthem, Hometown Kid Bobby Witt Jr.’s Near Miss In Home Run Derby Cannot Hide North Texas’ Greater All-Star Wins

ARLINGTON — Bobby Witt Jr. comes so close that an entire stadium can feel it, with most of the fans packed into Globe Life Field having shifted to rooting for the Can’t Miss Kid who grew up just 18 miles away in Colleyville. Witt gives the baseball a charge, but he hits it much too high and it comes soaring down off the 410 feet marker in left centerfield. That’s it. One homer short, one foot short, of forcing a swing off for MLB’s Home Run Derby crown.

This Home Run Derby, which seems stuck in neutral most of the night, might end up being most remembered for a bizarre botched National Anthem from country singer Ingrid Andress, who brought back to mind Carl Lewis’ epically painful try at singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Only Lewis isn’t a singer. He’s a legendary Olympic athlete turned University of Houston coach. Andress is supposed to be a singer.

Still, even with Andress warbling herself into infamy, North Texas and its spaceship-looking stadium (host to more big events than any other ballpark in baseball since 2020) is proving to be more than All-Star worthy.

“I love being here,” Witt says.

So do Pittsburgh Pirates rookie sensation Paul Skenes and his LSU gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne, baseball’s new version of a power couple. A Justin Verlander and Kate Upton for Gen Z (not that many of them would know who Verlander is). Skenes, his 1980s motorcycle cop worthy mustache, his private jet flights with Dunne and all his 100 mph-plus fastballs are already dominating the 2024 MLB All-Star festivities. Just wait till he actually takes the mound in the bottom of the first inning on Tuesday night while the Fox cameras inevitably find Dunne.

Skenes is already enough of a character to almost be an honorary Texan. His look would fit right in as an extra on one of Taylor Sheridan’s shows.

A Rare Dodgers Champion

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández ends up taking the Home Run Derby title, beating Witt by that one homer in the championship round, grabbing the $1 million prize that none of baseball’s established superstars seemed at all interested in and striking a blow for “old” guys in an All-Star Game dominated by first timers. “If I have to bet, it doesn’t matter who’s it against, I’m going to bet on myself,” the 31-year-old Hernández says, the giant Home Run Derby champion medallion hanging around his neck. “People maybe underestimate myself.

“You can see it at the end when Witt was hitting all those homers. Everybody was cheering for him. But you know, I’m here. And I’m just as talented as all those guys. They might be younger, but same talent.”

Paul Skenes is already enough of a character to almost be an honorary Texan. His look would fit right in as an extra on one of Taylor Sheridan’s shows.

Teoscar Hernández gets an assist from Shohei Ohtani, his Dodgers teammate, in winning Home Run Derby. The biggest global star in baseball tells Teoscar to hit the ball to left center and not try to pull it despite Globe Life’s cavernous dimensions there. Hernández is smart enough to listen. Then again, maybe this title shouldn’t be a surprise.

Globe Life Field is the one place where Dodgers can win championships these days. (See that lone near asterisk worthy COVID season 2020 title for baseball’s self-righteous spending kings.)

But in the end, it is Arlington, Fort Worth and the entire North Texas region that figures to emerge as the lasting winner of this 2024 MLB All-Star run. Holding the MLB Draft at the 116-year-old Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth proved to be a particularly inspired stroke of rare 2024 major sports bold thinking. The unique setting made baseball’s often pushed aside draft seem extra special and will surely serve as a model for future MLB events.

And there is little to complain about in Arlington’s $1.2 billion ballpark either.

Adolis Garcia receives a huge ovation from the Globe Life Field crowd on his introduction, sending the spaceship stadium into spasms of joy. But the Texas Rangers’ playoff hero largely fizzles in this Derby, closing with an unexpected thud. Garcia, in good shape with 18 home runs at the end of regulation, does not hit a single long ball in bonus time. Just like that, he’s done in the opening round.

It’s not a bad showing. It’s just not up to Garcia’s prodigious long ball power standards.

“I’m just as talented as all those guys. They might be younger, but same talent.” — MLB Home Run Derby champion Teoscar Hernández

Afterwards, the Rangers’ slugger emerges from the locker room wearing a big black cowboy hat with a slightly smaller sparkling chain around his neck. Garcia calls himself “content” with the results of the night. And unlike baseball’s biggest superstars, he is already ready to commit to more Home Run Derby appearances in the future.

“I’m going to win one of these someday,” Garcia vows. He says it with a grin. Because it’s only the Home Run Derby.

With the Home Run Derby threatening to go the way of the NBA’s All-Star Slam Dunk Contest (which is now completely irrelevant), Garcia’s attitude is refreshing. A few hours before the Derby begins, Albert Pujols (he of the 703 career home runs) reminds everyone that he participated in five of these home run showdowns.

Not all change is good for baseball. A better-late-than-never dash of drama in the Home Run Derby thanks to the near hometown kid is.

“It was an honor,” Bobby Witt Jr. says afterwards. “Just to represent the Kansas City Royals. And just so much fun in my hometown-ish, and with my family out there.”

One foot short, one measly home run away, isn’t so bad. At least, Bobby Witt didn’t try to sing.