I've kinda just held my opinion for a while because I wasn't sure how I felt about it...but Kemp participating in the HR Derby is IDIOTIC, in my opinion. I've been listening to KK on Dodger Talk the past few weeks and he's made some very good points. He's heard first hand from participants that this IS NOT just a batting practice session. This is a physical grind of a competition. Hamilton, Anderson, Griffey, Abreu, and quite a few others have said this wears them out quite a bit, and particularly in the lower body. This isn't just "BP with cameras". I don't blame Kemp for wanting to participate. But I do blame the Dodgers for allowing him to participate. The more I think about this, the more I hate this. This is very stupid. He can play 5-6 games in the minor leagues but he can't tip his hat to the crowd in the opening lineup, play a couple innings and get an AB in the All-Star game? Playing in the game is much less strenuous on his body than the HR Derby. Bottom line....participating in this is not a good idea.
i agree. i also freaked out when he tackled dee gordon a few weeks back. this is just egregious imo. no way he should do anything more than tip his hat .
Now best case scenario is Kemp fails miserably in the Derby and hits 0 HRs and is out in the first round. I can think of $160 million reasons why he shouldn't be participating in the HR Derby. Bobby Abreu won it that one year and wasn't the same power hitter after that. Things like that can happen as well as the injury possibilities to state the obvious.
i really dont care they're being cautious and kemp is being honest about his leg if ANYTHING at all was wrong, he wouldn't be doing it
I agree: Matt Kemp should NOT be in the HR derby. But my reasoning has nothing to do with his hamstring. The truth is no one should be in a HR derby - It's just an excuse for Chris Berman to piss-himself-surprised when professional hitters hit lob pitches over a wall. BFD
Sports talk radio blabber!!! If he can play in a rehab assignment and start the first game back than he's ok for this too.
I don't watch the Home Run Derby or the All-Star Game. Spending 3 hours with that loud, obnoxious, annoying asshole Chris Berman doing his schtick during the Home Run Derby would be my personal hell. No thanks. Talk about a blow hard. He is seriously full of himself. And he's a Giants fan to boot. That's all you need to know about the scumbag.
Flip the situation with Kemp and Ethier (he was asked by Kemp to join) and imagine how much differently the media/everyone would paint it. Kemp sitting down and he'd be some hero who puts the team first. Ethier doing the derby, and he'd be plastered as a huge ego maniac who is extremely selfish. Kind of sad, cause it'd easily happen. But instead we have it flipped, and I'm really happy Ethier is sitting this down. It doesn't matter if it's just a BP, you're right TB, how many players have said it's pretty physical and tiring? Kemp did come out of it last year on a tear, but to me thats besides the point. I think nothing will happen cause of it, but it doesn't matter. He isn't that important to the derby that he needs to do this oh so badly, but he is important to the Dodgers. Go to the ASG, be there, have fun, tweet it all out. But it's unnecessary and selfish, and such a minor thing he could avoid (like Ethier and many do) to make sure team first.
It's all about the All Star game fame... ... Most modern players have contract clauses which give them their choice to attend if eligible... and they're too vain or stupid to see it as a chance to recuperate... And the same All Star contract clause gives them bookoo bucks next year for simply making an appearance. For all we know Kemp has another clause for entering the Home Run derby too... ... ...follow the money...
BILL PLASCHKEDodgers strike out in letting Matt Kemp hit in Home Run DerbyCenter fielder, who has been on the disabled list because of a hamstring injury, will participate in the competition Monday, a decision that is awfully risky.Finally, Matt Kemp returns.After being absent for nearly a third of the season, the Dodgers' most important player is scheduled to rejoin their struggling offense this week with their playoff hopes clinging to his balky hamstring.When next we see Matt Kemp in uniform, he'll be swinging for the fences (Harry How/Getty Images )Wait. What? He's stopping off somewhere first? He's making a detour in Kansas City?Hold on. He's going to be swinging a bat there? Against live pitching? In a testosterone-dripping strongman contest on national television?You mean the first time the Dodgers and their fans will see Matt Kemp swinging a bat in a competitive big league situation since May 30, he'll be doing it somewhere else and only for himself?Welcome to another day in baseball's Bizzaro World. Yes, it's true, after sitting out 51 of the last 53 games, the Dodgers savior will be returning to action not in a pennant race, but a sideshow, that flimsy All-Star preliminary known as the Home Run Derby.You can start holding your breath any time now."I've heard people saying he shouldn't do it, and I can understand why they are saying it, because he hasn't played in a long time," Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said Friday.I'm one of those people. I think he shouldn't do it. I know all the medical evidence supports Kemp, but I still think he shouldn't do it.I understand it's just glorified batting practice, which he has been taking for more than a month now. I get how folks can say he has played in nearly a week's worth of minor league games, he's just a couple of days from returning to the Dodgers dugout, and how much can this hurt?But if your child was returning to school after being out two months, would you allow him to first make a stop at the circus? Monday night's derby will be a circus, filled with a bunch of big guys swinging from the heels and swaggering around the field, and who knows what can go wrong.As the National League captain, Kemp is not only part of that circus, he's the ringleader. He had only two home runs in last year's competition, so you know he'll be pushing hard to put on a better show. He was robbed of the most-valuable-player award last year by a guy who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, so you know that with the nation watching, he'll be swinging with a chip on his shoulder. There is also absolutely no upside to winning the event, not even the sort of public respect that sluggers crave. Who won last year? Thought so.I also know I'm going to be painted as the bad guy here, I'll be called a hater, all that stuff, but somebody has to say it.
Exactly. Or are they gonna tell me that he was running only hlaf power during his rehab... Thats crazy... He should be fine... I do have a problem with the team he picked... They are getting crushed!!
bottom line team should come first HR derby is an individual event is HR derby > team? thought so :soapbox:
So you agree that there should be no HR derby? Because every player could/should use that excuse. If he injures his hamstring in the HR Derby, then he wasn't long for a return anyway.
I would prefer he not be in the Derby, but honestly, he has been rehabbing and if there was any question as to whether or not his hammy was okay, he wouldn't be participating. I think he'll be fine.
