07/14/25 11:15:00
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07/14 23:14 CDT With family support, Cal Raleigh becomes first catcher,
switch-hitter to win Home Run Derby
With family support, Cal Raleigh becomes first catcher, switch-hitter to win
Home Run Derby
By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer
ATLANTA (AP) --- Cal Raleigh approached the All-Star Home Run Derby like a day
on the lawn. Dad was on the mound and baby brother was behind the plate.
Only this time, there were tens of thousands looking on at Truist Park and a $1
million prize.
"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," a beaming Cal said, flanked by Todd and Todd Jr. after defeating
Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero 18-15 in the final round Monday night.
Todd Raleigh, former coach of Tennessee and Western Carolina, threw the pitches
and Cal's 15-year-old brother, Todd Raleigh Jr., did the catching. A first-time
All-Star at age 28, Cal became the first switch-hitter and first catcher to win
the title. He's the second Mariners player to take the title after three-time
winner Ken Griffey Jr., who was on the field, snapping photos.
"Anybody that's ever played baseball as a kid dreams of stuff like this," Cal's
dad said. "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."
Leading the major leagues with 38 home runs at the All-Star break, Cal almost
didn't make it past the first round. The Mariners' breakout slugger nicknamed
Big Dumper and the Athletics' Brent Rooker each hit 17 homers, and Raleigh
advanced on a tiebreaker for longest long ball: 470.61 feet to 470.53 --- or
0.96 inches. At first, Cal wasn't aware whether there would be a swing-off.
"An inch off, and I'm not even in the final four, which is amazing," Cal said.
"So I guess I got lucky there. One extra biscuit."
Raleigh totaled 54 homers. He won his semifinal 19-13 over Pittsburgh's Oneil
Cruz, whose 513-foot first-round drive over the right-center field seats was
the longest of the night.
Cal's brother, nicknamed T, kept yelling encouragement to the brother he so
admires.
"His swag, the way he plays, the way he hustles," T said.
Hitting second in the final round, the 22-year-old Caminero closed within three
dingers --- MLB counted one that a fan outfielder caught with an over-the-wall
grab. Using a multicolored bat and down to his last out, Caminero took three
pitches and hit a liner to left.
"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 was just the second Derby switch-hitter after Baltimore's Adley Rutschman
in 2023. His dad was a righty and wanted both his sons to hit from both sides.
"Did it from the first day, when he was in diapers, literally," Todd Sr. said.
"I would take that big ball and he had a big red bat. I'd throw it slow and
he'd hit it. Then I'd say stay there, pick him up, turn him around, switch his
hands and do it again. I was a catcher. I played a little bit, and I just knew
what a premium it was. I didn't want either one of my boys to ever say, am I
right-handed or left-handed?"
There was a downside.
"I don't recommend it if you have two kids, they're both switch hitters, if you
want to save your arm, because that's a lot of throwing," said dad, who had
rotator cuff surgery.
Raleigh hit his first eight homers left-handed, took a timeout, then hit seven
right-handed. Going back to lefty, he hit two more in the bonus round and
stayed lefty for the rest of the night.
"Was grooving a little bit more lefty so we were like, since we have a chance
to win, we might as well stick to the side that's working a little better," Cal
said.
Caminero beat Minnesota's Byron Buxton 8-7 in the other semifinal. Atlanta's
Matt Olson, Washington's James Wood, the New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr.
and Rooker were eliminated in the first round of the annual power show.
Cruz's long drive was the hardest-hit at 118 mph.
Wood hit 16 homers, including one that landed on the roof of the Chop House
behind the right-field wall. Olson, disappointing his hometown fans, did not go
deep on his first nine swings and finished with 15, Chisholm hit just three
homers, the fewest since the timer format started in 2015.
After it was all over, the Raleighs headed out. Stephanie, the boys' mom and
Todd Sr.'s wife, is surrounded by baseball.
"We kind of leave it in the cage. We've got a cage at home, a building," Todd
Sr. said. "Or we leave it in the car on the rides home. There's probably been a
few times where she says, yeah, that's enough."
___
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