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Yoenis Cespedes is home run champ

Updated: July 16, 2013, 9:24 AM ET ESPN.com news services 1K 293 146 EMAIL PRINT

Yoenis Cespedes Wins Home Run Derby Highlight of the night: Yoenis Cespedes hit 31 total home runs, including nine in the final round, to top Bryce Harper and claim the 2013 Home Run Derby title. Tags: Home Run Derby, Yoenis Cespedes NEXT VIDEO video Cespedes Motivated By HR Derby Win NEW YORK -- The Home Run Derby champion didn't even make the All-Star team. Yoenis Cespedes won baseball's power-hitting competition with a dazzling display Monday night, becoming the first player left out of the All-Star Game to take home the crown. The Oakland Athletics slugger beat Bryce Harper 9-8 in the final round at reconfigured Citi Field, hitting the decisive drive with five swings to spare. In his second major league season, the outfielder from Cuba flipped his bat aside and raised his left arm in triumph when he sent his 32nd homer of the night some 455 feet to deep center field, where it caromed off the back wall of the black batter's eye. He was swarmed by the American League All-Stars near the third-base line. More On The Home Run Derby Home Run Derby champ Yoenis Cespedes stepped to home plate and showed he has the power to be a star, Jayson Stark writes. Story • Radio: Mike & Mike weigh in Yoenis Cespedes won the HR Derby and even hit 17 dingers in the first round. Not bad for a pinch hitter, David Schoenfield writes. SweetSpot • Stats & Info: Slump? What slump? • SN: Will Derby win propel Cespedes? • Gallery: Photos of the night "You come for a show in New York. He put on a show," said Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer, set to start for the AL on Tuesday night. The final addition to the field, Cespedes was the fourth player not selected for the All-Star Game to compete in the event. Right off the bat, he proved he belonged. With family in the stands, Cespedes hit a whopping 17 home runs in the first round -- more than any other player managed in his first two trips to the plate. "I felt that I was getting into a very good rhythm, and that as long as the ball was right over the plate, I felt like I was in a good groove," Cespedes said through a translator. "That was the key." That sent him straight into the finals, although he added six long balls in Round 2 for good measure. Some of his early drives were particularly impressive, too. Cespedes hit about a half-dozen balls into the upper deck in left, never reached by anyone in a game, and banged another couple of shots off the restaurant windows in the corner just below. Cespedes, 27, has struggled as a sophomore, batting only .225 with 15 home runs, but hardly anyone in the game doubts his ability. "This trophy will motivate me so that things continue to go well for me, and I just want to thank the people that believed in me, that thought I could play at this level," he said. Cespedes also was asked who would win a home run derby between him and Dodgers phenom Yasiel Puig. "Not to be disrespectful at all to Yasiel," Cespedes said with ESPN's Pedro Gomez translating. "I know him from Cuba, and this is not the type of competition he would excel at. He's not really a home run hitter. So I would definitely win." The 20-year-old Harper, wearing shiny gold spikes as his father pitched to him, hammered eight homers in all three rounds. But the Washington Nationals phenom couldn't keep up with Cespedes. "He's incredible," Harper said. "He's an absolute machine." Colorado outfielder Michael Cuddyer and Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis, who leads the majors with 37 homers, were eliminated in the second round. Davis tied Reggie Jackson (1969) for the AL home run record before the All-Star break. Yoenis Cespedes Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports Oakland A's outfielder Yoenis Cespedes became the first player not selected to play in the All-Star Game to win the Home Run Derby. "I had a little blister come up second round. It's just one of those things," Davis said. "I usually get one once a year, and it just happened to be tonight. It actually popped during a swing. My main concern is obviously not to hurt myself and to hang on to the bat. "It's something that I've dealt with in my career since I can remember. You've just got to kind of wear it for a couple of days, and then it hardens up and you're good to go." Citi Field opened in 2009 with cavernous dimensions and yielded the fewest home runs in the majors over its first three seasons, according to STATS. But the Mets erected a new fence in front of the old one, dubbed the Great Wall of Flushing, before last season, shaving dimensions by up to 12 feet and lowering the height of the wall from as high as 16 feet to 8 all around. Since then, the ballpark has ranked closer to the middle of the pack in home runs, 18th out of 30, but it's still no hitters' haven. In fact, hometown favorite David Wright of the Mets had joked he would take his Derby swings from second base. "This stadium may be very difficult, but it's not as difficult as Oakland. And if I can do it in Oakland, I thought, why can't I do it here?" Cespedes said. Baseball's big boppers took aim at two trucks parked beside the home run apple behind the center-field fence, a popular staple at Mets games dating to their days in Shea Stadium. Cespedes dinged the hood on one, bringing a rousing cheer. Cuban reliever Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds brought Cespedes water and a towel during the first round, and 2010 champion David Ortiz strolled over to offer encouragement and advice. The Rockettes danced atop the dugouts and did their famous kickline between first-round batters. Most HR in Single HR Derby - All-Time Player HR Season Bobby Abreu 41 2005 Josh Hamilton 35 2008 Yoenis Cespedes 32 2013 Robinson Cano 32 2011 David Ortiz 32 2010 ESPN Stats & Info "It's far different from in Cuba," Cespedes said. "There might be two people at our games. There's only one photographer, and this is completely different and foreign to me. But I'm very happy to be here." Wright and another hometown darling, Pirates slugger Pedro Alvarez, were both eliminated in the first round. Alvarez went to high school in New York City and grew up in the same Manhattan neighborhood as Manny Ramirez. "I ran out of gas," Wright said. Also knocked out early were defending champion Prince Fielder, the only player besides Ken Griffey Jr. to win multiple crowns, and AL captain Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees, who made Cespedes his final pick. Cano, the 2011 champion, was booed relentlessly in Kansas City last year after he didn't tab Royals slugger Billy Butler to participate, and the Kansas City crowd was delighted when Cano went without a home run in that year's Derby. He connected on his third swing this time but finished last with only four. Wright, booed in Pittsburgh last weekend for initially passing on Alvarez, hit five home runs as the sellout crowd of 43,558 chanted, "Let's go Mets!" Alvarez was added when Colorado outfielder Carlos Gonzalez pulled out with a sprained middle finger. Gonzalez remains in the National League starting lineup for Tuesday night's All-Star Game, though. NOTES: Cespedes' home run total matched Ortiz (2010) and Cano (2011) for the third-highest behind Bobby Abreu (41 in 2005) and Josh Hamilton (35 in 2008). ... Davis was credited with the longest drive of the night at 502 feet. ... Oakland third-base coach Mike Gallego pitched to Cespedes, who averaged 405 feet on his home runs. He became the first A's player to participate in the Derby since Jason Giambi in 2001 and joined Mark McGwire (1992) as the team's only winners. "Before I left, they asked me to bring home the trophy," Cespedes said. ... The AL topped the NL 53-50. ... Cano showed up at the afternoon news conference in a snappy suit. Harper was in a T-shirt, mesh shorts, sneakers and his spiky mohawk. At least he was dressed in blue and orange, Mets colors. ... By hitting 103 home runs in all, the sluggers raised $529,000 for charity. The Associated Press contributed to this report.