Viscowitz’s Laboratory

The MLB Homerun Derby was last night. While I can rant and rave about numerous things from the Derby’s format to Josh Hamilton’s ability to get 53,716 people at Yankee Stadium (the most important stadium in baseball history which sadly will be destroyed at the end of this year) to stand up and chant his name. In the end, Josh Hamilton’s performance in Round 1 (28 HR’s in 38 swings, many of which are still in orbit) was far more important than it’s impact on the sport or the fans. But that’s a discussion for another day.

As usual, Hall of Fame baseball reporter Peter Gammons eloquently summed up the importance of last night for the game of baseball.

Baseball is not about corporate boxes and extracting licensing pennies from poor kids or taxpayer dollars donated to construct ballparks to help billionaires make millions. It is about Babe Ruth changing the sports culture, Jackie Robinson changing America and Cal Ripken changing lives. Baseball has always been able to turn the page because of someone and something always grew up out of the rubble, and Josh Hamilton began the process of turning the page on Monday night.

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