Home Run Derby X

The Bees’ season may be wrapped up, but local baseball wasn’t quite done with us yet. Last night, we headed back to the new stadium for one more event—MLB’s Home Run Derby X quarterfinals.

If you haven’t heard of Home Run Derby X before, it’s a fresh spin on the classic derby. Imagine all the excitement of big swings and long balls, but with a faster pace, a scoring system that rewards more than just clearing the fence, and co-ed rosters made up of MLB alums, softball stars, and college or amateur players. Each round is short and snappy—just 2 minutes and 30 seconds per hitter to launch as many bombs as possible. Teams can also score by hitting target zones or catching balls in the outfield. It felt part sporting event, part show.

We thought it sounded like a blast, so we threw on our Yankee pinstripes and walked over.

The ballpark had a festival-like energy—music pumping, lights flashing, people milling around with excitement. Madeline soaked it all in. She bounced along to the music with us, giggling as we danced, and her night was made when she got to meet Bumble.

We arrived early, hoping to catch a glimpse of Nick Swisher. He’s one of our all-time favorite Yankees, and I was pretty excited at the thought of meeting him. No luck this time, but the buzz of the crowd more than made up for it. Having Blake and Debbie join us made the night even better.

When the derby kicked off, I’ll admit—it wasn’t quite as thrilling start to finish as I had pictured. But there were definitely standout moments. The softball players were incredible, sending rockets all over the park. Jocelyn Alo, especially, was on another level.

Some matchups pulled us in more than others. The Bees faced off against the Blue Jays, and I didn’t think they stood a chance… until Jose Reyes (yes, that Jose Reyes) stepped in. He went on an absolute tear, racking up 30+ points and practically carrying the Bees single-handedly to victory. The crowd went wild.

Of course, the Yankees vs. Cardinals round had our full attention. The Yankees were repped by Todd Frazier, Nick Swisher, and Jocelyn Alo. Between Jocelyn’s bombs and the guys feeding off her energy, they dominated. They even walked it off against the Cardinals, which was such a fun way to end it. Blake wished Jocelyn had gotten a full round to herself—she walked it off so quickly we didn’t get to see just how many she could have launched. She was the star of the night.

By the time the Yankees wrapped up, Madeline was done. She’s shifting down to one nap a day, and while she hung in there like a champ, squirmy baby mode eventually kicked in. We changed her into her pajamas at the park, and she was asleep before we even made it out of the gates.

On the walk home, the sky lit up with a drone show—a perfect little bonus to cap the night. We slowed down to watch for a moment, with Mads snoozing in her stroller, and it felt like the sweetest ending.

It may not have been a nail-biter, but it was still special to sneak in one more baseball night before the long off-season ahead.