Show Caption
PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber was scripted to be the homecoming king of this Home Run Derby. Instead, he was powerless to stop a little magenta baseball from sailing out of Citizens Bank Park, again and again and again.And Jordan Walker joined Bryce Harper in the very exclusive club of pulling the rug out from Schwarber in a Home Run Derby.Walker, the St. Louis Cardinals slugger enjoying a breakthrough season, put on one of the greatest clutch displays ever in this Derby, needing to cash in on his last swing – and then two more after that – to match Schwarber’s 11 home runs in the final.Instead, Walker hit four in a row to win it, becoming the first Cardinal to win a Home Run Derby after future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols failed in three tries to do so.Ever hear the sound of 43,000 ticked-off people?It sounds like nothing at all, and that was perhaps Walker’s greatest accomplishment on this Monday, July 13, hearing the thunderous boos of Citizens Bank Park, turning on an electric smile, relaxing and pasting baseballs easily into the crowd.The throng grew quieter with every moon shot. And Walker couldn’t get mad at the hate, because he knew it was just love for their guys.“My first thought was, Philly’s brutal,” says Walker. “I think it’s pretty special because they love all their players. That’s what you want from your home crowd. I’d never heard people cheer so loud for Schwarber and Harper. Those guys did their thing.“I can’t hate ‘em. I just gotta play the game.”That he did, with every home run in the finals traveling between 407 and 452 feet. Absolute bombs, more than enough to get the attention of Schwarber, who’s blasted 88 home runs, most in the major leagues, since the start of the 2025 season.“He was hitting some laser beams. I’m hitting these little fly balls out,” says Schwarber, “and he’s hitting laser beams.”It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Schwarber and Harper, the two Phillies, were practically anointed to win this thing. They were announced last when the streaming service announced the participants. The crowd roared. It was all setting up.Instead, Harper flamed out in the first round.In the final, Schwarber put up 11. And then, powerless, as Walker finished his round with four straight homers and five in his final six swings.“I didn’t ever think I had it won,” says Schwarber, “because I know anything can happen. Especially when it gets down to that last ball, right?“You get to that last ball. It was three to tie, and he went four to win. You tip your hat to him.”Not unlike 2018, when Harper, then a Washington National, unleashed a furious rally as the clock counted down to nudge Schwarber by one home run in the finals. So Schwarber was on the wrong side of the equation as both the visiting villain and the hometown hero.Tough beat.The scenario salvaged what was a generally underwhelming Home Run Derby. The format change – a limited amount of swings instead of batting against a clock – had its upside, but also drained the tension from most of the competition.If a guy needs seven homers to tie and has eight swings left, well, we know how that round is gonna end, right?And the streaming service that took over broadcast rights was only a little better than its opening-night abomination. They trotted out Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson and a Third Guy that perhaps the youth were more familiar with, adding a dash of humor and a sea of schlock to the pregame.Had Schwarber and Harper both bowed out in the semifinals – and that nearly happened – this would have been a disaster, a finals playing out while most of the 43,000 fans filed out disgruntled.Instead, Schwarber and Walker added some spice to it, and Walker actually did hit three and then four in a row to win.“I think I just had fun, no matter what. Every round I said, have a good time,” says Walker. “As a kid growing up, my favorite thing to do is hitting home runs. There’s a competition dedicated to it.“Have fun doing it.”Even if he made an entire stadium miserable.
