Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton has had his ups-and-downs this season, but Monday was definitely a day to celebrate.
Stanton dominated the field in winning the 2016 Home Run Derby. He’s the first Marlins player to win the event.
He totaled 61 home runs, the most hit in a Derby (albeit under different rules than all but the last two). It's the same number that Roger Maris hit in 1961 to break Babe Ruth’s single-season home run mark. Stanton’s 20 home runs in the final round matched his 2016 season total.
Stanton didn’t just hit them in high volume and for great distance (18 of the 19 longest at this Derby). He hit them with efficiency.
His 61 home runs came on 120 swings. He had three streaks of five home runs on five swings. Only two other players had a streak of at least five in a row – Mark Trumbo (who homered on nine straight swings to win the first-round) and Carlos Gonzalez (who had a run of five in a row).
Stanton hit 24 home runs in the first round, matching Bobby Abreu (2005 under the old Derby rules) for the second-most in any Home Run Derby round (Josh Hamilton had 28 in 2008). He had 17 more in the semifinals and then hit 20 in the final round to win.
Stanton won going first in each of the three rounds. In the last two years, the player going last has won every head-to-head matchup, except the three matchups featuring Stanton.
The Finals were a rematch of the 2014 semifinals between Stanton and defending champion Todd Frazier, who are inextricably linked by the odd score of that one -- Frazier 1, Stanton 0.
This time around, Stanton won easily, 20-13. Frazier did join Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa as the only players to reach the Finals in three straight years.
Should anyone be surprised Stanton won?
His average home run distance (414 feet) and speed off the bat (107.3 mph) are the longest and fastest of any player with 50 home runs since he joined the majors in 2010. He has the two longest homers in the majors in that time (494 and 490 feet). He has the longest home run at four ballparks in the last seven seasons: Coors Field (494), Marlins Park (490), Citi Field (470) and Dodger Stadium (467).
And with all that, Stanton won’t be participating in Tuesday’s festivities. The Elias Sports Bureau notes he’s the second player to win the Derby and not play in the All-Star team, joining Yoenis Cespedes (2013).