About Homerun Derby Heroes: MLB All-Star Winners: 1960-Present Day by Dr. Joseph D. Di Lella
Who remembers the origins of the Homerun Derby?
The 1960 TV series titled by the same name, brought us legendary players like Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, The Mick, the Say Hey Kid, and other great hitters of the day like Killebrew, Calavito, Hodges, Snider and others.
Major League Baseball brought back that competition officially as part of the annual All-Star Game festivities in 1985. Dave Parker, recent HOF inductee in 2025, was the first to win that event.
Since that that day in ’85, we have had over 35 competitions between the NL and AL – and most recently, the best of both leagues combined to produce the best homerun hitter of the contest.
This book will take you back to the original Homerun Derby players (champs only) and go on down the line to the 2025 winners to paint a portrait of the men who earned the title of the best long ball hitter of their respective season. We will look over their careers, their baseball highlights as well as their lives after they left the game.
Who’s ready to review the men who brought excitement to the game?
I am!
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Author Bio:
Joseph is an educator, father, and storyteller – and he also loves sports.
Over his lifetime, Dr. Di Lella has taught at famous universities like Stanford, UCSD, USC and the University of Oregon.
In the last five years, Joseph has published 17 books as an Indy writer – mostly on Star Trek, sports and most recently, the role of the antihero in movies, TV, sports and music.