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Kyle Schwarber Denied Home Run Derby Victory After Absurdly Clutch Jordan Walker Performance
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Holy cow! That was unbelievable. Kyle Schwarber was on the cusp of winning the Home Run Derby on Monday night when the unthinkable happened.
Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals hit six homers in a row to pull off a ridiculous comeback and steal it:
It looked like Schwarber had it in the bag. He went first, hitting 11 home runs to kick off the final round. Walker started somewhat slow out of the gates, found some rhythm, and made it to eight home runs with one swing left.
The rule is that you you’re allowed to keep going with your final swing if you keep hitting dingers. You have to pull off a crazy streak to keep it alive, and that’s what Walker did, hitting his 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th home run to come from behind and steal it.
As much as you could feel the life being sucked out of the building, you gotta tip your cap to the Walker. Hell of a performance. He was up against it and went into some sort of absurdly clutch flow state. It was super-impressive. All Schwarber could do was stand there and watch. And the fans were incredible throughout, pulling for Schwarbs while boooooooing the hell out of the other players, but it wasn’t nasty or negative or anything like that. Don’t listen to the INSUFFERABLE national media. Phillies fans wanted their hometown guy to beat the other guys. That’s all. They don’t hate Willson Contreras or Jordan Walker. They got into the Derby and they were supporting their dude. If you don’t like, “go play intramurals brother,” as the great Dan Hawkins once said.
That was one of the best finishes you’ll ever see. Sucks that Schwarber came out on the losing end, but he did great himself and was only denied by an incredible run by the opponent. Awesome Derby either way. Citizens Bank Park showed out.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com