Brent Rooker was not happy with the way he was bounced from the MLB Home Run Derby on Monday night.
Rooker was knocked out in the first round by eventual Derby winner Cal Raleigh after the two hit the same number of home runs, but Raleigh’s furthest homer was .08 feet further than Booker’s.
The A’s slugger expressed frustration that he wasn’t aware of the importance of the distance down to the decimal point until it was too late.
While the scoreboard only showed the rounded number for distance on the home runs, Major League Baseball was using the non-rounded numbers for the official measurement.
While both hit a max distance of 471, Rooker’s home run measured in at 470.53 feet, while Raleigh’s came in at 470.61 feet.
“You know, maybe if they have it to the decimal point, they should display that during the Derby and not wait till everyone’s done to bring out that information that might be helpful,” Rooker told reporters.
Booker had also said that he only got 38 pitches instead of the 40 because he was told he could take two pitches, but wasn’t aware there were only 40 balls available for him to hit in total.
“I took two pitches that didn’t count, but when we went to do the round, there was only 38 remaining, so we got down to have two pitches with five seconds left and they’re out of baseballs,” he said.
Raleigh went on to win the Home Run Derby with his dad throwing to him and his younger brother behind the plate.
Booker still called the experience a “great time” and praised Raleigh.
“Cal’s a great competitor. He put on a good performance too,” he said. “Rules are the rules in terms of what makes up the semifinals.”
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