Cal Raleigh made history on Monday night by becoming the first ever catcher to win the Home Run Derby, and many people feel he received a big assist from Major League Baseball along the way.
Raleigh hit 15 homers in the final round to defeat Junior Caminero and win the Home Run Derby at Truist Park in Atlanta, Ga. The Seattle Mariners star just barely made it out of the first round, when he and Oakland A’s outfielder Brent Rooker both hit 17 home runs.
Raleigh advanced to the second round by way of a tiebreaker, which was the distance of each player’s longest home run. Raleigh’s longest homer was measured at 470.61 feet, while Rooker’s traveled 470.53 feet.
Rooker understandably seemed a bit irritated after he was eliminated. He noted how both his and Raleigh’s longest home run showed at 471 feet on the stadium video board and suggested MLB should display decimal points if they are that important to the competition.
“That’s interesting. I know we were both at 471. That’s obviously what they put up there,” Rooker said. “Maybe if they have it to the decimal point, they should display that during the Derby and not wait until everyone’s done to bring out that information. That might be helpful.”
“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." – Brent Rooker on the Home Run Derby tiebreaker pic.twitter.com/8deYftsDEY
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 15, 2025
Many fans thought it was lame that MLB used home run distance as the tiebreaker rather than having a swing-off. Others suggested that MLB intentionally rigged the result in favor of Raleigh, who leads the league with 38 home runs this season.
Brent Rooker not getting a chance to advance because his farthest homer was 0.08 inches shorter than Cal Raleigh’s is ridiculous
— AT (@YankeeWRLD) July 15, 2025
GIVE US A SWING OFF
Brent Rooker got screwed. Rob Manfred is the worst commissioner in sports. https://t.co/5D3bmoq5DT
— Brandon Walker (@BFW) July 15, 2025
You’re trying to tell me Brent Rooker was beat by less than a foot? LESS THAN A FOOT?!?! But sure… we can’t figure out the damn strike ZONE & THE NFL CANT FIGURE OUT A CATCH & THE NBA CANT FIGURE OUT WHAT A TRAVEL IS-THE WNTIRE WORLD IS A LIE! pic.twitter.com/jRMZrQgJlH
— Dallas Braden (@DALLASBRADEN209) July 15, 2025
MLB measuring the distance down to the decimal like a bunch of nerds instead of letting the two masculine juggernauts that are Cal Raleigh and Brent Rooker settle it in a swing-off in the freaking Home Run Derby is such a horrendous decision. pic.twitter.com/PZukDcz3mF
— MLB Hall of Pretty Good (@hallofgoodpod) July 15, 2025
“Cal Raleigh has tied Brent Rooker with a 471 foot HR”
— ChimmyBimmy (@BimmyChimmy) July 15, 2025
“We’re going to a Swing Off”
*2 minutes later*
“Cal Raleigh’s 471 foot HR went .05 feet farther then Brent Rooker’s 471 foot HR”
Yeah Okay @MLB
Home Run Derby TV product has become garbage and now it’s rigged. The fact that Brent Rooker got booted on a technicality is complete nonsense
— JC Hudson (@jchudson00) July 15, 2025
At the very least, MLB needs to display the decimal points if they are going to continue to use home run distance as a tiebreaker. That would help eliminate concerns about the league just making up some sort of number to favor one player over another.
