The Ultimate Home Run Derby

With the impending Home Run Derby soon upon us, let’s play some fantasy baseball! Our fantasy Home Run Derby pits three legendary National League Home Run Kings versus three legendary American League Home Run Kings. The resulting contest represents the ultimate Home Run Derby in baseball history.

There is only one rule. In order to participate, each player must be a member of the Hall of Fame. So, those who played under the dark cloud of the performance enhancement era are, for all intents and purposes, eliminated from consideration.

So the selections are made from the List of The Top 300 Major League Baseball Home Run Hitters.

Representing the National League we have:

Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves. Aaron finished with a total of 755 home runs in his career. He holds the Major League records for total bases, with 6,856, RBI with 2,297, extra- base hits with 1,477 and consecutive seasons with 150 or more hits (17).

Up next for the National League is Willie Mays. Mays finished his career with 660 home runs. He played for the New York Giants, San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets. He hit four homers in one game in 1961.

Batting third for the National League is Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt tallied a total of 548 home runs. He was an eight time National League home run champion.

That’s a tough lineup. But the American League team has some sluggers of its own.

Representing the American League we have:

Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees. That’s the team with the most World Series championships, by the way, with 27. Ruth smashed 714 homers in all. He is a 12- time American League home run champion.

Batting second for the American League is Frank Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles. Robinson spent nearly equal time in both leagues, but he is representing the Americans because he finished his playing career there. Altogether, he wore the uniforms of the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels and Cleveland Indians during his playing career. He totaled 586 home runs.

Batting third for the American League is Harmon Killebrew of the Wahington Senators, Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals. Killebrew was a six time American League home run champion. He hit 573 total home runs.

So you’re probably wondering how we are going to decide this. We’re going to keep it simple. The career home runs of each player are added to those of his Derby teammates to arrive at a total for both leagues.

The final score is National League 1963 home runs to 1873 for the American League. And what a great Home Run Derby that would be.