Home run derby thread

Despite earlier scares that thunderstorms might wash out tonight's home run derby, it appears as though the event will continue more or less as planned. This is a good thing because the Gillette Home Run Derby presented by Head & Shoulders is the highlight of MLB's season. Some people mistakenly think that winning the World Series represents the pinnacle of success, but those people are wrong.

Baseball is all about dingers.

The home run derby is all about who can hit the most dingers.

Therefore, the home run derby trophy is obviously the most coveted piece of hardware in all of baseball.

Moving on to tonight... in a futile and feeble attempt to make the home run derby more palatable/watchable, Major League Baseball has once again changed the rules and the format. Here is the graphic ESPN has been using to explain the new set-up.

That doesn't sound confusing and convoluted at all. And apparently they just changed the rules to try and make things shorter? I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the hell happens.

So who will win tonight? In the first round we have:

• A future first-ballot Hall of Famer vs. A guy who has really blue eyes, apparently

• The current Golden Sledgehammer leader vs. A guy who might try and throw a bat at you

• A man still bitter about not winning a Gold Glove in '14 vs. The gentleman who graces the cover of RBI Baseball 15

• The hometown hero vs. A guy who used to maybe be a vegetarian

Feel free to make your picks below. Maybe ooooh and ahhh as the children in the outfield slip and fall on their faces in the wet grass. Or leave a snarky comment or two or ten about Chris Berman.