Peoria's Jim Thome part of an MLB Legends Home Run Derby? How the idea came to be
Ready to see Peoria native Jim Thome hit a few more home runs? It could happen, if the Hall of Fame slugger and some other legendary retired baseball players have anything to say about it.
According to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, a group of Major League Baseball's greatest retired sluggers are interested in creating a "Legends Home Run Derby," which would allow former greats a chance to get back into the box as part of MLB All-Star Game festivities. The MLB now hosts a Home Run Derby for active players, held on the Monday before the All-Star Game.
Peoria to Cooperstown: Getting to know Jim Thome, Peoria's Hall of Famer
Among the players interested are Thome, 52, a former Limestone and Illinois Central College player who grew up in Peoria, along with 53-year-old Ken Griffey Jr., 47-year-old David Ortiz, and former Peoria Chiefs and St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, 43, who retired last season.
How the idea of a Legends Home Run Derby started
Stark said the idea sprouted on the afternoon of the 2023 derby in Seattle. Pujols was part of the MLB Network team and joked if Griffey would be part of that night's contest.
"If you do it," Griffey responded, "I'll do it."
The idea was born and spun from there, as Thome — watching at home in Illinois — texted the MLB Network's Greg Amsinger: "If Griffey’s gonna get ready, maybe I’ll jump in there, too,” Thome wrote, according to Stark.
The next day, Pujols laid out the idea to Ortiz — another MLB Network name with a few home runs on his resume. “I just saw David Ortiz. I told him about our idea,” Pujols said, according to Stark. “He said he’s in all the way.”
That's four players on the top 20 all-time home run list ready to take a few hacks next summer. Thome is certainly excited at the prospect.
“I just think about Griffey’s swing,” Thome told Stark. “How pure. How special. I start with that. You know, I don’t know how many home runs any of us would hit. But I mean, to watch another Ken Griffey homer? How cool would that be for someone in Seattle or in Cincinnati? Or with Albert Pujols in St. Louis. That’s what would make it kind of cool.”
When could the Legends Home Run Derby happen?
Stark laid out some possibilities about when the event might take place, plus he broke down what the format might be. He said half of the fun would be the intrigue; who knows how many these old guys can hit?
Baseball Hall of Fame: 7 legends with ties to the Peoria area
According to Stark, Griffey said he’d want a year to get ready. Thome said he would need four to six months, but also told Stark it's been a while since he's hit for real.
"I mean, I’ve hit on my son’s high school field," said Thome, who was an assistant for his son Landon's state championship team at LaGrange Park Nazareth. "And I’ve hit home runs — recently, actually … this year.
"But I mean, it wasn’t in a format of totally locking in and being in a Derby. I was just having fun with it. You know, some of the kids wanted to see, ‘Hey, can you hit one out?’ So it was like, OK, I’ll do this, but it’s not something I practice every day.”
Legends Home Run Derby not a completely new idea
The Normal, Illinois, the CornBelters baseball team is hosting a Legends Home Run Derby set for 7 p.m. July 22 at the Corn Crib.
The event is scheduled to include former MLB players Andruw Jones, Mark Reynolds, Carlos Zambrano and Tyler Colvin matched up against players from the Kernels Collegiate League of which the Normal CornBelters are part.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Legends Home Run Derby: Four MLB sluggers interested in participating
