In honor of Cardinals' fans' new best friend participating in the Home Run Derby tonight, some useful Home Run Derby coverage from inside and outside SB Nation:
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- The Curse Of The Home Run Derby, in which I did my usual song, dance about the Home Run Derby not being the season-killer it's made out to be. ↵
- Home Run Derby delivers no curse, in which the Detroit News steals my thunder by using numbers to obliterate the theory that the Home Run Derby kills careers. You can blame a lot of things for killing Hee Seop Choi's career, but the Home Run Derby has to be far down the list. ↵
- The Home Run Derby's Timeless Appeal: Mainly, people just like to watch other people hit the ball really hard. I have to imagine that slow-pitch softball batting cages have a banner day the afternoon after the Derby. ↵
- Take Good Care of my Hombre, a piece about all the worries surrounding Albert Pujols's participation in last year's Home Run Derby. ↵
If these articles aren't enough reassurance that Matt Holliday will not suddenly forget how to hit with runners in scoring position by taking an extra round of batting practice, all I can suggest is mounting a last second write-in campaign for Joey Votto to participate in the Home Run Derby, in lieu of the All-Star Game, in an attempt to off-set Matt Holliday's lost production. You have... well, most of the day, at least.