Rain fell pretty much throughout the entire home run derby, but fans gutted it out in a variety of ways. Once soaked, some simply ignored the soggy conditions. 
Boxing great Larry Holmes, who lives in nearby Easton, Pennsylvania, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Beforehand he was most genial about signing autographs for all and sundry. He even had some cool, glossy postcards of himself that he signed for little kids. The IronPigs cannot catch a break. Saturday's Pigapalooza, an all-day fan fest to kick off the All-Star festivities, was rained out. Last night's Triple-A Home Run Derby was to start at 7:00. On cue, the sky turned black, the wind started to gust, and rain pelted down, driving most fans to the concourse for shelter. About an hour and 45 minutes later, they started trickling back to their seats and the derby finally started. The rain never really did stop, at times falling hard enough again to chase many out of their seats.
Despite the conditions, the eight participants did their best. Though the Pacific Coast League is the 'hitter's' league, two guys from the International League took center stage: Dan Johnson of the Durham Bulls and hometown hero Andy Tracy of the IronPigs. Both advanced to the third and final round. When they tied with 10 homers each in that round, they went on to a 'hit-off'. Tracy went first and made five quick outs. Johnson connected on the first pitch and won the title. Once he got going in the first round, Johnson was obviously in a groove. He and Tracy, both lefty hitters, smacked ball after ball over the high right field wall, but Johnson made it look routine. By the time the derby was underway, the wind had died down completely and the balls went soaring high and deep into the night. If conditions has been better, who knows where they would have landed.
Before the contest, I stopped at the Philly Pretzel Factory stand. located at the back of the right field concourse. As I was paying, a ball sailed over the right field wall and over the beer stand, bounced on the concourse almost right next to me and went over the openwork fence. I could see a guy walking in from the parking lot go scrambling wildly after it.
Of the total 58 home runs hit in the contest, Johnson hit 24 (coincidentally his season total to date) and Tracy, 18. The two local high school kids, Westyn Baylor and D.J. King, mustered one apiece, to the delight of the crowd.
Illusionist David Caserta performed between the first and second rounds. He was entertaining but the Silver Birds Steelband Orchestra, which performed between the second and third rounds, stole the show. The group hails from Jamaica and they are simply fantastic. The music is great and their dancing is mind-boggling. They ended their act with an incredible pantomimed tableau, which I thought for a moment was about baseball but in the end what it meant just did not matter. They were spectacular.
It was past 11 when I got home but it was all great fun.
