Last season, Aaron Judge won MLB's Home Run Derby with tape-measure bombs like this one, which traveled 513 feet and may or may not have landed yet.
Other alluring, top-shelf sluggers—such as Judge's now-New York Yankees teammate Giancarlo Stanton—took hacks, and the 2017 Derby enjoyed a concurrent 55 percent ratings bump over the 2016 version. The annual fence-clearing exhibition was arguably a bigger event than the All-Star Game itself.
Just as suddenly, it's reverting back to an afterthought.
In May, Judge announced he wouldn't defend his title. When asked during spring training if he felt participating in the Derby contributed to his second-half slump and postseason shoulder surgery, Judge replied, "I would rather not say," per George A.