Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Baseball has always been a game of fathers and sons




PHOENIX -- Baseball has always been a game of fathers and sons. Evidently, so is the Home Run Derby.
Robinson Cano shocked the slugging world last night, capturing the Home Run Derby at Chase Field. It wasn't his mighty swing that won the derby, Cano said.
"It was my dad."
With his father, Jose, throwing perfect pitches inside and low into his son's power zone, the Yankees' second baseman crushed 32 home runs, including 12 in the championship round to beat Boston's Adrian Gonzalez, who hit 11.
MR. 3000
PHOTOS: HOME RUN DERBY
With each home run his son blasted, Jose conducted a countdown, knowing A-Gone had 11 homers. "And I said, '10 more, nine more, eight more,' " Jose said, "and he got [to] the last one. I said, 'Just one, just give me the one, that's it."
Cano delivered the one. He also told his father, "I love you."
After being presented the trophy by his former manager, Joe Torre, Cano and his family celebrated in the corridor of Chase Field that leads to the clubhouse. Along the way, Jose Reyes came from the other side, and the Mets shortstop offered a huge hug.
"That was unbelievable, I've never seen anything like that," Reyes said of Cano's power display.
Cano was supported by Yankees teammates Curtis Granderson, David Roberston and Russell Martin, who offered encouragement and waved towels to cool him down. Cano, who is fast becoming one of the elite superstars of the game, also went into the trainer's room between rounds to stretch out and receive heat treatments for his back.
When he was asked about hitting home runs into the right-field stands, where there is a pool and other unique features, Cano offered that big smile of his and said, "Don't forget the Miller Lite sign."
Cano hit that sign, 472 feet from home plate.
"As a kid you dream to be up here like guys you watched back in the day like Sosa, Griffey, McGwire, Giambi, how much fun they had, it's the same thing," Cano said.
He said he was sad to learn teammates Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, and Mariano Rivera would not be at the All-Star Game, "but I know they have their reasons and I hope fans understand that it's not that they don't want to come."
Cano said he wished the trophy could be cut in half -- half for him, half for his dad.
"These are the things you share with your family, when you retire you can look back and say, 'Wow, I was good in the day," Cano said. "This is something I'm always going to have in my mind and my heart."
Something to share forever with his dad.

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