Saturday 5th January 2019  12:00 PM

For the second consecutive year, the country’s top pro baseball prospects will host another showcase of local and international talent, vying for the title of the Bahamian Home Run Derby King.

The Don’t Blink Home Run Derby, powered by REV, is all set for noon on January 5, 2019 at the Montagu foreshore, featuring over 30 participants in the unique showcase. The project is the brainchild of Todd Isaacs Jr and Lucius Fox Jr of the Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay Rays organisations respectively.

With a greater number of participants, the roster for this year’s event will be divided into teams headlined by Fox and Isaacs.

“We made some adjustments to this year’s event to bring more excitement because every year we want to make it bigger and better,” Fox said. “Speaking from my experience, once I got back to training camp, everyone was asking about it and wanting to come down to the next one so it was starting to get hectic with the number of prospects that have contacted us and we just wanted to involve everyone. This year we made it a team format to have as many international prospects and at the same time showcase our Bahamian talent.”

Following the team format, the top four individual hitters from each team will advance to see who will be crowned the Bahamian home run king.

Twenty active Bahamian professional players will participate in the event, up from 16 local participants last year. In 2012, there were just two active Bahamians in the minor league system, indicative of baseball’s exponential growth in the country.

Defending champion Bo Bichette will be back and headlines the list of visiting players. Miami Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson is also expected as the lone major leaguer in the field.

The event will also include autograph and picture sessions to give the general public an opportunity to interact with the players.