ATLANTA — The Big Dumper did it.
After putting together a record-setting first half, Cal Raleigh won Major League Baseball’s 2025 Home Run Derby at Truist Park, earning himself the title of baseball’s top slugger.
The Seattle Mariners slugger who hit 38 home runs before the All-Star break – the second-most in MLB history – dispatched the Tampa Bay Rays’ 22-year-old Junior Caminero in the final and is the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby.
With his dad pitching and younger brother catching, Raleigh became the second Mariner to be crowned Derby champion, joining Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., who won it three times.
"You don’t think you’re gonna win it. You don’t think you’re even going to be invited," Raleigh said. "Then you get invited, and the fact that you win it with your family is super special. What a night."
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But Raleigh’s night almost ended early, advancing out of the first round by less than one inch.
Raleigh and Brent Rooker had finished tied for fourth with 17 homers, with the tiebreaker being their longest home run. That looked tied as well with MLB’s live tracker showing both at 471 feet, but Raleigh’s 470.61-foot homer (literally) inched out Rooker’s 470.53-foot shot.
"My goodness gracious, it’s close. It’s just crazy," Raleigh said after his win. "An inch off, and I’m not even in the final four. Just amazing.
"I guess I got lucky there. One extra biscuit."
Then, Raleigh came alive in the semifinals, slugging 19 homers to easily defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Oneil Cruz. Cruz had brought the crowd to its feet in the first round, crushing a 513-foot blast – the longest of the night – for the eighth of his 21 home runs.
"To do it as a family was really special," Cal's dad, Todd Raleigh, said after the Derby. "I don’t know why we’ve been blessed like this ... When it involved the family, the complexion changed. And we thought, if he doesn’t hit any home runs, we’re still gonna be good."
Asked how his son became a switch-hitter, Todd didn't skip a beat.
"Did it from the first day, when he was in diapers, literally," Todd said. "And I would take that big ball and he had a big red bat. I'd throw it slow, and he'd hit it. Then I'd say stay there, pick him up, turn him around, switch his hands, and do it again."
Byron Buxton, who hit 20 in the first round, fell to Caminero in the other semifinal.
Also eliminated in the first round were the Washington Nationals’ James Wood (16 HR), hometown favorite Matt Olson (15), and New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm (3).
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