Brent Rooker was not pleased with the way in which he was bounced from the MLB House Run Derby on Monday evening.
Rooker was knocked out within the first spherical by eventual Derby winner Cal Raleigh after the 2 hit the identical variety of dwelling runs, however Raleigh’s furthest homer was .08 ft additional than Booker’s.
The A’s slugger expressed frustration that he wasn’t conscious of the significance of the gap right down to the decimal level till it was too late.
Whereas the scoreboard solely confirmed the rounded quantity for distance on the house runs, Main League Baseball was utilizing the non-rounded numbers for the official measurement.
Whereas each hit a max distance of 471, Rooker’s dwelling run measured in at 470.53 ft, whereas Raleigh’s got here in at 470.61 ft.
“You know, maybe if they have it to the decimal point, they should display that during the Derby and not wait till everyone’s done to bring out that information that might be helpful,” Rooker instructed reporters.
Booker had additionally stated that he solely bought 38 pitches as an alternative of the 40 as a result of he was instructed he might take two pitches, however wasn’t conscious there have been solely 40 balls obtainable for him to hit in whole.
“I took two pitches that didn’t count, but when we went to do the round, there was only 38 remaining, so we got down to have two pitches with five seconds left and they’re out of baseballs,” he stated.
Raleigh went on to win the House Run Derby together with his dad throwing to him and his youthful brother behind the plate.
Booker nonetheless known as the expertise a “great time” and praised Raleigh.
“Cal’s a great competitor. He put on a good performance too,” he stated. “Rules are the rules in terms of what makes up the semifinals.”
