Of course he won it.
Come on. Seriously? Cal Raleigh took over the Home Run Derby, too?
Of course he did.
This is the year of Cal Raleigh, the superstar Seattle Mariners catcher who has gone from very good and skipped right over the great step into the realm of historically monumental.
Think about everything Raleigh has already done.
He smashed the catcher home run record for before the All-Star break, by 10. He broke the switch-hitter record, too. The only guy he didn't pass is the home run king, Barry Bonds.
Otherwise, 38 homers stands alone in the non-Bonds category for bombs before the break.
And oh yeah, this is a 6-foot-2, 235-pound catcher with a career-high 10 stolen bases to pair with his all-world defense.
But even amid a season like that, a player who plies his trade in the Pacific Northwest needs a bigger stage, a spotlight that falls in prime time on the East Coast, not bed time.
And there in the Home Run Derby, with his dad pitching and his brother catching and Raleigh choosing to take swings from both sides, with his Big Dumper nickname getting a national spotlight, Raleigh delivered.
MORE: Cal Raleigh makes big World Baseball Classic announcement
Is he the best story in baseball? That's hard to say. Some players have overcome so much hardship to reach this point that maybe that's not a fair descriptor.
But more and more, Raleigh is the guy who we will look back at the 2025 MLB season and remember. His imprint is everywhere.
Think about it: Every baseball season has its guy.
Last season was Shohei Ohtani's 50-50. There was Miguel Cabrera's Triple Crown in 2012. There was the McGwire-Sosa home run chase of 1998, the Year of the Pitcher, the 1941 season Ted Williams batted .406 but didn't win MVP because Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 straight.
This is the year of Raleigh. And what a year it has already been.
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Category: Baseball
