SPORTS SECTION E
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2018
Don’t Blink! Time to crown the Home Run Derby King By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
League, Page 4
BAHAMAS IN 14TH FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD SWIM CHAMPS By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
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or 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.
Champions
hit home runs into Montagu Bay. Home run barriers will be set by buoys in the water that have been measured with the proper major league approved dimensions. “We were very happy with the turnout we had last year being the first of many,” Fox said. “Our whole goal was just to inspire as many kids as possible. We decided to bring it back to help those kids and also to give the Bahamian people something to enjoy.”
THE Bahamas’ fourmember team began competition with a personal best at the 14th FINA Short Course World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, China. Victoria Russell was the first competitor for the team and swam her top time in the women’s 50m breastroke. Her time of 32.94 seconds finished at No.34 overall among the field of 60 athletes. The remainder of the team takes to the pool on day two. Ariel Weech swims in the preliminaries of the 100m freestyle, N’Nhyn Fernander competes in the 100m butterfly and Kohen Kerr takes on the 200m freestyle. Russell will return for her second event on day three in the 50m fly. Fernander will be the lone competitior on day four in the 50m fly. The team concludes their meet on day five with Weech in the 50m free and Kerr in the 100m free. Short Course Worlds, as they are sometimes known, is an international swimming competition. It is held in the years when FINA has not held its main World Championships. A total of 960 athletes from 178 countries are set to compete for 46 world titles December 11-16. FINA President Julio Maglione addressed the organisation prior to the start of the event.
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A PRESS conference was held yesterday for the 2nd Annual Don’t Blink Home Run Derby 2019 at REV TV/Cable Bahamas’ head office. Shown (l-r) are: Larry Alcime, Pittsburgh Pirates, Dominique Collie, Arizona Diamondbacks, Lucius Fox, Tampa Bay Rays, Melissa Colebrook, REV marketing manager, Gravette Brown, Aliv chief commercial officer, Jasrado Chisholm Jr, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Keithron Moss, Texas Rangers. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff 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. “To see it happen and how much people enjoyed it made us happy. We didn’t win but the joy on people’s face made us happy and the lives of how many little kids we touched was great. The amount of
Americans that saw this event that wanted to come down was surprising,” Fox said. “It’s only a one-day event and we want to be able to showcase as much of our Bahamian talent as possible, so in the years moving forward we may have to make it a more than one day event just to accommodate the people that want to come. The goal is to continue to grow bigger and better every year so you will hear more ideas from the team.” A unique venue presents a unique approach as players will
‘NFL Lovers’ campaign a treat for winners, Dolfans By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE official beer of the National Football League, Bud Light’s regional Caribbean division along with local distributors Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Company, continue to give fans an opportunity to experience the sights, sounds and feel of the game through its “NFL Lovers” campaign. This particular group of local and USVI winners were on hand at Hard Rock Stadium for the Miami Dolphins’ unlikely 34-33 win over the New England Patriots Sunday afternoon.
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CHEERS: In the “NFL Lovers” campaign, this particular group of local and USVI winners were on hand at Hard Rock Stadium for the Miami Dolphins’ unlikely 34-33 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.