This is literally the epitome of America’s game. Look how happy everyone is. No rushing or any time limit to appease to more people. Back when baseball was truly baseball.
13 years later and I still get chills watching the Hamilton Show!!! As a die hard Yankees fan this was a night that a man became immortal in the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium etched into the tapestry with the like of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and many countless legends. Of all of the moments that happened at the old Yankee Stadium this will always be one that I remember and share with my children!
The previous Yankee Stadium was so much more of a fun environment with a great crowd than the present day Yankee Stadium. Just doesn’t capture the same electricity.
Justin won on a technicality, rules held back the true champion of the night. Morneau didnt even want to hoist the trophy because its just seemed wrong with josh standing there.
Should be noted, Hamilton’s 2nd HR (the one that hit the top of the BOA sign) would have been hit out of Mickey Mantle’s Yankee Stadium. Way out. The signs behind the bleachers were WAY WAY shorter back then, there was no sign that high where he hit it.
Hamiliton did something that not many people realize. This was the year after the Mitchell Report and after Barry Bonds breaking the hr record. Josh Hamiliton made the home run pure again. The irony was that it took a former drug addict to make home runs cool.
RU-vid is a straight up time machine. I was 19 during this time and I was super heavy into baseball/MLB. Now I don't even bother watching any baseball. Also I had totally forgot that this was the beginning of big name power hitters, opting out of the HR Derby to conserve energy or to avoid injury lol.
I’am Dominican Republic..and I live in New York..but I have to reconigze the great talent and the great hitter that was josh Hamilton...Hamilton is one of the best baseball hitters in the MLB...he was a great player ..deserved his hall of fame .. everyone who knows baseball like to see josh Hamilton hitting .. God bless Hamilton.
Josh Hamilton will never make the HoF because he didn't play long enough in the MLB. Hamilton relapsed with drugs and he forced himself out of the league because of his drug habit. That is another reason why Hamilton won't be in the HoF - drug use.
Josh Hamilton will forever be an all star legend because of this. It's a shame he ran out of gas and lost in the finals, but it is what it is. Do you have any more home run derbies to upload?
I was at a baseball camp at the little league World Series complex in Williamsport, PA watching this with all the other kids in my dorm at camp. Great times.
I remember watching this on Monday night in 2008 and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Then that Wednesday night was the ESPYs with Justin Timberlake which was hilarious. Then you had the opening ceremony in Beijing for the Olympics. That week was truly must see TV.
There is no bigger greater stadium to hold such an event but here at yankee stadium baseballs cathedral players on both leagues agree having it here makes it that much greater that much more memorable to players and fans alike im quite sure the great baseball ghosts of baseball will agree to that too
Any collectors out there? I wonder what happened to the bat Hamilton was using. It is an ash wood bat, unlike most bats used today, which are maple wood. His bat would fetch a lot of money on the memorabilia circuit.
+dape The new version of Yankee Stadium has a museum. The bat is on display there and has been since it opened in 2009. It's a Louisville Slugger 34/32 bat made of northern white ash.
@@dape8993 thank you for the research. You seem to know your ashes... Can you tell me the difference in Northern white ash and swamp ash? Im a guitarist and alot of guitars are made of swamp ash for the resonance. Is NWA stronger?
Thanks bro same for people from Chi-town I feel like we both are similar in that honest and blunt people and that shows in our fanbases who may not be for everyone but if you are tough enough to make it and strive for greatness you will not find a more loyal fanbase!
I love to sit back with a beer and watch classic baseball. I then go to my display case and look at the vet turf I have…. Classic baseball is so much better
One of the few home run derby's I watched. Josh Hamilton put on a show, despite he lost to Justin Morneau. Sad how Josh Hamilton was a talented guy he let it go to waste. If it wasn't for his problems and addictions, he could have been a hall of famer.
I'm a Mets fan and even I wasn't happy about Yankee Stadium being taken down.. So many Championships and Memories ! I felt they didn't need a new Stadium... Now the Mets did Shea Stadium looked like a big blue Horseshoe next to LaGuardia Airport that had nothing really to offer after a few years of existence..
1:32:22 The most interesting part of Josh Hamilton's first round is when Chris Berman wondered how different things might have been if Josh Hamilton didn't have the problems he had early on and was on the Rays specifically at this time, during their meteoric rise. Of course, the cameraman kinda ruined it by focusing on Dan Uggla instead of Evan Longoria.
The dude was out there for 30 minutes or more and swung the bat like it was a toothpick. At this point in his career they were probably testing him everyday too.
1:50:57 It shows the total distance Josh Hamilton did in the first round of the 2008 derby 12,458 ft. If you compare that miles and Josh Hamilton used 54 pitches Josh Hamilton hit 2 miles and 359 feet. (If you look at the replay in slow motion 0.5x you will see the Gold ball was A home run too it was over the fence.) Also Josh Hamilton said he has A disgrace against his tattoos he got them when he was high on drugs (heroine) well why don't get A new tattoo's, That will cover up the those old one's you have or make new one's from the one's you got then you don't have to see the one's that you got when you're on drugs 😊.
How the quality of names change...... No more Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, Griffey, Giambi, Ortiz, I can't remember if Pujols even entered any more of these after 2007. Wait wait. Ortiz is far from done.
I like the new format way better. It means that people are taking the similar amount of swings and thus the same fatigue. Plus it's way more fun to watch continuous action than just a bunch of thrown away pitches. Re: Hamilton deserving the win, he tired himself out. It's his own fault. In order to win something you have to play by the rules, and the rules were that Justin won. Proud of him for a solid showing in each round.
On homer 17 by Hamilton into the old black bleachers at Yankee Stadium, I'm glad that NYPD jerk found it necessary to put a choke hold on one of the fans whose only offense was to go after the ball. I hate to think what would have happened to the fan if he did something truly serious.
"I think people want to move on and turn the page" from steroids by voting for a guy like Ryan Braun ......We didn't know. Peter Gammons is a biased jerk and a poor writer but we didn't know, at this moment in time.
Destroyed this for beer, bars, restaurants, more liquor... so sad...get drunk after the game. Nothing wrong with stadium, that couldn't be fixed. Fenway, park...never torn down, Wrigley field.... never... sad... Have your beer, ok... but not abundance...stadium only cares, now.. selling $6 - $10 a drink...??? Hotdogs $8 ?? Sad... Even 16 yrs later...new stadium doesn't have atmosphere...seen in this video
