Texas Rangers star outfielder Adolis Garcia got to do something that doesn’t happen often.
Firstly he got to compete in the Home Run Derby.
Secondly, he went up against his best friend Randy Arozarena. The two have been trash-talking up to Monday’s event.
Home Run Derbys are tricky things. I think back to Josh Hamilton losing cause he had such a good first round that he ran out of steam in the final round and lost the derby.
Randy Arozarena went first, and when he got hot, he did not slow down. Randy hit 24 homers in all in the round, a big number for Garcia to try and compete with. Adolis started faster than Arozarena, but in the end, he did not have the streak that Randy went on and fell 24 to 17 in the first round of the derby.
The two players played on 3 separate minor league teams while they were part of the Cardinals organization. They are also both Cuban, which is how they became almost like brothers. While baseball is a competition and everyone wants to win, it is enjoyable to see two friends go head to head on such a big stage.
Garcia is having a monster year for the Rangers, and Arozarena is having another great season for the Rays. The lead-up to their battle was fun, and the performance was also fun to witness. Adolis and Arozarena will, of course, be teammates once again Tuesday on the American League All-Star team.
The Rangers finished the first half on a bit of a slide but still in first place over the Houston Astros.
If you had told me before the season that the Rangers would have 6 All-Stars and be in first place at the break, I would have told you that you were crazy.
Even though Garcia did not break the Rangers’ drought of winning the derby, Garcia represented the Rangers well.
I look forward to seeing what he will do in the second half of the season!
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