Home Run Derby

Since 1985, the Home Run Derby, a contest between home run hitters, has been played on the day before the All-Star Game. Also, a celebrity softball game is held the day before the Home Run Derby. The teams are usually a mixture of former stars from the host team's past plus some celebrities from music, film, and television. Since 1999, the All-Star Futures Game has been held during All Star weekend. The two teams, one consisting of young players from the United States and the other consisting of young players from all other nations of the World, are usually chosen based on prospect status in the minor leagues.

The Home Run Derby is an event played prior to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It is a contest among the top home run hitters in Major League Baseball to determine who can hit the most home runs.

Eight players are selected for the Home Run Derby and compete in a traditional playoff system where the players with the most home runs advance to the next round. Each player gets ten "outs" per round, where an out is defined as any swing that is not a home run in this case. Should a tie exist between players at the end of any round, the number of regular-season home runs by the All-Star break is the first tiebreaker and the distance of the longest home run in the first round is the second tiebreaker.

Prior to 1991, the Home Run Derby was structured as a two-inning event with each player receiving five outs per inning which allowed for the possibility of ties.

Until 2004, the Home Run Derby consisted of four American League players and four National League players. However, in 2005, Major League Baseball chose to change the look of the contest, still having eight players, but with the players representing their home countries rather than their respective leagues. This is commonly looked upon as a lead-in to the World Baseball Classic to be played in 2006. Bobby Abreu, representing Venezuela, won the First International Derby with a record 41 home runs, including a record 24 in the first round.