Home Run Derby's nail-biting finish had Teoscar Hernandez, Bobby Witt's families on edge

ARLINGTON, Texas – Bobby Witt Jr. unleashed his final, mighty swing of the night and sent the baseball on a glorious arc toward dead center field Monday, a crowd of 38,578 and a TV audience of millions more raptly watching its flight.

And as it descended toward the wall at Globe Life Field, two families – many down the right field line, others sprinkled on the grass ringing the infield, and one atop the mound delivering the pitch – lived and died a few times on its descent.

Witt, the Kansas City Royals’ third-year franchise shortstop, needed the ball to clear and force Home Run Derby overtime against Teoscar Hernández, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ beloved outfielder enjoying the biggest spotlight of his nine-year career.

Dread and destiny.

“I remember looking to the left and thinking, ‘Alright, I’m just going to pass out,’” says Jennifer Hernández, Teoscar’s wife and mother of their three children.

“I felt like my heart was going to come out of my mouth, I was so nervous.”

“I thought it was gone for sure,” says James Russell, Witt’s brother-in-law and former big league pitcher tasked with tossing gopher balls to Witt for his first Derby.

“I usually try not to watch those balls because I want to stay zoned in. But I paid close attention to that one.”

And then the thud up against the wall, and finally a resolution.

Hernández prevailed in the finals of this revamped event, 14 home runs to 13, the first Dodger to win the event and the third consecutive player from the Dominican Republic – following Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – to claim the trophy and attendant bling.

And in waging this duel, Hernández and Witt exposed the beating heart of the modern game and the hopes and dreams ballplayers carry with them.

This was Cotui vs. Colleyville, Hernández hailing from the capital of the Sancho Ramirez province and Witt from the Metroplex hosting this All-Star week, just 15 miles from Globe Life Field.

Both represented the disparate backgrounds from which most major leaguers hail: More than 70% of them are American-born and, increasingly, come up through regimented and often costly travel ball programs. Dominicans comprise the largest foreign-born contingent in the game – 108 players on Opening Day rosters, 11.4% of the league.

They come together on 30 squads united in a common goal, and on this Monday night in North Texas, gathered for the annual frivolous yet glorious ritual to see who could smash the most baseballs over the fence as their All-Star teammates hooted and hollered from the infield apron.

By the finals, Gunnar Henderson, Alec Bohm and two-time champ Pete Alonso had been dispatched, along with Dominicans José Ramírez and Marcell Ozuna and Cuban Adolis Garcia.

Only Hernández and Witt were left, and for the finalists, the support from their loved ones was palpable.

Witt said around 30 friends and family were ticketed for the event and estimates many, probably dozens more family and pals from Colleyville made the 20-ish minute drive across Tarrant County to take it in.

His parents, longtime major league pitcher Bobby Witt and mother Laurie, were down the right field line. Behind the L screen was Russell, who pitched in parts of seven major league seasons, mostly with the Chicago Cubs.

In 2015, he married Nikki Witt, Bobby and Laurie’s daughter. A year later, after posting an 18.69 ERA for the Phillies, he was dispatched to their Class AAA Lehigh Valley squad.

One day in the Iron Pigs bullpen, he was musing on the 15-year-old shortstop he now counted as a brother-in-law.

“I remember telling guys when I was in the minor leagues in ’16 hey, I got a little brother-in-law who is going to be pretty dang good,” Russell said Monday night. “I didn’t know to this caliber, but told all those guys, watch out that name. Now it’s come full circle.

“It’s pretty special.”

Most legacy big leaguers grew up in their fathers’ clubhouses, but now Witt was a baseball brat tagging along with his brother-in-law. He still remembers when Bobby was in the Braves clubhouse, meeting Freddie Freeman. Now, Freeman is on the opposing All-Star team.

And Charlie Freeman, Freddie’s 7-year-old son, is a huge Bobby Witt Jr. fan, says Russell.

Family, extended and actual, is the tie binding this game.

“It’s everything,” says Russell. “The most important thing to us is family. We’re lucky to have a real special bunch. It’s pretty awesome seeing everybody going crazy in the stands and cheering for us.”

By dint of proximity, Hernández’s group did not roll so deep Monday night. Nineteen loved ones, Jennifer Hernández recounted confidently, three of them Teoscar’s friends and the rest cousins and siblings and his parents, Teofilo and Carmen, and his children, 4-year-old Teoscar Jr., 3-year-old Mateo and the nearly 2-year-old Julian.

On the mound, pitching to Hernández? Dino Ebel, the Dodgers coach who noted after the Derby that he’d also pitched a winning round to the elder Vladimir Guerrero in 2007.

“When we signed him, I was so thrilled,” says Ebel, who milled about the field postgame with his son, Brady, a budding high school baseball star. “I said to him in Spring Training, I said, ‘There's going to be a lot of Dodger fans loving you. And when you're in the outfield, they'll be chanting your name. He shows up every night.

“One of the nicest, greatest guys I've met in my career in the game. He's always got a smile on his face. First one there, last to leave. Works hard. So awesome for the Dodgers and for Teo and his family.”

For Hernández, 31, it was a crowning achievement in a career that has produced two All-Star seasons yet not quite superstardom, in stops with Houston, Toronto, Seattle and now the Dodgers, where he’s on a one-year, $23.5 million deal.

He had to survive a swing-off against Bohm in the semifinals and wait out Witt’s moonshot in the finals. Monday, it turned out, was his time.

“I was trying to hold all my emotions,” says Hernández. “But I'm not the guy that is going to think bad about other players. The same opportunity that I got to do the best job, they were doing it. And I was happy for them, even if I would have lost.

“For me, just to be in here, make it to the finals and going through those moments, I just feel grateful right now.”

Gratitude, it turns out, was in even greater supply than longballs Monday night.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Home Run Derby's nail-biting finish had Teoscar Hernandez, Bobby Witt's families on edge