Cal Raleigh admits his surprise as remarkable season rolls on with Home Run Derby win
Cal Raleigh took centre stage in Atlanta as the All-Star festivities got underway
Cal Raleigh’s incredible season continued last night as he won the All-Star Home Run Derby.
The Seattle Mariner became the first catcher to claim the trophy in the curtain-raiser to the main event tonight, outlasting Junior Caminero in the final round.
Raleigh is also the HR leader in Major League Baseball with 38, a career high despite it only being the mid-point in the season.
“Greatness”
Cal Raleigh’s father and brother were a huge reason for his #HRDerby win! pic.twitter.com/6Ah53NJO4J
— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2025
Raleigh stunned by Derby success
He said: “Usually, the guy that’s leading the league in homers doesn’t win the whole thing. That’s as surprising to me as anybody else.”
The 28-year-old was pitched to by his proud father Todd while his younger brother did the catching.
“Anybody that’s ever played baseball as a kid dreams of stuff like this,” Todd said. “I dreamed of it. He dreamed of it. When you’re a parent, you look at it differently because you want your kids to be happy.”
Although the night ended on a high for the Raleighs, it could so easily have turned out differently as he came an inch, literally, from Round 1 elimination.
He and Brent Rooker tied with 17 HRs but the tie-breaker fell Raleigh’s way with his longest hit going 470.61 feet, compared to Rooker’s 470.53.
“An inch off and I’m not even in the final four, which is amazing,” Raleigh said with a smile. “So, I guess I got lucky there: one extra biscuit.”
BIG DUMPER
BIG WINNER
CAL RALEIGH IS YOUR DERBY CHAMP pic.twitter.com/D9Jdl7dr3X— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2025
Rivals fallaway as Raleigh wins it all
Raleigh (17), Caminero (21), Byron Buxton (20) and Oneil Cruz (21) were the semi-finalists after James Wood (16), Rooker (17), Jazz Chisholm Jr (3) and Matt Olson (15) were eliminated in Round 1.
Raleigh swatted 19 in the semis to knock out Cruz (13) while Caminero (8) edged out Buxton (7).
Caminero put up a good fight in the final with 15 but had no answer to Raleigh’s 18.