The people heading the Home Run Derby this year may have hit a small snag.
They can't get AL players to agree to go out and swing a baseball bat 100 times as hard as they can trying to hit as many homeruns as possible just to mess up there swing for the rest of the season.
As of right now all four possessions for the NL hitters have been filled by Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez and just recently two AL players have accepted (how reluctantly we may never know) to enter the competition: Joe Mauer and Brandon Inge.
It's not that amazing that some of these AL players may be reluctant to destroy there swing to win an event that is supposed to be for fun and for fan enjoyment. I'm not trying to denounce the MLB for having the Home Run Derby but it's not good practice for professional baseball players to try to swing for the fences for several minutes at a time. This lack of willingness from AL players to enter this competition shows that they realize that even though they have already made it to the Major League Baseball level that there is still a possibility for them to develop bad habits in there swing during the derby.
I know that the All-Star break is supposed to be fun for the fans and a break for the players but if a player is in both the Home Run Derby and the All-Star game they effectively only have a one day break. This can give those players who don't participate an unfair advantage which is why I'm glad that the Home Run Derby is optional and players don't have to take part. This is probably the reason only two American League players have agreed to take part so far. I don't believe the Home Run Derby should be fixed but at least there are some players who know their body well enough to decline the invitation to the event.
