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No home run has ever been hit completely out of Cathedral
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- The State Farm Home Run Derby comes to Yankee Stadium for the first time on Monday night and it couldn't have happened at a better time.

"How appropriate that it [and the All-Star Game] should be here in the stadium's 85th and final year?" said Hal Steinbrenner, the chairman of Yankee Global Enterprises and the younger son of George, the team's longtime owner and patriarch. "The Home Run Derby is going to be exciting and I know that people will be trying to hit it out of here, be the first to hit it out of here -- and good luck with that.
"I don't know if that's a reality or not, but I'm sure one or two of the participants will be trying. Obviously it will be a huge endeavor."
The Derby field appeared at a media conference on Monday afternoon in the Grand Hyatt Hotel and seemed quite ready for the evening's competition.
The Rays' Evan Longoria, Twins' Justin Morneau, Rangers' Josh Hamilton and Indians' Grady Sizemore are the American League representatives. The Astros' Lance Berkman, Brewers' Ryan Braun, Marlins' Dan Uggla and Phillies' Chase Utley will compete for the National League.
Morneau is the only repeater from last year's event in San Francisco's AT&T Park, which was won by the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero over Alex Rios of the Blue Jays. Morneau lost a five-pitch playoff against the Cards' Albert Pujols and didn't make it past the first round.
For Berkman, this will be his fourth Home Run Derby. Although he's never won, his results have run the gamut from uneventful in 2002 to spectacular in 2004, when he was defeated in his own home park by Miguel Tejada, then with the Orioles, who finished with a flurry. Berkman also called himself "a complete non-factor" in 2006 when he hit three and was out after the first round.
Berkman has the most career homers of any of this year's contestants -- 281. The remaining six are all first-timers in the Derby.
It would seem that the left-handed hitters -- Sizemore, Hamilton, Morneau and Utley -- would have a distinct advantage in the old stadium, where the famous right-field porch lingers within easy reach. Left field to left-center is the deepest part of the ballpark.