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I havent' seen the home run derby in action yet, so I can't give you my personal take on it, BUT
The general idea is to avoid dragging out the games to umpteen extra innings - just finish it and go home. Israelis don't have a lot of patience with anything, much less baseball - they complain the game is boring and they don't understand it. To just go on and on and on and on on top of all that would be a killer. So, do a derby (remember it's team vs. team, so there's got to be a few sluggers there), and finish it.
Also, it's kind of exciting to see a home run, especially in the fields here. We don't have big stands, in fact, watching a game is akin to watching a minor league game or even a High School game, you are that close to the field (the Dodgers, for instance, would charge $100+ for similar seats).
Personally, I piped up for the softball rule of putting the player who made the last out on second base, but this was not a popular suggestion.
I'll keep you posted.
Shmuel
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