The State Farm Home Run Derby was Monday night. The Derby has come under fire recently by both players and fans alike. Many player (especially winners) have seen second-half drops in production from the plate, complaining the contest alters their swing and goes on too stinking long. I thought these guys were supposed to be elite athletes in top shape. Your job is to swing the bat and hit the ball hard. You’re killing me. Suck it up and have some fun.

For many fans, the format seems to drag a little bit. Too many rounds. Too many hitters. Too many outs in each round. Here’s a thought: don’t watch it. The Derby is fun. Enjoy it. Home runs are, in a word, awesome.

Though it lacked the big names and star power of some of the previous Derbies, 2010 was still a good show. ‘Big Papi’ David Ortiz beat out Hanley Ramirez 11-5 in the finals to take the coveted title. Throughout the contest Ortiz displayed a refreshing, first-class attitude saying multiple times that it’s all about having fun and giving the fans a show. All you anti-derby punks listen up – you get to play a game (cheers! Allen Iverson) for millions of dollars. You can’t take a few extra cuts for some fun and for charity?

But enough ranting. Let’s get to the real highlight of the night – the Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. Yep, that Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. Watching Bo Jackson and Ricky Henderson teeing off on Jennie Finch, Mario Lopez struggle to get the ball out of the infield, and John Kruk up to hijinks and shenanigans couldn’t have been more fun.

Bo Jackson took one pitch from Finch and sent it rocketing to the warning track – the real warning track – proving Bo knows softball too. He hit a slow pitch softball 300 feet. In this writer’s admittedly biased opinion, he’s still the greatest athlete that’s ever lived.

The game was a slugfest, with home runs every time you blinked your eye. Mike Piazza stepped up to the plate in the top of the 5^th (the last inning) with the bases loaded, down to the last out, and sent a monster shot over the center field wall. Unfortunately for the National League, that only made the score 15-11, the way the game would end on the next pitch as some celebrity popped out to some other celebrity I don’t know.

There were 26 runs scored and 38 hits total between the teams. If you like the long ball (redirect to the title), then you were in heaven on this night.