2008 Home Run Derby

T2, E2: There may have been no Yankees and no Mets. No Alex Rodriguez, no Manny Ramirez, no David Ortiz and no Jason Giambi. But there certainly was a Josh Hamilton. The second-year Rangers outfielder had a first round for the ages Monday night in the annual State Farm Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, but he lost in the final round to the Twins' Justin Morneau, who outhomered Hamilton, 5-3. Smacking 28 first-round homers into the far reaches of the old ballpark, which is scheduled to close at the end of the season after 85 years, Hamilton set the all-time Derby record for homers in a single round. He shattered the mark of 24 that Bobby Abreu, then of the Phillies and now of the Yankees, set in Detroit's Comerica Park three years ago, when Abreu won the contest. Hamilton had a three-round total of 35, but it was the opening sprint that won't soon be forgotten. Asked how it felt to experience the Derby, Hamilton said: "Think about the best environment imaginable and being in the middle of it. That's what it was like out there." Morneau was the only repeater from last year's Derby at San Francisco's AT and T Park, won by Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels. Morneau, who was eliminated back then in the first round, had 22 homers on Monday night -- eight in the first round, nine in the second and five in the final round. Although Morneau won, he finished in arrears of Hamilton by 13 total homers. But the format dictates that homers hit in the first two rounds are totaled, while the finalists start with a clean slate in the championship round, a fact that was material to the conclusion.