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The Corn Crib Hosts the 2023 Legends Home Run Derby
Normal, IL. - The Corn Crib, home of the Normal CornBelters and Kernels Collegiate League, plans to host the 2023 Legends Home Run Derby! The Legends Home Run Derby, presented by Sam Leman Auto Group, Town of Normal, and Play9 Sports will be held on Saturday July 22nd, 2023 at the Corn Crib.
The Legends Home Run Derby will feature four former MLB players batting against four Kernels Collegiate league players. Round 1 will be each MLB Alumni batting against each KCL All-Stars. Each batter will have 3 minutes in this round to hit as many home runs as they can. In Round 2, the top four home run totals from the first round will have 3 minutes to compete in the same style as round 1. Round 3 will be the top two home run totals from the previous round and have only 2 minutes to hit as many home runs as they can to be the Legends Home Run Derby Champion.
This event will feature four former MLB players, the first being Mark Reynolds. The rest of the MLB Alumni will be released throughout the spring. Drafted at age 23, Reynolds played 13 seasons during his MLB career. He played primarily for the Arizona Diamondbacks, followed by the Orioles, Indians, Yankees, Brewers, Cardinals, Rockies, and Nationals. In his 2009 Season, Reynolds hit the longest home run of the season, landing at 481 feet. With the Diamondbacks in 2009, he established career highs in home runs (44), RBIs (102), stolen bases (24), and runs scored (98). Between 2009 and 2011, he finished with top ten home run totals and at-bats per home run rates. The Pikeville, Kentucky native retired with the Colorado Rockies in 2020.
Reynolds will be joined by former Cubs outfielder and 11-year MLB veteran Todd Hollandsworth. Hollandsworth broke into the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers and earned National League Rookie of the Year honors in 1996. He won the World Series in 2003 as a member of the Florida Marlins, and went 3-for-3 in four pinch-hit opportunities in the NLCS with two runs batted in and a run scored. In parts of two seasons with the Cubs 2004-2005, Hollandsworth batted .276 over 164 games with 13 home runs. From 2008 to 2016, Hollandsworth was a fixture on Cubs broadcast, providing color commentary and pre- and postgame analysis.
A well-known Cubs player and 3x all-star and 3x silver slugger pitcher goes by the name Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano was signed by the Chicago Cubs as a free agent in 1997 before making his major league debut August 20th, 2001. He spent ten years of his career with the Cubs before spending his last season with the Miami Marlins in 2011. 2006 was his best pitching year posting a 16-7 record with a 3.41 ERA along with 210 strikeouts. Not only was he known being a dominant pitcher, but he also was a great hitter. He batted .238 with 24 homeruns, being the most homers by any Cubs pitcher. He was also the first Venezuelan player to lead the National League in wins.
The last player who will be joining this event is Tyler Colvin. The Chicago Cubs drafted him with the 13th pick in the 2006 MLB draft. He made his debut with the club September 21st, 2009 and played a season with the Colorado Rockies. In 2014, he signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants and was later called up. Aside from the majors, he helped the United States win the Baseball World Cup in 2007 in Taiwan.
The Legends Home Run Derby presented by Sam Leman Auto Group, VBN, and Play9 Sports will take place July 22 at The Corn Crib Stadium in Normal, Illinois. The event will begin at 7:00 p.m. and gates will open at 3:15 p.m. to give fans with purchased passes the opportunity to enjoy a meet-and-greet autograph session from Reynolds and our three additional MLB Alumni, which will be announced at a later date. The autograph session will run for two hours prior to the start of the derby. For some players, autographs will only be signatures and will not include personalized inscriptions.
General Admission tickets for the event are $14 with the option to upgrade to the autograph session for an additional $26. Only a limited number of autograph tickets will be made available.