Latest news with #SamMusterer
Forbes
a day ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Baseball's Home Run Derby Sends A Unique Leadership Message
Well-trained leaders will always leap over the fence to prevent the home run. One of the most popular of events at Major League Baseball's annual 'All-Start Week' is the Home Run Derby, held the night before the actual game. It's intended to be a showcase for the game's greatest sluggers, but this year's star turned out to be a 17 year old kid and his admirable intuition. The essence of the Derby is pretty simple ‒ whoever hits the most home runs, wins. Yet the actual rules of the Derby are pretty complex. It involves eight players having to navigate three rounds of escalating requirements, decreasing time frames and diminishing numbers of participants. Every swing counts. A quaint tradition of the Derby is that a number of youngsters are selected as on-field 'ball kids', with the opportunity to shag flies falling short of the outfield fence. It's an exciting opportunity to briefly share the national stage with the players, in what is assumed to be a behind-the-scenes role, unrelated to the actual competition. This year, in Atlanta, one of those ball kids was 17 year old Sam Musterer, the son of an Atlanta Braves official scorer. Fast forward to the final round, between the Rays' Junior Caminero and the Mariners' Cal Raleigh. At one point Caminero drove a ball deep to left, that was still in the air as it began to cross over the outfield fence. 'I wasn't quite aware of where I was on the fence. I thought the fence was a little taller there. I kind of just reached up and grabbed it.' And grab it he did, unwittingly creating a controversy and becoming an asterisk in Home Run Derby history. A homer, or an out? Since numbers are all that counts in the Derby, it created momentary controversy, but after huddling the umpires ruled it a home run. (Caminero ultimately lost to Raleigh) Call Musterer's play what you will: 'Intuition'; 'Gut Call'; 'Following Your Instincts'. It's the visceral sense of knowing what do without thought or reasoning. If you're sent to the outfield with a mitt, no matter the circumstances, you have one job-field the ball. And if the ball's in the air, you catch it. And if it's headed over the fence, you jump as high as you can to try to snag it. And young Musterer did what came naturally; what just about any kid would do in the same situation. Why else would he be out there? You're taught to do that by every coach you've ever had. It's a direction reinforced by the evening highlight reels of great catches by the great outfielders; Pete Crow Armstrong, Brian Buxton and the rest. Could there be consequences? Sure; you might miss it; you might hurt yourself; by your effort you might even help the ball over the fence. But there's no time for a risk analysis. You don't think, you just do. Whatever you do, it's likely to be a game changer; a momentum shifter. And it's the same with organizations as it is with baseball. Leaders will periodically be confronted with the business equivalent of a ball headed over the fence. It's likely to be a situation for which they have received some form of education; if not for the exact situation, then certainly enough to have absorbed the basic guidelines, the principles, the core values. There's an awareness of the underlying mission and what's necessary to achieve it. But just like with the fly ball streaking for the wall, there's no time for reasoning; no time to check notes, no time for a meeting to discuss. You're in charge, you've been trained on the principles, and you react as you've been trained. You try to catch it. It's often said that baseball is a metaphor for life, particularly as it relates to the importance of training, effort and preparation. Of being prepared for unexpected plays, or circumstances, that can change the outcome of a game. And that's the Home Run Derby's unexpected lesson for business leaders. Like young Sam Musterer, it's about knowing enough about the 'rules of the game', its ethics and its traditions to react intuitively when the ball finds you. Because it most always will.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Who's the kid who 'robbed' Junior Caminero of HR Derby dinger?
Despite the fact that Cal Raleigh continued his storybook 2025 season by winning the 2025 Home Run Derby at Truist Park in Atlanta, the buzz ended up being about the kid who "robbed" a dinger off the bat of finalist Junior Caminero. The home run ended up counting, so no big deal. Caminero was totally cool about it, too, and Raleigh had jokes about paying him off. Wondering who it is? And how he felt about that whole incident? The Athletic tracked him down and spoke with the 17-year-old, whose name is Sam Musterer. It was quite a catch, and now he's a viral sensation. From the article: 'I wasn't quite aware of where I was on the fence,' Musterer said. 'I thought the fence was a little taller there. I kind of just reached up and grabbed it.' ... Musterer, 17, was on the field for the Home Run Derby, he said, because his father, Richard, is an official scorer at Braves games. Richard also regularly broadcasts Georgia Tech sports games. Sam Musterer attends Pope High School in Marietta, Ga., and plays baseball for the East Side Chargers select team. He's a right-handed pitcher and center fielder, but said he's never made a play like that before. Wild. Amazing work by the kid. Watch it again: The Mariners had a funny reaction to the kid who robbed Junior Caminero Too funny!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB Home Run Derby 2025: What happens when a homer is robbed? Junior Caminero found out in the final
The kids who flood the outfield at MLB's Home Run Derby have one job and one job only: Catch the non-homers. On Monday, one of them went a little too above and beyond. In the final between Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh and Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, the latter slugger hit what appeared to be his sixth homer of the timed portion — until someone with a glove jumped and hauled the ball in. It was unclear in the moment if the ball would have been a homer, but it clearly had potential. Advertisement The umpires reviewed the play during Caminero's mid-round timeout and opted to give the 22-year-old the home run. The play fortunately ended up not mattering. Caminero looked like he had a chance to catch Raleigh's 18 homers in the final, but he slowed down toward the end of his timed portion and added only one dinger in the bonus round, leaving him with 15 and making Raleigh the first catcher to win the event. Had Caminero ended up with 18 or 19 homers, this could've been a very different story. After the event, The Athletic identified the kid as Sam Musterer, the 17-year-old son of an official scorer for the Atlanta Braves. Musterer's explanation for what happened: 'I wasn't quite aware of where I was on the fence,' Musterer said. 'I thought the fence was a little taller there. I kind of just reached up and grabbed it.' Meanwhile, Raleigh joked "I paid him off" while the Mariners had some fun with him: That wasn't the only controversy involving Raleigh over the course of the night. He looked great in the final and semifinal, in which he beat Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz, but the first round was a different story. Advertisement Hitting seventh in an eight-player field, Raleigh posted 17 homers, which put him in a tie with Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker for fourth place in a round in which the top four sluggers advance. The final batter, Matt Olson, finished with 15. A tie in the first round is decided by which player hit the longest homer, but Raleigh and Rooker were both recorded as hitting a ball 471 feet. It looked like they would have to head to a swing-off, but then word came from, well, somewhere, and it was established that Raleigh's homer actually traveled 470.61 feet, while Rooker's went 470.53 feet, via Statcast. It's not exactly the best look when someone in an office tells a national audience that one guy — who happens to be the event's marquee player — beat the other by a difference of literally an inch, but that's how Raleigh made it out of the first round alongside Caminero, Cruz and Twins star Byron Buxton. Advertisement Between the robbery, the review and a 513-foot tank from Cruz, it was an eventful Home Run Derby. And hopefully a lesson learned for a certain Atlanta youngster.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Young fan steals home run from Junior Caminero at derby: ‘I wasn't aware of where I was'
ATLANTA — Minutes after the best highlight of Monday's Home Run Derby, Sam Musterer stood against a wall in the Atlanta Braves' bullpen. He held his phone up to his ear, replaying the video that was already blowing up. His hands were still shaking from the adrenaline. Musterer is the kid who robbed — at least for a moment — a home run from Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero in the final round of the Home Run Derby. Musterer tracked a hard line drive and leaped at the left field wall. Bro did NOT want Junior Caminero to win the Derby 😭 — MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2025 'I wasn't quite aware of where I was on the fence,' Musterer said. 'I thought the fence was a little taller there. I kind of just reached up and grabbed it.' Musterer, 17, was on the field for the Home Run Derby, he said, because his father is an official scorer at Braves games. This story will be updated.
