DETROIT, 13 July 2005 — Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies hit a record 41 homers to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby on Monday, defeating Ivan Rodriguez of the Detroit Tigers in the final.

Representing Venezuela in the international format of this year’s derby, Abreu smashed 24 home runs in the first round and dominated the field for most of the night to win in his debut appearance.

“I’m really excited, I feel good,” Abreu said moments after Rodriguez flied out, giving him the final round 11-5.

“I was nervous in my first at-bat but I’m just going back with my trophy now and relax.

“I’m tired. It was a beautiful night.”

Abreu beat out seven other competitors, with each hitter representing a different country as Major League Baseball used the event to help promote the World Baseball Classic scheduled for next March.

The Phillies slugger showed tremendous power from the start, easing past Miguel Tejada’s first round record of 15, set last year in Houston.

His total of 41 also shattered Tejada’s overall record of 27 from last year’s event.

David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, representing the Dominican Republic, was runner-up in the first round with 17 home runs.

Carlos Lee of the Milwaukee Brewers, representing Panama, was third with 11 homers and Rodriguez hit seven, representing Puerto Rico, to also advance to the second round.

Hee Seop Choi of the Los Angeles Dodgers (South Korea) and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves (The Netherlands) both hit five, while Mark Teixeria of the Texas Rangers (United States) hit two and Canada’s Jason Bay of the Pittsburgh Pirates failed to hit a home run, and were all eliminated.

Rodriguez led the second round with eight and Abreu joined him in the final after hitting six. Lee (four) and Ortiz (three) were eliminated. The Tigers star was cheered loudly in every at-bat by the hometown crowd at Comerica Park.

16 Nations to Participate in

World Baseball Classic

The inaugural World Baseball Classic will take place next March with 16 nations taking part in an 18-day tournament, Major League Baseball announced on Monday.

The event will open on March 3, 2006 in Tokyo or Taiwan and continue until the championship game, to be played in North America on March 20.

Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Taiwan, the United States and Venezuela are expected to field teams in the event, which is being billed as a World Cup style tournament to promote baseball internationally.

“The World Baseball Classic is an historic and unprecedented international tournament,” MLB Commissioner Bud Selig told a news conference.

“For the first time ever, baseball’s best players will compete for their home countries in a global tournament.

“It will increase worldwide exposure for our great game and promote its grassroots development, not only in countries where the game is already popular, but in nations where the game is less known.”

Details of the event were revealed during the annual All-Star festivities, which included a Home Run Derby that featured hitters representing eight different countries.

The announcement comes just three days after the International Olympic Committee voted to drop baseball from the Olympics program following the 2008 Beijing Games.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said baseball’s refusal to allow major league players to participate and the sport’s drug-testing rules, which do not meet the World Anti-Doping Agency’s standards, were the two major reasons for the decision. There is still some doubt as to whether Japan and Cuba will participate in the event, however.