Jordan Walker spoils Philly’s Kyle
Schwarber party, rallies to win Home Run Derby
[July 14, 2026]
By DAN GELSTON
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jordan Walker wore his Cardinals hat backward,
chewed a big wad of bubble gum and wore the top of his jersey
splayed open as he dug in for his final Home Run Derby swing.
The picture of Cardinals cool, Walker chased down Kyle Schwarber,
shut up a rambunctious Philly crowd and introduced himself to a much
wider baseball world.
Walker used six swings to swat six homers, besting Schwarber in a
dramatic final round that silenced all those boo birds and made him
the first St. Louis Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby on Monday
night.
Schwarber hit 11 homers during his 15-swing turn in the final round.
Philly fans, who jeered everyone but Schwarber and Bryce Harper
throughout the night, quietly headed toward the exits when Walker’s
winning shot soared over the left field wall.
“I was once told you don’t boo nobodies,” Walker said. “So it feels
pretty good.”
The 24-year-old Walker sported the Derby champions' chain, slipped
on a leather jacket and still wore his batting gloves as he broke
down what it took to take down Schwarber on his home turf.
“My thought was Philly is brutal,” Walker said. "I mean, honestly.
But I think it’s pretty special because they love their players and
that’s what you want from your home, like, where you play. I mean,
I’d never hear people cheer so loud for, like, Schwarber and Harper.
And those guys did their thing, for sure.
“But, you know, I can’t hate them, because that’s their guy, so I
just got to play the game.”
Walker played a pretty great game in the first half for the
Cardinals.
Walker is a first-time All-Star and having a breakout season in St.
Louis. He already has a career-high 22 homers this season after
struggling with a combined 11 over the previous two years.
Those final six in Philly all flying high with Iron Man on his bat
are now stamped on the Derby highlight reel.
His cap backward just like Hall of Famer and Derby great Ken Griffey
Jr., Walker celebrated with his family immediately on the field. His
father rejoiced in recalling how Walker started hitting long home
runs when he was 6 years old.
“When things got tough, they were always there in my corner to talk
to them about it,” Walker said of his family. “They kept the energy
levels high. They kept the feelings high.”
He fulfilled this childhood dream in striking fashion. Walker hit
his seventh homer with two swings remaining and his eighth on the
next swing to earn bonus swings. Needing to hit four straight homers
to win, the right-handed Jordan knocked one off the top of the
center field fence 401 feet away. He reached 10 homers and Philly
fans booed with all their might, only for Jordan to finish the
sensational surge and celebrate as fireworks shot off around him.
"You can’t say enough about how he was able to kind of slow the
moment down, too, and lock it in,” said Schwarber, a Derby runner-up
for the second time. “All of our fans were we’re raring and trying
to will me to it.”
A revamped Derby format delivered great drama
MLB ditched its timed clock this season and returned to a swing
format, with each hitter continuing to swing if he went deep on his
final one.
The extra time between swings gave hitters time to track their home
runs — and Philly a smidge more time to unleash those throaty boos
at Contreras and Walker.
Each player had 20 swings in the first round and the top four
advanced. Hitters were seeded for the second round, where No. 1
faces 4 and 2 meets 3.
[to top of second column] |
Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber competes during the MLB
baseball All-Star Home Run Derby, Monday, July 13, 2026, in
Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Each player got 15 swings in the second round, with
batters homering on their final swings continuing until not
homering.
Boston’s Willson Contreras, Tampa Bay’s Junior
Caminero, New York's Ben Rice and Kansas City's Jac Caglianone, and
Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami also participated.
Philly came ready to celebrate its slugging stars
Phillies fans were wildly optimistic that Schwarber and Harper could
somehow reach the final and crown the franchise's third Derby
champion.
Harper hit only eight in the first round and was the final slugger
to try and advance. Schwarber could only watch as Harper failed to
join him. Schwarber, then with the Chicago Cubs, made the finals in
2018 at Nationals Park before losing to Harper when he played with
the Nationals.
Schwarber and Harper — the first pair of teammates to participate in
the Derby since 2018 — received roaring ovations when famed ring
announcer Michael Buffer introduced them ahead of the competition.
As for the other six sluggers in the field, all wearing their home
jerseys with red, white and blue uniform numbers?
Yeah, they were about booed out of the ballpark, with the loudest
jeers saved for Rice. He gamely laughed as he walked out of his
Liberty Bell entrance.
Harper — who said earlier Monday this would be his last Derby —
waved his arms and exhorted the crowd to get louder as he walked to
the home plate platform placed at second base. Harper about broke
the ring ropes as he shook them like a pro wrestler, and the Philly
crowd went bonkers for the star known as The Showman.
The ball-shagging kids in the outfield were even booed.
The Derby’s public address announcer implored the fans to cheer
during some quiet stretches when homers — non-Phillies edition —
were hit.
The fans did get a rise when Caglianone smoked one into Ryan Howard
territory into the third deck in right field. Contreras socked ’em
into the rarified air of the left field upper deck. One homer
cleared the last row of stands in that section and bounced off the
concourse in front of a bar. His 490-footer was the longest of the
first round.
This was the first Home Run Derby and All-Star Game held at Citizens
Bank Park since it opened in 2004 and the first derby in
Philadelphia since Barry Bonds outslugged Mark McGwire in 1996 to
win an afternoon event in front of thousands of empty seats at
Veterans Stadium.
This derby was sold out and aired on Netflix for the first time,
with the streamer getting into the game this season with a
three-event package. Netflix already aired the opening night game,
and the third attraction is the Field of Dreams game between the
Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 13.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
