Welcome to the 2018 home run derby! Every Saturday morning a new cache will be released. After it is published you will have roughly a week to find it and select a slugger to represent you in that week's edition of the home run derby. Select one player and include his name in your log. The number of home runs he hits the following week (starting the Friday after cache publication) is your score; don't worry, we will handle all the scoring. The series will be cumulative points from April through September, with a week off over the All Star break.
The "catch" is every player must be unique, so FTF has choice of any player, second to find will have second pick and so on. The cache hiders will also be playing so the cache owner will select fifth each week.
This is week 18 of the series (18 of 25). All scoring will take place Friday, August 3rd through Thursday, August 9th. Participation in the derby is strictly optional so feel free to find the cache and watch all the action from the grandstand. Game on!
The baseball term "fireman" is used to describe the role of a relief pitcher specializing in nailing down victories in the late innings after a team finds itself with a lead. The term was first used on Yankees relief pitcher Johnny Murphy who gained notoriety in the 1930s for saving games. However a pitcher strictly used in a late inning relief in a “closer” role was a rarity until the 1970s. At that time rule changes were made to benefit hitters and managers often found the need to counter this increase in offense with a late inning relief pitcher. Rollie Fingers was a pioneer of the modern closer/fireman era with the Oakland As, San Diego Padres, and the Milwaukee Brewers. Over the years the Padres also had a stellar relievers in Rich "Goose" Gossage, Mark Davis, and Trevor Hoffman who was the first closer to record 600 career saves.