Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton set an All-Star Game Home Run Derby record on Monday by belting 28 homers in the first round but the Minnesota Twins' Justin Morneau prevailed in the end to win the trophy. Morneau claimed the title by hitting five homers against three from a spent Hamilton in the final round, where they started 0-0 with no carryover from the earlier rounds. Morneau was appearing in the contest for a second straight year after bowing out in the first round in 2007. Hamilton was the star of the charity fund-raising show on the eve of Tuesday's All-Star Game with a jaw-dropping display of power that saw him clout 13 homers on 13 successive swings and measure more than 500 feet on three of his blasts. The Rangers outfielder eclipsed the 24 homers slugged by then-Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bobby Abreu, now with the Yankees, during the first round of the 2005 contest. The performance won American League center-fielder Hamilton thunderous cheers and a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd of 53,716. “I got chills. I got chills,” Hamilton, 27, told an on-field interviewer after he was mobbed along the first base line by members of both the American and National League squads after his prodigious display, exchanging high-fives and hugs. Morneau advanced to the final after hitting 17 home runs in the first two rounds of the eight-player contest where every swing that does not produce a homer is considered an out. Players are allowed 10 outs in each round of the event that was being held for the 23rd time. “I was lucky that we got reset after the first two rounds,” Morneau said after the contest. “He deserved to win it. I was lucky he got a little tired. That was one of the most amazing displays I've ever seen.” A total of $300,000 was raised for charity. Hamilton, a 1999 top draft pick who overcame drug and alcohol problems to reach the majors last season, had a 71-year-old batting high school practice pitcher from his hometown in North Carolina throw to him during the event. “My arm's wore out,” Clay Counsil said after delivering 54 pitches to Hamilton in the first round. “We got to do it again?” Hamilton, whose homers from the first round alone qualified him for the finals, took a partial turn in the second round to stay loose and smashed four more bombs before voluntarily retiring after registering four outs. In the final round, however, Hamilton was not able to launch the balls with the same height he had earlier. “The way the crowd had cheered before, that was all worth it, with my family out there watching it,” Hamilton said. “You don't feel tired, but obviously, you're tired.” Also participating were Houstons' Lance Berkman, Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, Florida's Dan Uggla, Chase Utley of Philadelphia, Tampa's Evan Longoria and Grady Sizemore of Cleveland. - Reuters __
