7/17/24

MVP Decides Grand Prize Winner

In one of the closer contests of Professor DW’s first year here at ESN, the All-Star Challenge started close with the Home Run Derby and ended up coming down to the final innings of the All-Star Game to decide our winner.

With an extra emphasis on the Home Run Derby, Darin Arthur and Macy Bundy both jumped ahead of the pack with their pick of Teoscar Hernandez surviving the chopping block in all three rounds. This included a swing-off in the semifinals and Bobby Witt Jr.’s potential tying home run falling inches short on the final swing in the championship round. That netted them each nine points based off of just that performance while Witt Jr.’s second place finish and Jose Ramirez reaching the second round got Cliff Nichols five points to start, but also earned Darin an extra point giving him 10 after the Derby. Luke Kilgore also started with five points as he also picked Witt Jr. and Ramirez. Professor DW also got off to a strong start thanks to Teoscar Hernandez winning but Pete Alonso did not help out and kept DW at nine points.

With those four separating themselves from the pack going into Tuesday night’s All-Star Game, Cliff and the Professor made a bold move and it paid off with the first hit being a double to earn him two points while the other three played it safe with a single and ended up with nothing. Shohei Ohtani’s three-run home run helped Darin and Macy get some more breathing room as they both (along with DW) picked the National League to score first.

Darin and Luke watched as the American League committed the first error…but the officials scorers eventually changed it to a hit which took a point off the board for them. Cliff earned a point as a result due to no errors being committed in the game. No stolen bases cost almost all of our entries a point as only two contestants correctly predicted the result.

Both Darin and Macy earned a total of 12 points as the American League won the game and the National League earning more hits. It all came down to who took home the MVP. Darin chose an outfielder while Macy predicted the MVP would be either a catcher or DH. Boston’s centerfielder Jarren Duran ended up taking home the honors due to his go-ahead two-run home run. That meant Darin earned the late point to boost him to 13 and the win while Macy finished in second with 12. Cliff also got on the podium with 10 points. The Professor earned the most points with his 14 points topping the leaderboard. That gives him his first win since week 1 of the NFL season.

The full results are down below. All of the winners will be contacted this week so we can get the prizes mailed out ASAP. Thank you all for playing and make sure to check back frequently for the next Professor DW contest.

Final Standings

1. Professor DW- 14 Points
2. Darin Arthur- 13 Points ($200)
3. Macy Bundy- 12 Points ($100)
4. Cliff Nichols- 10 Points ($50)
5. Luke Kilgore- 7 Points
6. Jeff Johnson- 6 Points
7. Josh Huxel- 5 Points
8. Edwin Cornier- 5 Points
9. Jacob Sullivan- 4 Points
10. Matt Evans- 4 Points
11. Kevin Hamrick- 3 Points
12. Kim King- 3 Points
13. Shannon Brazell- 3 Points
14. Grace Hamrick- 2 Points

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