On Monday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park Allan Dykstra won the 2014 Pacific Coast League Home Run Derby.
Ironically, Dykstra beat former Mets farmhand and teammate Francisco Pena to claim the belt.
“My goal was to make sure I beat Frank,” jokes Dykstra about squaring off against his former teammate.
“I have enough power to have fun in this kind of competition,” Dykstra tells Bob Sutton, Special to MLB.com.
Dykstra launched the winning shot over the right field wall in the final round and walked away with the belt.
The 27-year old 51s first baseman was selected to represent Las Vegas as a DH in the All Star game on July 16th, but on Monday night in the derby he didn’t disappoint.
Dykstra finished the first half of the season batting .282/.428/.516, with 12 home runs and 59 RBI’s.
This is just another award that Dykstra has earned since joining the Mets organization when he came over in a trade with the San Diego Padres in 2011. In 2013, he was named the Eastern League MVP and the Sterling Organizational Co-Player of the Year for the Mets with 21 home runs and 82 RBI’s.
The 6’5″ lefty is only one step away from reaching his dream of becoming a major leaguer, even though at this point it may be a tough task to break through on a Mets team that already has a lefty hitting power first baseman. But on Monday night, Dykstra was given the opportunity to showcase some of his own power and he walked away victorious.
Congrats Allan on winning the HR Derby belt.
(Photo Credit: BrianFlemingPhotography.com)
You have to admire Dykstra’s determination. The guy has a goal to reach the big leagues and no matter how daunting, he just keeps plugging away. I hope some day, somewhere, he gets his shot.