Justin Morneau misses All-Star Game, joins Home Run Derby

As Justin Morneau tried to compete with Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs for that final All-Star spot in the National League, the prevailing sentiment seemed to be that it would be great for Morneau to win the vote because the game will take place in Minneapolis.

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That would be the hometown of his former team, the Minnesota Twins. To be selected would give Morneau a chance to stand on the baseline and tip his cap to an appreciative group of fans. Even with a rocky ending to his tenure in Minnesota, one that was largely undone by injuries, the majority of Minnesota fans seem to hold Morneau in the highest regard for what he meant to the franchise.

With the news Thursday afternoon that Morneau lost out to Rizzo for that last spot, it seemed like Morneau was going to have to stay home this All-Star break. That disappointment did not last long, however, as Morneau’s teammate Troy Tulowitzki announced that he would add his first baseman to the National League Home Run Derby team.

The nice thing for everybody involved is the fact that Morneau is a worthy candidate with 13 home runs as of Thursday. A league leader he is not, but he has enough round-trippers and certainly enough power to compete. Morneau is a former Derby champion, after all, even if that was an odd year that most people remember for Josh Hamilton.

Check out video of Tulowitzki adding Morneau to the team below, courtesy of the Rockies’ Instragram account.

I don’t know about you, but I was pretty relieved to see Tulowitzki blink a few seconds into that video. It was starting to get weird.