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MLB Home Run Derby 2025: What happens if someone steals a homer? Junior Caminero discovered the answer in the final round

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15
Jul
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MLB Home Run Derby 2025: Junior Caminero’s Robbed Homer, Cal Raleigh’s Historic Win, and a Night Full of Drama
The 2025 MLB Home Run Derby was already set to be one of the most anticipated events of the summer, but it turned into an unforgettable spectacle thanks to a dramatic outfield catch, a razor-thin tiebreaker, and history being made by Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.

When a Kid Steals the Show — Literally
At every Home Run Derby, dozens of young fielders are stationed across the outfield with one simple job: catch the balls that don’t clear the fence and get out of the way of those that do. But on Monday night, one teenager took that role a bit too far.

In the final round between Tampa Bay Rays rising star Junior Caminero and Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh, Caminero launched a deep fly ball that looked destined to become his sixth homer of the timed round. Just as the ball was about to cross the fence, 17-year-old Sam Musterer leapt and snagged it out of the air.

At first, it wasn’t clear if the ball would have actually gone over, but it definitely had a chance. The umpires paused the action and reviewed the play during Caminero’s timeout, ultimately ruling it was a home run and adding it back to Caminero’s total.

In the end, the catch didn’t change the result: Caminero, who seemed poised to challenge Raleigh’s 18 homers, slowed down late in his round and finished with 15 after bonus time. That made Raleigh the first catcher ever to win the Derby, a historic feat for the Mariners backstop.

Meet the Teen Behind the Glove
After the event, The Athletic revealed the young fielder was Sam Musterer, the 17-year-old son of an official scorer for the Atlanta Braves. Explaining what happened, Musterer admitted he hadn’t realized exactly where he was:

“I wasn’t quite aware of where I was on the fence. I thought the fence was a little taller there. I kind of just reached up and grabbed it.”

Far from being upset, Caminero showed nothing but grace afterward. Through an interpreter, he told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman:

“Things happen. He was enjoying himself out there too. He did something he thought was fun and it was fine.”

Meanwhile, Cal Raleigh took the moment in stride, joking to reporters:

“I paid him off.”

Raleigh’s Path to Victory: A Tiebreaker Measured in Inches
Raleigh’s journey to the trophy wasn’t without its own controversy. In the first round, he tied Oakland Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker with 17 homers. The tiebreaker? Whoever hit the longest single homer. Initially, Statcast recorded both players with a longest shot of 471 feet, suggesting a dramatic swing-off was coming.

Then came a last-minute correction: Raleigh’s blast had actually traveled 470.61 feet, just barely edging Rooker’s 470.53-foot homer by less than an inch. That tiny margin sent Raleigh into the semifinals, alongside Caminero, Pittsburgh Pirates’ Oneil Cruz, and Twins outfielder Byron Buxton.

It’s not often fans see a tiebreaker determined by fractions of a foot — but that’s exactly what happened, adding yet another layer of drama to the night.

A Derby to Remember
Between Caminero’s would-be homer getting robbed, the tense replay review, Cruz smashing a 513-foot moonshot, and Raleigh’s razor-thin escape in the first round, the 2025 Home Run Derby delivered everything fans could ask for — and then some.

In the end, Raleigh’s 18 homers in the final secured him the title and a place in the record books as the first catcher to win the event. For Caminero, the night ended in disappointment on the scoreboard, but his reaction to the unexpected catch showed sportsmanship beyond his years.

And for Sam Musterer? It was a lesson learned, and a story he’ll be telling for the rest of his life.

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