The 2017 Home Run Derby will be held following the first two WSEM Championship Series games on Saturday, August 12. The top 10 home run hitters from the season will take part, competing in two rounds to decide the 2017 HR Derby Champion.
The Opening Round will feature all 10 participants getting two minutes to hit as many home runs as they can. The ball must land before the next pitch can be thrown, and each competitor will get a 30 second timeout to use at their discretion. It is a free-for-all format with the entire field against each other. The two players with the most home runs will move on to the final round.
In the event of a tie for the second spot, the tied participants will Jack Off to see who moves on: a Jack Off consists of the batters going swing for swing; a player moves on when he hits a home run, and his opponent does not. If both hit home runs or both fail, the Jack Off continues. A three-way tie will bring a three-way Jack Off, in which the rules are the same, just with more possible outcomes: if one player hits a home run and neither opponent does, the player who hit one advances; if two players hit home runs and one does not, those two players continue one mano a mano; if all hit home runs or all fail, every stays engaged and goes again.
The Final Round then goes back to the classic home run derby style to determine the champion. The clock is off, and each of the final 2 participants will get 10 outs to hit as many home runs as possible. An out being any swing that does not result in a home run. In the event of a ties in the Final Round, the batters will first face off again with 3 outs. Any subsequent tie after the additional 3 outs will be decided by a Jack Off.
The top 10 home run hitters were determined simply by total HR hit during the 2017 season, with AB/HR used as a tie-breaker when needed. Meet the participants and the potential alternates below:
Hitting order will be chosen by the competitors. Greg Brannan, #1 rank, will get to choose his preferred spot in the order (1-10) first. Then, Kyle Tomlinson will be able to choose where he hits from the remaining spots, and so on down the list. In the event a player is not able to participate, their spot in the field will be offered to the alternates in order starting with the first alternate and going down the list.
The Opening Round will feature all 10 participants getting two minutes to hit as many home runs as they can. The ball must land before the next pitch can be thrown, and each competitor will get a 30 second timeout to use at their discretion. It is a free-for-all format with the entire field against each other. The two players with the most home runs will move on to the final round.
In the event of a tie for the second spot, the tied participants will Jack Off to see who moves on: a Jack Off consists of the batters going swing for swing; a player moves on when he hits a home run, and his opponent does not. If both hit home runs or both fail, the Jack Off continues. A three-way tie will bring a three-way Jack Off, in which the rules are the same, just with more possible outcomes: if one player hits a home run and neither opponent does, the player who hit one advances; if two players hit home runs and one does not, those two players continue one mano a mano; if all hit home runs or all fail, every stays engaged and goes again.
The Final Round then goes back to the classic home run derby style to determine the champion. The clock is off, and each of the final 2 participants will get 10 outs to hit as many home runs as possible. An out being any swing that does not result in a home run. In the event of a ties in the Final Round, the batters will first face off again with 3 outs. Any subsequent tie after the additional 3 outs will be decided by a Jack Off.
The top 10 home run hitters were determined simply by total HR hit during the 2017 season, with AB/HR used as a tie-breaker when needed. Meet the participants and the potential alternates below:
| Rk | PLAYER | HR | AB/HR | |
| 1 |  |
Greg Brannan | 23 | 6.3 |
| 2 |  |
Kyle Tomlinson | 18 | 7.3 |
| 3 |  |
Dennis Pearson | 16 | 6.1 |
| 4 |  |
Stephen Farkas | 15 | 7.7 |
| 5 |  |
Brandon Corbett | 14 | 8.6 |
| 6 |  |
Ray Brown | 14 | 9.1 |
| 7 |  |
Nathan Gendron | 13 | 9.3 |
| 8 |  |
David Castle | 13 | 11.9 |
| 9 |  |
Chris Paquin | 12 | 9.8 |
| 10 |  |
Michael Giguere | 11 | 11.4 |
Alternates: 1: Chandler Phillips (11 / 11.6), 2: Nick Braden (10 / 9.1), 3: Kyle Schultz (10 / 10.5), 4: Scott Kujawa (10 / 15.0), 5: Travis Strojny (10 / 15.9) |
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Hitting order will be chosen by the competitors. Greg Brannan, #1 rank, will get to choose his preferred spot in the order (1-10) first. Then, Kyle Tomlinson will be able to choose where he hits from the remaining spots, and so on down the list. In the event a player is not able to participate, their spot in the field will be offered to the alternates in order starting with the first alternate and going down the list.
