I watched the home run derby with some friends and fellow sports fans last night, and a few things stand out...

After his second home run in the first round, the one that hit the wall behind the right-centerfield seats, the crowd and players went so crazy that the contest was stopped down for a few moments. Again, this was after his second home run.

When the first round ended, players from both leagues surrounded Hamilton to congratulate him. It was both a credit to what he had just done, and what he has done the past couple of years, turning his life around. A player who can create that kind of spontaneous moment is special.

When Sportscenter recapped the derby, nearly the entire segment was spent on Hamilton. The winner - Justin Morneau - was barely an afterthought. To Morneau's credit, when he was interviewed after winning, he talked only about Hamilton's night and didn't mention himself, other than to say he was lucky.

In a room full of sports fans, few of us remembered the actual winners of past contests. But we remembered Abreu's first round of 24 home runs, Mark McGwire's assult on the light tower behind the Green Monster in Fenway. In other words, the winner of this contest is mostly irrelavent - it's more about creating memories and creating a legend. And that's what Hamilton did.

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