Yoenis Cespedes named to 2013 Chevrolet Home Run Derby field

Robinson Cano, the American League captain for the 2013 Chevrolet Home Run Derby, has selected Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes as the final A.L. participant in Derby, to be held on Monday, July 15th at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The announcement was made earlier this evening on ESPN's "SportsCenter."

Cespedes and Cano will be joined on the competition's A.L. squad by Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis and defending Derby Champion Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers. On the National League side, Derby captain David Wright of the host Mets has selected Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and Colorado Rockies outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer.

Cespedes will compete in the Home Run Derby for the first time in his career, and he will become the first Athletics player to participate in the event since Jason Giambi in 2001. Other Athletics to take part in the competition include Jose Canseco (1986, 1990), Mark McGwire (1987, 1990, 1992, 1996-97), Ruben Sierra (1994) and John Jaha (1999). Cespedes, a native of Campechuela, Cuba, has a team-high-tying 15 home runs on the season. The 27-year-old slugger has recorded 10 home runs on the road, which ranks eighth in the A.L. Cespedes notched the first two-homer game of his career on June 4th at Milwaukee and accomplished the feat again two days later at Chicago, becoming the first Oakland hitter to record two multi-homer games over a three-game stretch since Jaha in 1999. Cespedes also posted his third multi-homer game of the season on June 21st at Seattle. He will become the fourth player not named an All-Star to compete in the event, joining Rafael Palmeiro (BAL, 2004), Hee-Seop Choi (LA, 2005), who participated in the international-themed Derby, and Ryan Howard (PHI, 2007), who was defending his 2006 crown.

The Chevrolet Home Run Derby will continue to raise funds for Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) as well as MLB's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program. More than $3 million has been raised for charity over the past 10 years, with an all-time high of $615,000 donated through the 2012 event. Chevrolet and Major League Baseball will donate a significant amount of money to charity through the 2013 event. In addition, Chevrolet plans to award the winner of the Home Run Derby an all-new 2014 Silverado.

This year's Chevrolet Home Run Derby will continue to follow the format first introduced in 2011, featuring team competition between the A.L. and N.L. Last year, the A.L. defeated the N.L. by a final tally of 61-21, with Prince Fielder of the Tigers winning the individual title in Kansas City. Each of the captains will select a charity of their choice for which their team will be hitting during the Derby.

The donations from the 2013 Chevrolet Home Run Derby will include $150,000 to the winning captain's charity in his name; $100,000 to the BGCA in the name of the winning captain; $25,000 to the charity of the captain of the losing team in his name; and the remainder to the BGCA on behalf of Chevrolet and Major League Baseball.

The total amount of money distributed will be determined by the home runs hit during the competition. For each Gold Ball home run hit by a participant after the ninth out throughout the Chevrolet Home Run Derby, Chevrolet and Major League Baseball will combine to donate $23,000 to designated charities. The dollar figure was selected to coincide with the EPA-estimated best in class 23 miles per gallon highway that the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado features, making it the most efficient V8 in a pickup. Chevrolet and MLB will combine to make an additional donation of $3,000 for every non-Gold Ball home run hit throughout the 2013 Chevrolet Home Run Derby.

The eight participants will each be paired with a youngster representing one of eight local RBI leagues throughout the New York City region. The child paired with the winner of the Chevrolet Home Run Derby will earn $50,000 towards a baseball field makeover for their RBI league. Chevrolet and MLB will also donate $10,000 worth of baseball equipment and uniforms to each of the other seven RBI leagues.

In addition to coverage on ESPN, the 2013 Home Run Derby will be broadcast live on ESPN HD, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN, ESPN Mobile TV, and ESPN Radio in the U.S. as well as ESPN International beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT on Monday, July 15th. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.