David Wright and Robinson Cano named captains for the 2013 Home Run Derby

David Wright of the New York Mets and Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees have been named captains of the National League and American League squads for the 2013 Home Run Derby. Cano won the event in 2011 in Phoenix, while Wright will be participating for the first time since a memorable performance in 2006. The 2013 Home Run Derby will be held Monday, July 15 at Citi Field in New York, home of the New York Mets, and televised live on ESPN beginning at 8:00pm ET.

This year's 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 Detroit Tigers winning the individual title in Kansas City. Wright and Cano will each determine the other three participants on their teams and will personally extend the invitations. Each of the captains will select a charity of their choice which they will be hitting for during the Derby.

The Home Run Derby will also raise funds for Boys & Girls Clubs of America and MLB's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program, as well as charities selected by the captains. More than $3 million has been raised for charity over the past ten years, with an all-time high of $615,000 donated through the 2012 event. Wright, who was the runner-up in the 2006 Home Run Derby, has eight home runs on the season, and his 212 career home runs rank third on the Mets all-time list behind Darryl Strawberry (252) and Mike Piazza (204). The six-time All-Star will join Strawberry (1986, 1990) and Howard Johnson (1989, 1991) as the only Mets to compete multiple times in the Home Run Derby. Wright, who has the second-most 20-homer seasons in franchise history (six), finished with 21 home runs in 2012, representing his franchise-best ninth season with double-digit home runs. He is one of 39 players since 1901 to record double-digit home runs in each of his first nine seasons in the Major Leagues. Wright will become the 16th player from a host team, and the first since Albert Pujols in the 2009 Derby at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, to participate in the Home Run Derby.

In his first career Home Run Derby appearance in 2011, Cano set a new final round record with 12 home runs, besting the previous record of 11 set by Bobby Abreu (2005), David Ortiz (2010) and Adrian Gonzalez earlier in the 2011 final. Cano, who joined Ryne Sandberg (1990) as the only second basemen to win a Home Run Derby, amassed 32 total home runs during the competition, placing him 13th on the all-time Derby list. He was also the AL captain for last year's Home Run Derby. Cano will become the first Yankees player and the first second baseman in history to participate in the Derby on three occasions. In his nine seasons with the Yankees, Cano has hit 192 home runs, including 15 thus far in 2013, which ranks first among Major League second basemen. Since his debut in 2005, his 192 home runs rank second among Major League second basemen behind Atlanta's Dan Uggla (222). The four-time All-Star has hit at least 10 home runs in each of his first nine Major League seasons, joining Hall of Famer Joe Gordon (11 straight seasons, 1938-50) as the only second basemen to accomplish the feat in Major League history.

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.