Home Run Derby ratings up from last year
ESPN was top-rated network in prime time on Monday night
The home run is still king.
In a season that includes two players with at least 30 homers and 90 RBIs before the All-Star break for the first time in baseball history, millions tuned in to watch Yoenis Cespedes light it up during Monday night's Chevrolet Home Run Derby, which drew a 5.0 metered market rating on ESPN according to Nielsen, up 6 percent from last year. ESPN was the top-rated network in prime time on Monday night, based on the metered market numbers.
The top-rated markets were Detroit (9.8), Pittsburgh (9.6), Baltimore (9.0), New York (7.9) and St. Louis (7.4).
As Cespedes hammered 17 homers in the first round Monday, social media websites followed suit. Twitter exploded with about 10,000 tweets per minute and 10 worldwide trends related to the Derby.
With players increasing their involvement on social media, they picked up quite the gathering of followers during the night.
Cespedes, who began Monday with about 16,000 followers (@ynscspds) had passed the 40,000-mark by Tuesday afternoon. Other players to see large increases in Twitter following the Derby included Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407; plus-18,002), Prince Fielder (@RealPFielder28; plus-9,526), Mike Trout (@Trouty20; plus-7,893) and Matt Harvey (@MattHarvey33; plus-4,388).
During Tuesday's All-Star Game at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, computer stations will be set up next to each clubhouse allowing players to reach out via social media once they are removed from the game.