If you have five minutes to kill, watch this thing. It's a Home Run Derby, except I don't think you are supposed to hit home runs. Instead they are putting some kind of insane obstacle course or, like, a Dave and Buster's restaurant on the field.
Baseballtown put together this fever dream of a competition for it's All-Star week festivities, helpfully explained by Reading Phillies GM Scott Hunsicker. There's going to be a bar behind second base. There's also going to be sausage and hot dogs and a raw bar in the infield while people stand there behind large nets "while the balls sizzling over their heads."
It is a master class in "But wait, there's more!"
Rather than home runs, it seems there are targets to hit. There is going to be a person on a trampoline trying to catch batted balls. There will also be a person suspended from a crane trying to catch balls. Mascots will also be running around trying to catch batted balls. All these things are worth "hundreds of points" (or negative points!) for the batters.
The home run derby hitting challenge is this Tuesday night and it benefits charity, so that's nice, but...what?