The New Best Place For A Home Run Derby: An Aircraft Carrier

This morning I lamented that our country is falling woefully behind in the "playing sports where sports aren't meant to be played" arms race. Several readers were quick to point out that I was wrong, and America continues to rock faces. Yesterday, the Class A South Atlantic League held the first round of their home run derby, in which players launched balls off the deck of an aircraft carrier. U-S-A! U-S-A!

Ten players teed off from the decommissioned USS Yorktown, sending balls into Charleston Harbor. The players were scored based on distance, which was itself judged by Coast Guard spotters, which might not have been totally accurate but they're hitting balls off a freaking aircraft carrier so that's not really the point. A good time was had by all, including Yankees prospect Tyler Austin, who was super-psyched when he heard about it last month:

"I heard about hitting off the Yorktown and I thought it was a great idea. It would be an amazing experience and a tremendous honor to take part in something like that if I'm selected."

Oh, wait, no. The Yankees didn't allow Austin to take part.