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What Had Happened Was: 7/12/16

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    2016 T-Mobile Home Run Derby
    Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the Miami Marlins bats during the 2016 T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Petco Park on Monday, July 11, 2016 in San Diego, California. Photo by Brandon Means/MLB Photos via Getty Images
    By Ryan Cortes Rhiannon Walker

    GAME. BLOUSES.

    How’s this for straight-up dominant? Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton won Monday night’s All-Star Home Run Derby by cranking 61 home runs. In the 31-year history of the event, the previous high was 41 by Bobby Abreu. If hitting 20 more bombs than anyone ever has in the contest before wasn’t impressive enough, consider these facts, from ESPN’s Jayson Stark:

    The last time the Derby was held in San Diego, there were 40 homers hit in the entire event. Stanton hit more than that by himself — in nine minutes (over two rounds) … Sammy Sosa took part in six different Home Run Derbies and hit a total of 65 homers. Stanton almost matched him in one night … Yoenis Cespedes won back-to-back Derbies, in 2013 and ’14. He hit 60 home runs in the two of them combined … He (Stanton) hit more than 27,000 feet worth of home runs. His average homer soared an incredible 447 feet. He mashed five that traveled 490 feet or longer, 10 that went 480 or longer and 31 that carried 450 or longer. He hit the 10 longest home runs of the entire event. He hit 18 of the 19 longest. All by himself.

    Salute. We respect the power, Giancarlo.

    SOCIAL STATUS

    This interview with Dr. Brian Williams, of Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, is making the rounds on social media. Williams is a trauma surgeon and operated on police officers shot during the Black Lives Matter protest last Thursday.

    He spoke poignantly about being a black man in a white coat, and the line he straddles every day fearing law enforcement and respecting them for the job it does.

    “When people say that they don’t see color, that means you’re really missing the point,” Williams told The Dallas Morning News. “I am a black man. I am a trauma surgeon. I know my experiences bring something to my job.

    “This is much more complicated for me personally.

    “There’s this dichotomy where I’m standing with law enforcement, but I also personally feel that angst that comes when you cross the path of an officer in uniform and you’re fearing for your safety. I’ve been there, and I understand that.”

    BLESSINGS!

    FOR THE CULTURE

    Cops working security for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx walked off the job after players wore shirts at a news conference supporting Black Lives Matter, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

    Huffington Post‘s Black Voices asked the question about what would happen if people treated physical illness the way they treated mental illness? Lindsay Holmes then explored what that would look like.

    Orlando residents did a sit-in at Sen. Marco Rubio’s office to demand for gun reform after the Orlando massacre.

    Marie Claire‘s Roxane Gay discussed how one thing came perfectly into focus over the past week: Black Lives Matter allies simply aren’t enough.

    DeRay McKesson was interviewed by Katie Couric and asked to respond to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s comments calling Black Lives Matter a racist organization. McKesson was not with the tomfoolery, and read Giuliani like a book.

    TOP THREE TWEETS

    Every morning we’ll hit you here with the best of what we saw on social media the previous night. Why? Why not?

    1. THE FASHIONISTA

    2. *DAPS J.J. WATT*

    3. GOTTA NAME ‘EM ALL

    #ICYMI

    Our man Mike Wise took a look back at the career of the best power forward ever and everything that made Tim Duncan so unique:

    Duncan played the game that time forgot. He had New York Knick Bill Bradley’s elbow jumper and Boston Celtic Sam Jones’ understanding of trajectories and angles when it came to using the glass. He had Celtic Bill Russell’s incredible economy of movement – knowing when to rest, when to explode, exactly how many steps he had to slide over to rotate to someone else’s man. And, yes, he possessed the fundamentals of a certain hick from French Lick Duncan never had the urge to ride the AND1 bus. Never saw the benefit in talking junk to the man guarding him. His oldfangled game and stoic demeanor were so vanilla that the Duke student section took to calling him “Spock.” And he knew damn well what they were saying in NBA locker rooms and in the barbershops: “He’s not really a brother. OK, he’s from the Virgin Islands. But he’s not a brother.”

    PICTURE PERFECT

    Ryan Cortes is a staff writer for The Undefeated. Lemon pepper his wings.

    Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she might have a heart attack if Frank Ocean doesn't drop his second album.

    This Story Tagged: San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan What Had Happened Was Miami Marlins Giancarlo Stanton Pokemon