2009: Joe Mauer
One of the biggest complaints during Joe Mauer‘s career was his lack of power. However, the Twins great made an appearance in the Home Run Derby in 2009 thanks to 15 HR in his first 64 games of the year. As part of a season where Mauer would hit a career-high 29 HR on his way to the American League MVP Award, he would go head-to-head with Pujols, Fielder and future Twin Nelson Cruz.
Mauer would take his swings with his high school coach doing the pitching and he would fare well by his power standards, hitting five balls over the fence in the first round. Although Mauer was on a power surge throughout the 2009 season, his gap-to-gap style wouldn’t produce success as he would fall just short of making the cut.
As for Cruz, he participated as a member of the Texas Rangers and would head to the finals to challenge Fielder. Fielder would get the upper hand in that battle, hitting a majestic blast to win the finals by a score of 6-5.