Cal Raleigh wins 2025 MLB Home Run Derby: ‘It means the world’
Cal Raleigh called the shot of a lifetime years ago. In a childhood video spreading like social-media wildfire, ‘Big Dumper’ was the Home Run Derby champion of his North Carolina backyard as an eight-year-old superstar in the making sang for the camera:
“I’m the Home Run Derby champ! … I’m the Home Run Derby champ! What you say, what you say? I’m the man, I’m the man! Oh yeah, oh yeah!”
Two decades later, the Dumping is complete — and Seattle’s catcher is the Home Run Derby champion of the world.
“I’m not a backyard Home Run Derby champ,” Raleigh told ESPN on Monday night with a smile. “I’m a big league Home Run Derby champ.”
Raleigh’s historic campaign now includes a home run-hitting spectacle, bolstering his case for the greatest season ever by a catcher. The Mariners backstop claimed Monday night’s 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby crown, outslugging Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in the championship round for the title at Truist Park in Atlanta.
With Cal’s father, Todd, on the mound and his 15-year-old brother, Todd Jr., catching behind the plate, Raleigh deposited a grand total of 54 home runs well into the Atlanta night. He advanced through the opening round by less than a one-inch margin — more on that shortly — before defeating Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz in the semifinals and Caminero in more-comfortable fashion.
The switch-hitter is the first catcher in MLB history to win the Derby, launching homers from both sides of the plate one night before starting for the American League in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game.
“It means the world,” Raleigh told ESPN with a flashy, Derby champion chain draped around his neck. “I could’ve hit zero home runs, and I would’ve had just as much fun.”
GIVE AN INCH, TAKE A MILE
Four of the Derby’s eight contestants advanced through Monday night’s opening round — but when Raleigh and Athletics slugger Brent Rooker tied for fourth with 17 home runs apiece, a swing-off appeared imminent.
Instead, a distance tiebreaker settled the score, determined by their longest home runs of the round.
Rooker: 470.53 feet.
Raleigh: 470.61 feet.
What a difference 0.08 feet — or just 0.96 inches — can make, for Raleigh took a mile from the inch Rooker gave him. The rest is history.
Caminero and Cruz (21 home runs) paced the first round, followed by Minnesota’s Byron Buxton (20) and Raleigh’s razor-thin nod over Rooker. Cruz demolished the Derby’s deepest blast early on, measured at 513 feet beyond Truist Park’s right-center bleachers.
Washington’s James Wood (16 home runs), Atlanta’s Matt Olson (15), and New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (three) also failed to clear the Derby’s first hurdle.
BIG DUMPER WRITES MORE HISTORY
Raleigh crushed 19 homers in a head-to-head semifinal with Cruz and 18 more to eclipse Caminero for the trophy at Truist Park, hand-delivered by All-Star teammates Randy Arozarena, Andres Munoz, and Bryan Woo.
The MVP of a home-run spectacle? Raleigh’s younger brother, Todd Jr., known as ‘T’ in the family household, Cal insists.
“(T) was hyping me up,” Raleigh said, the Derby’s betting favorite entering his momentous night (+300). “He was firing me up the whole time. I’d hit one good and he’d be like, ‘Let’s go!’ It just got me going.
“I think that’s why I had good spurts during the Derby. He was talking through me to my dad, talking about where he’s throwing. It was a lot of fun. It was an awesome experience.”
Raleigh, 28, is the second Mariners player to win the Derby, joining Seattle legend Ken Griffey Jr., who won the event three times (1994, 1998-99). Junior enjoyed a front-row seat to Raleigh’s heroics, a credentialed sports photographer in his latest chapter.
“He was just super proud of me,” Raleigh said of the Hall-of-Famer. “It’s obviously really cool to see him the whole time.
“I tried to look like him with the backwards hat, so hopefully I made him proud.”
Cal Raleigh’s 38 home runs lead MLB this season, one shy of Barry Bonds’ all-time record of 39 homers before the All-Star break.
BY THE NUMBERS
Full results from Monday’s T-Mobile Home Run Derby in Atlanta:
FIRST ROUND
Junior Caminero, TB (21)
Oneil Cruz, PIT (21)
Byron Buxton, MIN (20)
Cal Raleigh, SEA (17)*
Brent Rooker, ATH (17)
James Wood, WAS (16)
Matt Olson, ATL (15)
Jazz Chisholm Jr., NYY (3)
*Raleigh bested Rooker in a distance tiebreaker by 0.96 inches, 470.61 feet-470.53 feet.
SEMIFINALS
Caminero def. Buxton, 8-7
Raleigh def. Cruz, 19-13
CHAMPIONSHIP
Raleigh def. Caminero, 18-15
“I think that every dad that’s ever had a kid... this is what they dream about,” Todd Raleigh said, the former head baseball coach at Western Carolina (2000-07) and Tennessee (2008-11). “As a dad, you kind of dream about it.
“To see it come true for your son is unbelievable.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2025 at 8:19 PM with the headline "Cal Raleigh wins 2025 MLB Home Run Derby: ‘It means the world’."
