Public Access America

Filmed in California for the 3 weeks in December of 1959, the series aired in syndication from January 9 to July 2, 1960 and helped inspire the Home Run Derby event that is now held the day before the annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game. ESPN staged a revival of the show in 1989. The rules were similar to modern home run derbies, with two notable exceptions. If a batter did not swing at a pitch that was in the strike zone, that also constituted an out. Also, the contests were conducted in a fashion more similar to a baseball game than the modern home run derbies, in which a player has a set number of outs before his turn is over. Batters were given three outs per inning, and the player with the most home runs after nine innings won. The defending champion had the advantage of batting last; his opponent batted first. Any ball not hit for a home run was an out. The player did not have to swing at every pitch, but if a pitch was in the strike zone that also constituted an out, as did a swing and a miss.