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ne summer evening in 1994, Jeff and Jon walked out into the street with a plastic bat in one hand and a whiffle ball in the other. They stood behind a line of tar on the road and took turns trying to hit the ball over a light pole. And it was fun. Jeff and Jon began to lay out the basic rules for their new game, Home Run Derby.

A few nights later, Jeff introduced Rob to his new game. Rob took to the game quite quickly, and they went on to play into the wee hours of the morning.

Since the Texas heat and passing cars would make it difficult to play Home Run Derby during the day, Rob and Jeff would play in the middle of the night. As they played, they elaborated on the rules, kept detailed statistics, and logged personal streak and distance records.

They kept losing balls down the storm drains along the street. After repeatedly climbing down into them with a flashlight to retrieve lost balls, they discovered that covering up the drains with some scrap wood to prevent them from rolling in was much easier.

Their late-night playing began to annoy the neighbors. They'd keep hitting them onto their roof and into their backyard. One day, after they found that three of THEIR balls had been stolen and labelled by their neighbors, Jon decided to confiscate the balls and relabel them. He got bitched at. After that episode, they decided to use identifying marks and creative designs on their balls so that their neighbors could no longer steal them.

As the game progressed, Jeff and Rob played at different parks and added rules to accommodate quirky situations. Hitting a ball into the bucket that they kept the balls in counted for a home run, and hitting the roof of the house across the street counted for 2 home runs, and a home run through the open front door of a house under construction counted for 10 home runs (Mitch was the only one who hit one through the door).

Eventually, Jeff and Rob decided that the game was best played on an empty, well-lit tennis court, with a fixed fence that eliminated judgement calls, passing cars, and annoying neighbors. They also agreed to simplify the game and began setting down the rules which still exist today. Home Run Derby was maturing.

Players come and go, but 10 years later the game lives on, entering the 21st century with its very own web site. Enjoy!

Click here for a more detailed historical chronology of Home Run Derby.