Triple-A Derby contestants announced

Six of Triple-A's top sluggers are set to compete in the annual Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby scheduled for Monday, July 12, at 7 p.m. Eastern time at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pa. Two Lehigh Valley area high school players who qualified through preliminaries earlier this season at Coca-Cola Park will join the Triple-A sluggers.

The All-Star Home Run Derby is being held in conjunction with the 2010 Triple-A All-Star Game, a match-up between the top players from the International League and Pacific Coast League that will take place at Coca-Cola Park on Wednesday, July 14, with a live broadcast on MLB Network.

The three players who share the lead in Triple-A Baseball with 22 home runs this season headline the field, including the International League leader, Dan Johnson of Durham. Joining him from the IL will be Jeff Frazier of Toledo, who has 15 home runs, and Andy Tracy of the host Lehigh Valley IronPigs, owner of 12 long balls this season.

Brad Eldred of Colorado Springs, who will celebrate his 30th birthday on the day of the Derby, and J.P. Arencibia of Las Vegas are tied for the PCL lead with 22 home runs. Also participating from the Pacific Coast League will be Omaha's Alex Gordon, with his 12 round trippers.

D.J. King, an 18-year-old recent graduate of Nazareth High School, qualified first in the preliminaries at Coca-Cola Park. King will be playing at Bloomsburg University (Pa.) next season. Finishing second in the qualifying was 17-year-old Westyn Baylor, who set a school record with 10 home runs this year for Bangor High School.

Statistical Information:
IL participants: Age / 2010 Total / Career-high HR / Career-to-date
Jeff Frazier, Toledo: 27 / 15 / 15 (2010) / 67
Dan Johnson, Durham: 30 / 22 / 29 (2004) / 215
Andy Tracy, Lehigh Valley: 36 / 12 / 37 (1999) / 282

PCL participants: Age / 2010 Total / Career-high HR / Career-to-date
J.P. Arencibia, Las Vegas: 24 / 22 / 27 (2008) / 73
Brad Eldred, Colorado Springs: 29 / 22 / 40 (2005) / 210
Alex Gordon, Omaha: 26 / 12 / 29 (2006) / 83

Did you know ...
Pacific Coast League sluggers have won the last two Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derbies. In 2008, Tucson's Jamie D'Antona defeated Toledo's Mike Hessman in the final round to win the Derby at Louisville Slugger Field. At last year's event, hometown favorite Chad Huffman of Portland got by Scranton/WB's Shelley Duncan in the finals.