ARLINGTON — Gunnar Henderson walked onto ESPN’s on-field set at the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on Monday night at Globe Life Field, grabbed the microphone and delivered exactly what was asked of him. The 23-year-old Orioles shortstop snuck a few peeks directly into the hard camera in the process.
“Ruh-roh, Raggy!” Henderson said while using his spot-on Scooby-Doo impersonation, adding his version of the cartoon Great Dane’s trademark laugh.
An impression that went viral on social media earlier this year did so again after being delivered to a national TV audience.
Although Henderson hit only 11 homers in his Derby debut — resulting in a first-round exit — he had plenty of fun. He also used a custom Scooby-Doo bat painted the blue, green and orange colors of the Mystery Machine and featuring the phrases “ZOINKS!” and “RUH-ROH!” That led to ESPN’s Eduardo Pérez asking Henderson to break out the voice shortly before the event began.
The lumber was made by Chandler Bats, a sporting goods manufacturer based in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and it is still cool, even if it didn’t produce quite enough home runs.
“I wish it had a little more Scooby Snacks in it,” said Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton, Henderson’s former Minor League skipper who served as his Derby pitcher.
Henderson’s impressionist skills went viral earlier this season in an episode of “The Chill,” an Orioles-produced show in which several players sit down and discuss just about anything and everything. Not only did he impersonate Scooby-Doo, but he also revealed that he can do an incredible impression of much-maligned Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks.
What made Henderson want to use a Scooby-Doo bat in his first Home Run Derby?
“Well, I’m sure you’ve all heard the impression by now,” Henderson said. “And then, when I was younger, that was my favorite show growing up.”
No matter what type of lumber Henderson uses at the plate, he has some of the best bat speed in MLB. However, that didn’t translate to Derby results on Monday.
Henderson started slow, using his timeout after hitting four home runs over his first 16 pitches. Then, he added seven more during regulation time, but he was unable to go deep during the three-out bonus round.
“It was definitely a tiring experience. After that timeout, my legs were shot,” Henderson said. “I was glad to make it through it and at least hit double digits.”
The Phillies’ Alec Bohm (21), the Guardians’ José Ramírez (21), the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. (20) and the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández (19) advanced to the second round. Hernández was the eventual champion, outslugging Witt 14-13 in the finals.
Henderson had the advantage of going last in the opening round — a reward for his 28 homers this season, the most of any Derby participant and third most in MLB — but the deficit was too much to overcome.
“Crazy environment. He’s never done anything like this, I’ve never done anything like this,” Britton said. “He doesn’t quite have that big swing like the other guys have to really hit the ball high in the air. It’s really a lot of low, hard contact, low angles. But man, we had a hell of a time.”
It will still be a memorable night for Henderson, who is also a first-time All-Star and will be starting at shortstop for the American League in Tuesday night’s Midsummer Classic. He’ll be joined by Baltimore teammates Corbin Burnes, Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg.
Rutschman, Santander and Westburg were on the field for the Home Run Derby to cheer on Henderson, with Westburg holding up an orange rally towel that read “Gunnar” when Henderson was introduced prior to the start of the event. Burnes (the AL’s starting pitcher) hadn’t yet arrived in Arlington because he was spending time at home with his newborn twin daughters.
For a player like Henderson — a fun-loving youngster who is a Star Wars nerd, competes in season-long Lego-building competitions with teammate Colton Cowser and has no trouble keeping things light over the grind of the long baseball calendar — it was appropriate that his showing at the Derby was tied to a cartoon dog.
Henderson wasn’t even surprised that he got an opportunity to do his Scooby impression on-air.
“I felt like if I kept mentioning it, I was probably going to at some point,” Henderson said with a smile. “It was pretty funny.”
