Texans quarterback Matt Schaub bested nine of his teammates to win the 2010 Reliant Energy Home Run Derby at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, on Thursday.
Schaub won for the second consecutive year, hitting eight total home runs and beating right tackle Eric Winston by a count of 3-0 in the championship round. The event raised $31,700 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, with Schaub's swings bringing in a total of $5,500.
"It's one of the events that we really look forward to as a group, and we have a lot of fun with it," Schaub said. "It's competition and it's bragging rights in the locker room. It's just a lot of fun to ultimately see how much money that we can raise for the kids."
Winston, a left-handed batter, made a name for himself in the event in 2008 and 2009 by hitting several home runs deep into the upper deck in right field. He did so using a bat given to him by Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers' all-star outfielder who went to college with Winston at Miami (Fla.).
But Winston wasn't able to generate much power with Braun's bat in the early goings of this year's derby. Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt, who was watching from behind the backstop, offered him a new bat, and it helped Winston to hit three home runs and earn a spot in the finals against Schaub.
Each home run was worth $500, and each fly ball that reached the outfield netted $100. Schaub, Winston and linebacker Zac Diles participated in a bonus round at the end of the derby in which home runs were worth $5,000 apiece.
"Baseball was my first love," said Diles, who finished tied for third in the derby with two home runs. "I actually wanted to play baseball when I got to college, but I went to junior college and football season was first and I didn't want to do two sports, so I went with football."
More than 200 children from the Boys & Girls Clubs watched the event from the stands at Minute Maid Park. Since 2006, Reliant Energy has now donated $101,280 to the Boys & Girls Clubs through the annual home run derby.
"That's huge for the Boys & Girls Clubs," Diles said. "To come out here and raise some money for a good cause and have a good time doing it, it was a great experience for everybody."
Other players who participated were safety Dominique Barber (2 home runs), wide receiver David Anderson (1), tight end James Casey (1), tackle Duane Brown (0), wide receiver André Davis (0), center Chris Myers (0) and quarterback Dan Orlovsky (0).
