Felix Carrasco chose to hit left-handed in the Home Run Derby and ended up with the crown. (Mike Janes/MLB.com) MiLB Headlines Javs edge Dogs, win AFL title LA's Mitchell wins Stenson Award Desme named AFL MVP Path of the Pros: Ian Kinsler No surgery needed for Strasburg New BayBears logo reflects past Promo Preview: Charitable deeds Leake ends whirlwind year strong Double-A All-Stars named Rickwood Classic marks milestone AFL Championship preview D-backs get Heilman from Cubs ADVERTISEMENT

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"I've got more power from the left side, so I decided to hit left-handed," said Carrasco, who has hit seven of his 12 home runs this season from the left side.

Whatever the reason, it worked. The first baseman hit 11 out in the first round, seven more in the second and three quick ones in the final round to beat Clinton's Ian Gac -- the League's home run leader at the break -- to capture the title in front of 5,494 fans on Monday night.

"It's the first time I've been in this kind of event, so I'm very happy," said Carrasco through interpreter and Great Lakes manager Juan Bustabad. "I was thinking about hitting 30, but I'm pretty happy with it."

It seemed like he certainly could have in the final round, while Gac, who tops the Midwest League in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage, ran out of gas. Gac hit eight in the first round and six more in the second to make it, but led off with just two long balls in the final round. He did crank some moon shots out to left -- he evidently didn't get the memo that right-handed hitters wouldn't be able to do well with the wind blowing out to right -- including one that reportedly hit the windshield of a car driving by on Buttles Street beyond the left-field fence.

"I got some pretty good, but I didn't have the scoreboard to gauge distances," Gac said. "I got a little tired at the end, but [Felix] looks pretty fresh. He looks like he could do another derby."

Carrasco used the big scoreboard in right field for target practice, launching several shots off of it throughout the competition, though that wasn't his goal. "I was trying to hit it over the scoreboard," joked the 21-year-old Carrasco, whose 12 homers are tied for second in the league after not hitting a ball out of the yard in 101 at-bats between the Rookie-level Arizona League and Class A Short-Season Northwest League in 2007. "The hard work is really paying off. I didn't feel tired."

Johnson, Italiano draw starting nods

Whoever you see on the mound in the first inning of the Thursday night's All-Star Game, you'll be seeing a terrific story of overcoming adversity to find what was once considered sure-fire success. And both might not be in the Midwest League for much longer.

Great Lakes Loons starter Steven Johnson came here to Midland with high hopes at the start of the 2007 season. After a strong campaign with Ogden in the Pioneer League, the right-hander who had been a 13th-round draft pick in the 2005 Draft was given the Opening Day start in the first-ever regular-season game at the Dow Diamond. It didn't go as planned, and he went 3-6 with a 4.85 ERA and missed two months of the season with a shoulder injury.

He's bounced back this year in a repeat tour of the Midwest League and is tied for the lead with eight wins and 10th overall with his 2.60 ERA. After picking up the first start and first strikeout in this ballpark, getting to start the All-Star Game here is a nice reward for all the hard work.

"He's come a long way," said Dodgers farm director De Jon Watson, who was in attendance Monday. "He's getting back to the Steven Johnson we knew. He's established himself well in this league. I'm really excited for the kid."

Watson and Johnson himself point to his performance in Hawaii Winter Baseball as a bit of a turning point for the 20-year-old. After returning to Great Lakes last summer and posting a 2.48 ERA in six August games, he finished seventh in Hawaii with a 2.05 ERA and a boatload of confidence.

"Last year was tough and I just wanted to do well in Hawaii," Johnson said. "It definitely helped my confidence. It showed me that I can do it, that I can go back to the way it was.

"The biggest part was that I wanted to keep it going. [Getting the All-Star Game] start is big. It's pretty special. Someday I'll be able to look back at this -- that I had the first start here and the first All-Star Game start -- and really appreciate it."

The Western Division starter, Kane County's Craig Italiano, also values the nod. A second-round pick of the A's back in 2005, he'd managed to throw a combined total of 53 2/3 innings through last season due to a variety of injuries. In 2006, it was shoulder surgery. He was ready to come back full strength last year and then suffered a fractured skull on a line drive.

Now though, the one-time Texas high school fireballer is feeling 100 percent and leading the Midwest League with a 1.09 ERA. He's fourth in strikeouts, has a perfect 7-0 record and has held hitters to a .177 batting average-against.

"He's definitely earned [the start]," said Clinton and Western Division All-Star Team manager Mike Micucci.

"It's awesome," said Italiano, now 22. "It's an opportunity of a lifetime. I'm excited and looking forward to it."

When Italiano came out of the high school ranks, he was all fastball all the time. There were some, at the time, who thought he'd have to be a reliever as a result. The silver lining in the injury cloud, particularly the shoulder surgery, is that he has a better understanding of what he's doing on the mound than he did when he first signed with the A's organization.

"I'm definitely a better pitcher than I was back then," Italiano said. "I was just a thrower with one pitch. I didn't need anything else in high school. But here, you can't do that. All of it has definitely made me a better pitcher."

And Tuesday, it will make him an All-Star starter.

Former HR champ takes in Derby

Darrell Evans hit 414 dingers in his big league career. Back in 1985, he became the first player to hit 40 in a year in both leagues. In other words, the two-time All-Star knows a little something about the long ball. Yet the man with 21 years of Major League service couldn't help but be impressed with the participants in the Home Run Derby.

"It's harder than you think," said Evans, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the event and was set to participate in the Swing with the Legends golf tournament Tuesday as part of the All-Star festivities. "You get nervous and then there are days when you're just not hitting well."

Evans, a member of the 1984 Detroit Tigers championship team that many here remember fondly, recalls participating in a few home run derbies over the course of his career. A Southern California native, he loved the old Home Run Derby show that was filmed at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. His own experience, he doesn't recall with as much fondness.

Back in 1986 Evans believed it to be, Major League Baseball had a season-long derby. The home run leader from two teams would face off against each other when one came to another's town in a sort of round-robin tournament idea. Evans, despite hitting 103 homers from 1985-'87, didn't last too long.

"I don't think I did very well," Evans said with a chuckle. "Maybe I hit four."

Jonathan Mayo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

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