All-Star Fever: Class AA Gets Creative with Home Run Derby READING, Pa. - A thousand miles east of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Class AA put on a show of its own. At the 2012 Class AA All-Star festivities, the Eastern League Home Run Derby at First Energy Stadium - which is the home of the Reading Phillies - the organizers took creative license with the event. The 31 players representing 12 teams were allotted two minutes to accumulate as many points as possible. Points were scored by hitting home runs at targets on the field. Small targets like pink flamingos, tires and shopping carts (20 points each) were distributed across the outfield. There were also bigger objects: a trampoline in left field (20 points), a dunk tank (20 points) in right field, and a cherry picker crane in center field (100 points). "We wanted to do something fun, we did not want to copy anybody else," said Scott Hunsicker, the general manager of the Reading Phillies. The event was more than a well-crafted publicity stunt. It was designed to benefit the local United Way organization. "We would not have done this without the United Way tie-in," Hunsicker said. I couldn't ask the players to participate in this crazy event just to sell tickets and make money. Each of the 31 hitters was matched with a United Way agency. The winning hitter, Chris Rahl of the Harrisburg Senators (a Nationals affiliate), won $1,000 for the Council on Chemical Abuse in Berks County, a resource for drug and alcohol prevention and addiction treatment. Rahl, the oldest hitter in the competition at 28, scored 340 points, while hitting six home runs, one of which hit the crane. Rahl has hit .299 with 10 home runs this year. The derby was a highlight of his season, he said. "Its one of those things I'll remember for the rest of my life," Rahl said. It was a lot of fun, I had a great time. With ticket sales, raffles, and Rahl's purse, the derby raised more than $20,000. "These batters helped so much and they didn't even know it," Hunsicker said. They were just having fun. Pete Barrett is a sophomore at Gettysburg College. He is on Twitter @PeteBarrettJr.