MLB All-Star Home Run Derby 2026: Lessons for Schwarber, Harper - ESPN

Wherever Bryce Harper plays away from home, he noted in a conversation in Cincinnati last week, he gets booed. «The boos are very loud where I go,» he said, through a wry smile.

«And then, at home, you get cheered. And you know, it's awesome.»

He knows from experience that the cheers that he and Kyle Schwarber will get Monday night, as the hometown guys in the 2026 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, will be thunderous.

«It's the loudest place I've ever been in my life,» he said, recalling the moments when the sound of the Philly fans turned into a force of its own. «For big moments, for curtain calls,» he said. «Our fans show up. They understand what it's like.»

Schwarber added, «It'll be amazing. From the previous Derbys I've done, I've been able to watch and you see the home guy kind of step out there and you see how much the crowd gets behind them.»

Harper served as host slugger in Derby in his home park before, winning it in Washington, D.C., in 2018, when he was with the Nationals — beating, among others, a Cubs slugger named Kyle Schwarber. Harper and Schwarber haven't spoken much about doing the Derby together this year. Just a few jokes here and there, Schwarber said. Harper assumes that the two Phillies will start on opposite sides of the bracket, to enhance the possibility of a Phillie vs. Phillie grand finale.

Harper said, «If I don't do it» — win it — «I obviously want Schwarbs to win it, to take it home.»

Before the two Phillies superstars take the stage in Philly, we asked those who have taken on the pressure of the Home Run Derby in their own home ballparks for their best — and worst — stories of the experience, along with their advice for Harper and Schwarber.

(Reached