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HOUSTON -- It may have been the most historic of all Century 21 Home Run Derby contests on Monday night at Minute Maid Park.

It included three of the four active players who've surpassed the 500 mark and was prefaced by the introduction of 10 more who have retired.

But a Baltimore shortstop with 171 career homers and a hometown hero with just 142 -- two guys who weren't even in the original eight-man Derby lineup -- stole the show.

Miguel Tejada hit 27 homers on the evening and 15 of them in the second round, both records, breaking the marks set by the Cardinals' Albert Pujols last year. He followed up the record second-round performance by edging Astros right fielder Lance Berkman, 5-4, in the finals. Tejada's five homers in the finals came after five outs, half of the requisite total.

"I was just hoping to hit one home run," said Tejada, a late replacement for the Yankees' Jason Giambi. "Then I'm standing out there on the field and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God. I won the Home Run Derby.'"

Tejada not only won the Derby, but he won $250,000 toward a new home for Paula Benton of Renton, Wash., courtesy of Century 21.

It was a fitting end to one of baseball's all-time feel-good evenings. And it was an ironic twist that by the time the finals came around all the active 500-homer hitters in the Derby -- Barry Bonds (681), Sammy Sosa (555) and Rafael Palmeiro (541) -- had been eliminated. Ken Griffey Jr. (501), wasn't even able to compete because of a sore hamstring.

The event began with the 14 living members of the 500-lifetime homer club all honored at a media conference and a presentation on the field just before the Derby.

After the introduction of the eight participants, including the three active members, the retired 10 were all presented to the sellout crowd of 41,754. One by one they each came out to the field -- Willie McCovey because of his battered knees in a wheelchair -- and the rest of them slapped hands with the active players.

"After I saw those guys walking in front of me, I just got chills," Tejada said. "It was unbelievable. Never in my life did I think I'd have these guys say hello to me."

Berkman, who replaced Griffey in the contest, swung his way into the finals with 10 homers in the second round. But he needed three homers on consecutive pitches near the end of the finals to finish that round with four. He had 21 total on the night, 17 in the first two rounds.

"That second round, I just got into a nice groove," Berkman said. "It was really neat to be able to perform in front of the home crowd. The support they gave us was just tremendous.

"But that last round, I think i just ran out of gas. It was hot. There's no excuses, obviously. Tejada set the record for the most homers in a derby. He obviously deserved to win."

Eight of Berkman's 10 homers in the second round, coming with the roof open, either cleared or came close to clearing the 58-foot high tan wall that separates the stadium from Crawford Street. His longest was his last, clocking in at 493 feet.

Tejada, using Kansas City manager and American League All-Star coach Tony Pena as a batting practice pitcher, got into an even better groove. His longest was 497 feet disappearing into the dark Texas night.

"I'm used to watching this from my house, watching it on the TV," Tejada said. "But what happened here tonight is something I'm never going to forget."

 

Miguel Tejada, Orioles 171 15 7 15 5* 27   Lance Berkman, Astros 142 16 7 10 4   21     Rafael Palmeiro, Orioles 541 13 9   5 -- 14     Barry Bonds, Giants 681 23 8   3 -- 11     Sammy Sosa, Cubs 555 16 5 -- -- 5     Jim Thome, Phillies 409 28 4 -- -- 4     Hank Blalock, Rangers   55 23 3 -- -- 3     David Ortiz, Red Sox 112 23 3 -- -- 3