Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier, the 2015 MLB Home Run Derby champion, was once a Little League World Series star.

Long before Reds third baseman Todd Frazier was the Home Run Derby champion, he was a kid in Toms River, N.J., starring for the local Little League team.

Frazier’s Toms River team advanced to the Little League World Series championship game in 1998, where they faced Japan. In the top of the first inning, Frazier did what we’ve become so accustomed to seeing him do: hit a long home run.

Frazier’s leadoff homer was his fourth of the tournament and Toms River went on to win the game, behind a stellar pitching performance from Frazier.

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdhVmx2iQ9E]

​• Sean Casey makes impressive catch at Home Run Derby

It seems like his Reds teammates are a little jealous, though.

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGFv0g5EUEk]

The bats Frazier used in Monday’s derby have a reminder of those days in New Jersey. They’re inscribed with the phrase “Jersey’s Finest.”

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- Dan Gartland