<P> In honor of the World Baseball Classic, the 2005 contest featured eight players from different countries . The format remained the same . </P> <P> The format changed slightly in 2006 . Instead of the tally resetting for each round, it was only reset before the final round . Therefore, the players with the four highest totals after Round 1 advanced to Round 2, and the players with the two highest sum of Round 1 and 2 advanced to the finals . </P> <P> The Home Run Derby format was changed significantly in 2014, as MLB sought to speed - up the contest and increase the drama . In the new bracket format, five players from each league faced the other players in their league in Round 1, with each players having seven "outs ." The player in each league with the highest Round 1 total received a second - round bye, and the players with the second - and third - highest Round 1 totals from each league faced off . The Round 2 winner from each league faced the Round 1 winner, and the Round 3 winner crowned the league winner . The final featured the winner of each league . Each round stands alone, with the score reset for each round . Ties in any round are broken by a 3 - swing swing - off . If the players remain tied, the players engage in a sudden - death swing - off until one player homers . </P> <P> The format was changed once again in 2015 . The most significant change was the elimination of "outs", which was replaced by a time limit . Eight players are seeded based on their season home run totals and are given five minutes to hit as many home runs as possible . The winner of each head - to - head matchup advances, until a final winner is determined . If a tie occurs in any match - up, three sets of tiebreakers are employed: first, a 90 - second swing - off decides the winner; second, best - of - 3 - swing swing - off; thereafter, sudden - death swingoffs until a winner is determined . Further, a player can get "bonus time" in the last minute of each round . During that time, the clock stops for each home run, and doesn't restart until a swing does not result in a home run . Additional bonus time could be earned for distance . Players who hit at least two home runs measuring at least 420 feet (128.0 m) are given an extra minute of bonus time . An additional 30 seconds of bonus time is granted if at least one home run measures over 475 feet (144.8 m). </P>

When did the home run derby format change