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As announced by Major League Baseball, there were changes to the format of the Home Run Derby in 2014. Five players participated from each league, making ten total participants rather than eight in the past. The batting order for the first round was determined prior to the event, with hitter #1 for the National League hitting first, followed by hitter #1 for the American League, and so on until each participant has batted. Each participant received seven outs, rather than 10 in previous years. The player who hit the most home runs from each league in the first round received a bye to the semifinals. The participants with the second and third most home runs from each league will face each other to determine the second semifinalist. The NL semifinal occurred first followed by the AL semifinal. The semifinal winners from each league competed in the finals to determine the Home Run Derby champion. The batting order for the finals was determined by a coin flip. The flex ball, replacing the golden ball from past years, came into play after 6 outs. A home run hit off of a flex ball resulted in a $10,000 donation to charity by Gillette and MLB. Ties in any round were broken by a 3-swing swing-off, and if still needed, sudden-death swings until one player homers and the other does not.