Cano revels in the challenge

PHOENIX

This typically dreadful event had picked up a touch of excitement, what with a Yankee and Red Sox facing off for the Home Run Derby championship, and that's when Adrian Gonzalez threw down the gauntlet.

Upon going deep 11 times late Monday night, leading off the championship round, Boston's first baseman turned to Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano and said, "You've got a lot of pressure."

"I don't think so," Cano responded, in his recollection Tuesday of the exchange. "Just remember: I play in New York."

And Cano, utilizing his picture-perfect swing, drilled 12 homers with apparent ease, a Yankees walk-off victory in the made-for-television contest.

Cano's slugging prowess, his boyish enthusiasm and his touching interactions with his father (and pitcher) Jose Cano elevated the Home Run Derby -- for one night, at least -- to memorable baseball theater.

And in doing so, Cano elevated his own profile, too.

To a more prominent place in the national baseball conversation. And as a future potential face of the Yankees.

"I would say yes," a typically confident Cano said Tuesday, before the All-Star Game at Chase Field, in response to the question of raising his Q score. "You come to the All-Star Game, people know you can play."

"He has nothing to prove," Boston slugger David Ortiz, who chose Cano for the Home Run Derby, said of his pal. "Everything he had to prove, he proved a long time ago. He's a young kid with a lot of talent.

"The only thing he showed the world last night was that he has pop. Just like I do."

Major League Baseball executive vice president of baseball operations Joe Torre, Cano's first major-league manager, helped present the trophy to Cano late Monday night. Tuesday, Torre recalled seeing Cano hit for the first time, as a minor-leaguer in spring training.

"He hit balls to straightaway centerfield," Torre said, "and the ball just stayed up there."

We knew Cano had some power, though, and those of us in New York know that he enjoys the spotlight. Shining on this national stage seemed to enhance those skills, though.

In a news conference Monday night, Cano carried a look of sheer joy. He expressed affection for his father, who pitched for the 1989 Houston Astros, and he successfully relaxed a 14-year-old girl named Raquelle, who was at the press table representing the Boys & Girls Clubs of greater Scottsdale, a charity of the Home Run Derby.

Most of all, he reveled in what he had just accomplished.

"Those are the kind of things, the memories that you can bring home and always share with your family," Cano said late Monday. "Not only now, but when you retire, you can look, you can look over and say, 'Wow, I was good back in the day.' "

With a night to reflect, having received countless congratulatory texts -- including one from his mentor, Alex Rodriguez -- Cano still beamed.

"Any competition, I'm going to be proud," Cano said. "Especially something like this, [where] you have to compete with the best guys in the game. Now you get a chance to be in the same game with them."

Cano, who went 0-for-2 Tuesday night, already knows what it's like to share a clubhouse with All-Stars. The 28-year-old plays a secondary role -- leadershipwise, at least -- to more-accomplished veterans such as A-Rod and Derek Jeter.

That iconic duo didn't make it here because of injuries, and Rodriguez and Jeter are facing the downsides of their careers. Cano is under control through 2013, yet if he sticks with the Yankees long-term, he possesses the mix of talent and chutzpah to be a face of the franchise.

He can start by hitting cleanup during A-Rod's rehabilitation from right knee surgery.

"I'm ready for it," Cano said, and right now, there's no reason to doubt him.