April 9, 2011

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for April 8

by Larry Granillo

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We have now entered the second weekend of the season. Nothing is new anymore. No more Opening Days. Just six more months of great baseball ahead. It's going to be a fun year, even without Manny Ramirez.

Now let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians - 22.15* seconds [video]
The Mariners spent Friday night honoring the late, great Dave Niehaus in just about every way they could - except their play on the field. The Indians blew this game apart in the fourth inning, when they scored ten runs. The scoring was capped with a three-run homer by Travis Hafner, his second hit of the inning. The blast bounced off the glass windows in the second deck, before it was caught by that poor guy the Indians showed throwing the ball back onto the field.

Slowest Trot: Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks - 23.06 seconds [video]
Yet another day where the slowest trot of the day isn't really all that slow. And, with 24 home runs on the day, it's a bit surprising. Upton's seventh inning blast bounced off the leftfield foul pole. With the ball so close to the fair/foul boundary, it makes sense that Upton may have spent a moment or two watching the flight of the ball, trying to determine if he should run. Jason Giambi was right behind Young in trot speed, with a 22.94 second trot in Pittsburgh.

Quickest Trot: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox - 18.34 seconds [video]
Welcome to the riveting Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. You know you missed it all winter. At least the game proved fun from the Tater Trot Tracker side. Alex Rodriguez scooted out his fifth inning home run in 20.83 seconds, but it was Pedroia who took the cake. His first inning Green Monster Special came in at 18.34 seconds, a full second faster than any other home run hit on Saturday. There were five other 19-second trots, however, an unusually high number.

(Remember: I am running an experiment over the next couple of weeks. If you're interested in Tater Trot Tracker commentary during the day, follow the Tater Trot Tracker on Twitter at @TaterTrotTrkr. We'll see how it goes. You can also follow me at @Wezen_Ball.)