April 19, 2011

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for April 18

by Larry Granillo

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For those of us in the Great Lakes area who have somehow been transported back into the middle of January, we take solace in knowing that baseball is being played around the country. It may be cold and ice-pellety outside, but at least home runs are being blasted out of parks from Los Angeles to Miami.

Let's get to those trots (before I freeze)!

Home Run of the Day: Nate Schierholtz, San Francisco Giants - 22.12 seconds [video]
With his first inning bomb, Nate Schierholtz became only the second Giant to ever hit a home run into Coors Field's third deck, joining Barry Bonds (who did it twice). The blast was tremendous. Even more amazing, though, was the fact that the ball happened to find Schierholtz's brother, who was sitting ten feet from where it landed on the one day this week he could make it away from the Air Force Academy. According to Big League Stew, the younger brother managed to get the ball when a friend of his bribed the fan who came up with it with $25. I would have made this the Home Run of the Day for the sheer magnitude of the blast, but the accompanying story is even better. What a nice day for the two Schierholtz brothers.

Slowest Trot: Pat Burrell, San Francisco Giants - 25.33 seconds [video]
The Schierholtz shot came immediately on the heels of another home run. This one was hit by Pat Burrell, who currently own the slowest trot of 2011. Monday's blast wasn't nearly as slow as the one from last week, but it was easily slow enough for the slowest of the night. The man enjoys his trots.

Quickest Trot: Chris Heisey, Cincinnati Reds - 17.84 seconds [video]
And what do you know? The only other home run Chris Heisey hit this season was also hit on April 11, the same day as Burrell's 29-second trot. Heisey had the quickest trot that day as well, continuing his top five performance from 2010. I doubt we'll be seeing another Burrell/Heisey pairing the next time either (both?) players hit one out, but I would enjoy the coincidence. Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist had an 18.56 second trot, but that was good enough only for second Monday night.