April 20, 2011

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for April 19

by Larry Granillo

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There were 22 home runs hit across the league on Tuesday, which easily could have been more if Chicago and St. Louis hadn't been forced to postpone their games due to an unscheduled visit from the ice planet Hoth. It was truly bizarre.

The big story from Tuesday's games isn't exactly home run-related, but it's oh-so-close. I'll get to that in a follow-up post, but I bet those who watched the Angels game last night know what I'm talking about.

So how about we race to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants - 23.43 seconds [video]
Of the actual home runs hit on Tuesday, very few actually stood out as momentous. Chris Young hit a bomb in Cincinnati that continues to prove that the Arizona Diamondbacks are filled with guys who can hit the ball really, really hard. Pablo Sandoval's blast in Colorado was pretty similar to Young's, but I'm calling it the Home Run of the Day because it helps illustrate what's going on with the Giants right now.

San Francisco entered this series in Denver at 8-7, four games behind the Rockies. In the two games they've played so far, the Giants have outscored the Rockies 14-4, with 12 of those runs being scored in the first three innings of the two games (and seven in the games' first innings). That's a pretty impressive statement to be making so early.

Slowest Trot: Vladimir Guerrero, Baltimore Orioles - 24.83 seconds [video]
As I said last night on Twitter, any trot from Vlad that comes in under 25 seconds is Vlad running hard. I wasn't exaggerating. Of Vlad's 29 home runs last year, only four came in that fast, with only one coming in faster than 24 seconds. How Vlad ever ran out a 22.65 second trot is beyond me.

Quickest Trot: Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees - 17.88 seconds [video]
And though Curtis Granderson isn't exactly Adam Rosales with his consistency, the guy does run really fast. He's been among the top 3 or so trotters every time he's hit a home run this year. Let's hope he keeps it up.