July 15, 2011

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for July 14

by Larry Granillo

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It's been two weeks since I've been around these parts - well, except for one very notable exception - but, with the All Star break over, it's time for me to join baseball in the second half of the season. I now have about ten days' worth of trots to backlog, but that won't keep me from getting on with each day's trots.

Let's get to those trots!

Home Run of the Day: Marlon Byrd, Chicago Cubs - 18.26 seconds [video]
This honor almost went to Trevor Plouffe for the Minnesota home run call that accompanied his fifth inning blast: "And the designated hitter - designatedly hit one." Yep.

But I couldn't let Marlon Byrd's return to the tater trot business go unnoticed. Byrd is still one of my favorite trotters in the game and I'm glad to see him back on the basepaths after the nasty ball-to-face injury he had earlier this year. He now sports a cheek protector on his helmet, but it didn't seem to slow his trot down any. Now if only he'd stop slowing down for those last few steps before touching home plate.

Slowest Trot: Aubrey Huff, San Francisco Giants - 25.43 seconds [video]
Another home run that could easily have been the Home Run of the Day. After being shut out all game, the Giants tied it up in the top of the ninth when Aubrey Huff hit this bomb of a solo home run. The Giants would go on to win it when the scored five in the twelfth. Huff's trot wasn't any slower because of the moment (his trots are always slow), but it's nice to imagine that was the reason it took him 25 seconds to round the bases.

Quickest Trot: Marlon Byrd, Chicago Cubs - 18.26 seconds [video]
Behind Byrd, the next quickest trot belonged to Josh Hamilton, who rounded the bases in 20.51 seconds.

All of Today's Trots

Aubrey Huff.......25.43
Asdrubal Cabrera..22.56
Mike Napoli.......21.88
Nelson Cruz.......21.87
Trevor Plouffe....21.73
Ryan Spilborghs...21.28
Andruw Jones #1...21.15
Carlos Santana....20.97
Corey Hart........20.8
Andruw Jones #2...20.79
Josh Hamilton.....20.51
Marlon Byrd.......18.26