August 2, 2011

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for August 1

by Larry Granillo

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It was a good day for multiple tater trots. Four different players in three different games each hit two home runs on Monday. Asdrubal Cabrera, Dan Uggla, Rick Ankiel, and Derrek Lee each pulled off the feat, with Uggla and Ankiel each doing it while the other was in the field. I'd like to imagine it means there was a "multi-home run" star in the sky last night - maybe Wezen was in the Third House (or the 44th or 25th Houses) - but it's probably just one of those weird coincidences. Darn.

Let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Asdrubal Cabrera #2, Cleveland Indians - N/A seconds [video]
Mike Stanton's tenth-inning, go-ahead grand slam had a good chance at making it in this spot today (because, boy, can Stanton hit!), but it wasn't enough to beat out Cabrera's reviewed home run. After appearing to bounce off the low rightfield wall near Pesky's Pole, the ball was initially ruled in play, forcing Cabrera to stop at first. The umpires reviewed the play, though, ultimately giving Cabrera the home run. Television cameras quickly cleared up any lingering doubt about the call when they zoomed in on the knee of a fan sitting in the front row where the ball landed. The stitches on the home run ball were clearly visible on the fan's skin, the ball having hit her knee on the fly and bounced into play. It's not the type of thing you see everyday.

Slowest Trot: Asdrubal Cabrera #1, Cleveland Indians - 24.81 seconds [video]
There was nothing odd or unique about Cabrera's first home run. It's just your run-of-the-mill 24-second trot from Cabrera. This trot does slide into the top spot ahead of six other 24-second trots, though, with Travis Hafner's 24.56 second trot next on the list.

Quickest Trot: Orlando Hudson, San Diego Padres - 17.22 seconds [video]
This is the kind of trot that kills me. Hudson hardly seemed to be moving fast at all and yet he sailed around the bases in only 17-seconds. What's more is that he slowed down considerably in his last two steps in order to slowly and emphatically touch home plate. If he had ran through the base instead, he may have approached 16.0 seconds (or faster). I understand when a player like Marlon Byrd or Andrew McCutchen does this because their dugouts are on the third base side, forcing the players to turn hard at the plate. Hudson's dugout in Petco Park is on the first base side, though, and he could have very easily ran through the base towards the clubhouse. Such a shame.

All of Today's Trots

Asdrubal Cabrera #1....24.81   Rick Ankiel #2.........21.12
Travis Hafner..........24.56   Mike Stanton...........21.09
Aubrey Huff............24.48   Cody Ross..............20.92
Derrek Lee #2..........24.16   Kurt Suzuki............20.43
Derrek Lee #1..........24.08   John Mayberry..........20.33
Matt Holliday..........24.06   Shane Victorino........20.12
David Ross.............22.87   Jason Bay..............20
Dan Uggla #2...........22.3    Rick Ankiel #1.........19.95
Jason Kipnis...........22.05   Chris Iannetta.........19.43
Alexei Ramirez.........21.77   Lucas Duda.............19.13*
Jarrod Saltalamacchia..21.7*   Seth Smith.............19.12
Dan Uggla #1...........21.6    Orlando Hudson.........17.22
Carl Crawford..........21.46   Asdrubal Cabrera #2....N/A