September 20, 2012

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for September 19

by Larry Granillo

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Three rainouts on Tuesday meant that we had a couple of doubleheaders last night. Overall, there were 17 games played around the league - and only 21 home runs hit. I think that means we're getting into the cold and soggy parts of the season.

Let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers - 25.77 seconds [video]
Adam Jones, Matt Kemp, and Ryan Howard all hit ninth- or tenth-inning go-ahead home runs last night and should not be forgotten here. Cabrera gets the nod at Home Run of the Day, however, because of his chase for the Triple Crown (and MVP). With this, his third home run in two days (and fifth in five games), Miggy is now only one home run behind Josh Hamilton for the lead league. With leads in batting average and RBIs as well, that means Cabrera is only one home run shy of a feat that hasn't happened in 45 years.

And don't think the Detroit broadcasters haven't noticed that! In his first home run on Tuesday, the television guys mentioned the word MVP 6.19 seconds into Miggy's trot. As the ball landed in the seats, the announcer exclaimed "And Cabrera makes another case for MVP!" When he hit his second shot that night, they waited 22.18 seconds (or until he rounded third) before saying "He may have just put an exclamation point on the MVP award for 2012!" My dreams of a "Miguel Cabrera MVP Mention Tracker" were dashed a bit on Wednesday, however, when neither announcer brought it up during Cabrera's trot. Oh well, there's always tonight!

Slowest Trot: Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs - 26.32 seconds [video]
Soriano has never been known for keeping it cool during his home run trots. That said, he has been fairly mild this year, with many less bat-tosses and stop-and-stares than I'm used to seeing. Wednesday was different. It was a massive home run, with the ball thundering off Soriano's bat and onto Waveland. As soon as he hit the ball, Soriano stopped and stared, admiring its flight. Even the bat toss was bigger, a slow, arcing toss that seemed to say "Yep, I hit that." It all culminated in this 26.32 second trot for Soriano. It was his eighth slowest trot of 2012.

Quickest Trot: Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies - 19.32 seconds [video]
A leadoff home run for Rollins and the only sub-20 second trot of the day. Things weren't much different on Tuesday, when Alejandro De Aza's 18.61 second trot was also the only trot to break the 20-second mark.

All of Today's Trots

Alfonso Soriano.....26.32  Jeff Keppinger......22.58
Miguel Cabrera......25.77  Andrew McCutchen....22.41
Pablo Sandoval......24.63  Alberto Callaspo....22.37
Adam Jones..........24.14  Matt Kemp...........22.24
Asdrubal Cabrera....23.78  Norichika Aoki......21.57
Josh Willingham.....23.77  Yadier Molina.......21.56
Ryan Howard.........23.57  David Wright........20.48*
Carlos Pena.........23.49  David Freese........20.06
Franklin Gutierrez..23.16  Michael Morse.......20.03
Geovany Soto........23.03  Jimmy Rollins.......19.32
Steve Lombardozzi...22.66

Tuesday's Trots

Miguel Cabrera #1..26.17  Carlos Santana.....22.52
Miguel Cabrera #2..25.74  Prince Fielder.....22.17
Jhonny Peralta.....23.8   Alex Rios..........22.09
Ian Kinsler........23.59  John Buck..........21.9
Wilin Rosario......23.08  Miguel Olivo.......21.41
Lonnie Chisenhall..22.84  Gordon Beckham.....20.43
Mike Napoli........22.73  Alejandro De Aza...18.61

Click here for the ongoing 2012 Tater Trot Tracker Leaderboard. You can also follow @TaterTrotTrkr on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute trot times.