April 12, 2013

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for April 11

by Larry Granillo

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The fireworks may have been flying last night, but it wasn't thanks to the long ball. In the seven games played across baseball, there were a total of eight home runs hit. With the way the season has began, it was very atypical.

Let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Juan Uribe, Los Angels Dodgers - 20.45 seconds [video]
Considering everything that had happened only two innings prior, when Carlos Quentin charged the mound on Zack Greinke after he was hit by a pitch, a go-ahead home run from a Dodgers hitter would seem like the perfect time for a bit of showmanship on the basepaths. A couple of years ago, for example, the normally speedy Jose Bautista slowed his trot down to a near-walk after hitting a home run off a pitcher he had had a kerfuffle with earlier in the game. Instead, Los Angeles' Juan Uribe hustled around the bases as if nothing had happened. On a day with very little competition, Uribe's (eventual) game-winning home run trot was the second quickest in the majors.

Slowest Trot: Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers - 26.15 seconds [video]
It's tempting to tie Gonzalez's slowest trot of the day into the other events from this game. Without knowing what inning the home run was hit, for example, one could be led believe that Gonzalez's slow trot was meant to show up the Padres after the Quentin/Greinke fight. However, that happened in the sixth inning of the game while Gonzalez went yard in the first. One might then wonder if the Gonzalez trot somehow incensed the Padres (or Quentin in particular), therefore leading to the fight. Again,  that appears to be wrong. Quentin himself said in interviews after the game that his outburst had to do with the "documented" history between him and Greinke. In reality, Gonzalez's trot—the slowest of the day, even beating out Yoenis Cespedes—is just a coincidence from a game that became notable later for other reasons.

Sometimes a slow trot is just a slow trot.

Quickest Trot: A.J. Pierzynski, Texas Rangers - 20.13 seconds [video]
Nobody was able to bring home a sub-20 second trot on Thursday. It's not everyday that A.J. Pierzynski can say that he was the quickest player in the league.

All of Today's Trots

Adrian Gonzalez.....26.15
Yoenis Cespedes.....26
Chris Davis.........24.38
Josh Donaldson......24.34
Franklin Gutierrez..22.7
Anthony Rizzo.......21.79
Juan Uribe..........20.45
A.J. Pierzynski.....20.13

Click here for the ongoing 2013 Tater Trot Tracker Leaderboard. You can also follow @TaterTrotTrkr on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute trot times.