April 17, 2013

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for April 16

by Larry Granillo

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Jackie Robinson Day continued throughout the league on Tuesday, with many ballparks playing "Sweet Caroline" or other Boston staples in support of the city (the Brewers played the theme song from "Cheers", for example). It was a nice gesture from the league and the individual clubs.

With our attention back on the action on the field, it's time to get to the trots.

Home Run of the Day: David Wright #1, New York Mets - 20.68 seconds [video]
Carlos Gonzalez may have hit the ball farther, and Robinson Cano might have the better connection to Jackie Robinson Day, but I'm giving the Home Run of the Day to David Wright. His two home runs in Coors Field, on a day where the entire Rockies' staff (including the mascot!) had to spend hours shoveling inches of snow off the playing surface in time for the ballgame, look beautiful. The first blast, for example, landed over the snowpile out beyond the centerfield fence. In that Coors Field setting, a stadium designed to highlight all the magnificent nature there in the Rocky Mountains, a home run may never have been so visually perfect.

Slowest Trot: Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies - 23.36 seconds [video]
Gonzalez continues to be the one player in 2013 who admires his home runs the most. In this instance, though, it was hard not to. The ball was crushed into the bleachers above and beyond the bullpens in right field. The trot, at 23.36 seconds, was actually plenty speedy; it just happened to fall on a day when no one else was slower.

Quickest Trot: Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves - 17.85 seconds [video]
It's not often that you see a quick trot from Carlos Gomez get beaten out by someone else, but that is what Heyward did last night. It's funny: with Heyward, it didn't feel like he was running fast at all, but he still ended with the quickest trot of the day. With Gomez, you could tell that he was running fast; instead, he was slowed by some confusion about whether the ball, which bounced off the foul pole, was going to land fair. Gomez could certainly have beaten out Heyward if he hadn't hesitated more than once.

All of Today's Trots

Carlos Gonzalez......23.36  Evan Longoria........20.93
Miguel Cabrera.......23.15  Brandon Crawford.....20.92
Adrian Beltre........23.03  Kelly Johnson........20.85
Matt Wieters.........22.84  Carlos Pena..........20.72
Paul Konerko.........22.5   David Wright #1......20.68
Robinson Cano........22.48  Norichika Aoki.......20.67
Juan Francisco #1....22.32  Desmond Jennings.....20.51
Dan Uggla............21.72  Colby Rasmus.........20.51
Justin Upton.........21.63  Chris Getz...........20.07
Juan Francisco #2....21.5   Yuniesky Betancourt..19.93
J.P. Arencibia.......21.23  Carlos Gomez.........17.93
Adeiny Hechavarria...21     Jason Heyward........17.85
David Wright #2......20.93

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.