May 9, 2011

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for May 8

by Larry Granillo

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It was Mother's Day yesterday, which means Major League Baseball was trotting out the pink bats (and other paraphernalia) to support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. I'm a big fan of the partnership and I'm glad MLB has continued the tradition. I will say, though, that I wasn't a big fan of all the pink Phiten-type necklaces that everyone was wearing.

And now on to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Derek Jeter #2, New York Yankees - 19.38 seconds [video]
I really wanted to avoid putting Jeter's name up here in the Home Run of the Day space, but there weren't that many options for great home runs. Ryan Doumit's eighth-inning blast had a chance, but he probably shouldn't supplant Jeter. The Yankees shortstop, of course, has been having a less-than-great year so far. His two home runs on Sunday were the first two homers of the year for him, and his first home runs since late-August of last year. Anyone saying "He's back!", however, should maybe wait an extra game or two.

Slowest Trot: Ryan Doumit, Pittsburgh Pirates - 26.39 seconds [video]
A three-run monster of a blast in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Pirates a 5-4 lead. That's the kind of thing that deserves some celebration, which is exactly what Doumit did. Those first few steps out of the box were savored. The only drawback of Doumit's home run was that he didn't hit it with a pink bat. (Eric Hinske had an even bigger few steps out of the box on his late-inning, pinch-hit blast. Watch the video.)

Quickest Trot: Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees - 18.53 seconds [video]
A nice little battle for quickest trot here, between Granderson and the man he was traded for, Austin Jackson. Jeter's two home runs and a couple of nice trots from Grady Sizemore and Drew Stubbs also made the top of the list nice to see.

All of Today's Trots

Ryan Doumit.........26.39    Jose Bautista.......21.25
Eric Hinske.........25.32*   Gaby Sanchez........21.25
Mark Teixeira.......24.29*   Freddie Freeman.....21.06*
Chris Johnson.......23.91    Kurt Suzuki.........20.78
Jorge Cantu.........23.88    Francisco Cervelli..20.03
Cody Ross...........23.68    Drew Stubbs.........19.54
Adrian Gonzalez.....23.34    Grady Sizemore......19.45
Kevin Kouzmanoff....23.18    Derek Jeter #2......19.38
Andre Ethier........22.69    Derek Jeter #1......19.33
Alex Gonzalez.......22.68    Austin Jackson......18.85
Danny Valencia......21.69*   Curtis Granderson...18.53
Derrek Lee..........21.31