June 14, 2012

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for June 13

by Larry Granillo

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Matt Cain demands we get right to the trots. How can I say "No" to perfection? Let's get right to them!

Home Run of the Day: Gregor Blanco, San Francisco Giants - 23.85 seconds [video]
A lot has to go right for a perfect game to happen. If the Giants didn't have a 10-0 lead, does Bochy keep bringing out Cain despite his pitch count? Do the Giants hitters change their approach at the plate, possibly lengthening the time between innings for Cain? And what happens if Melky Cabrera or Gregor Blanco take the wrong route to the balls in their area? That's just a small sample of possible landmines for Cain, of course, but it is interesting to note that Blanco did a lot to help Cain on both the offensive and defensive sides. The only flaw in Blanco's game yesterday was that he wasn't able to run out his tater trot in his usual super-speedy gait.

Also of note yesterday were the two home runs from Tyler Moore - his first and second career home runs - and the broken bat jack from Baltimore's Chris Davis. The barrel of the bat landed in the O's dugout!

Slowest Trot: Jim Thome, Philadelphia Phillies - 26.24 seconds [video]
Oh yeah. There was also this absolute bomb from Jim Thome. The ball landed beyond the giant batter's eye in straightaway center at Target Field. It's a thing of beauty. In fact, the Twins crowd gave Thome a loud ovation during his trot, that's how impressive the home run was.

Quickest Trot: Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels - 19.23* seconds [video]
Only one of two trots to come in under 20 seconds. Aybar's home run was the first of the year for him and put the Angels on top 2-1 in the top of the ninth inning. They would win by that score. The camera angles at Dodger Stadium make it a tad difficult to tell which foot he touched home plate with, so there's a small chance that Aybar had an even faster trot.

All of Today's Trots

Jim Thome..........26.24  David Ortiz........22.48
Brandon Phillips...25.09  John Mayberry......22.4
Brian McCann.......24.2   Brandon Belt.......21.88
Todd Helton........23.93  Curtis Granderson..21.86
Gregor Blanco......23.85  Josh Willingham....21.52
Chris Davis........23.75  Yonder Alonso......21.26
Jose Reyes.........23.51  Tyler Moore #2.....21.16
Jose Lopez.........23.51  Michael Cuddyer #1.21.02
Seth Smith.........23.19  Trevor Plouffe.....20.83
Jose Bautista......22.99  Brennan Boesch.....20.79
Carlos Beltran.....22.99  Tyler Moore #1.....20.48
Alberto Callaspo...22.9   Jonny Gomes........20.19
Melky Cabrera......22.72  Michael Cuddyer #2.20.07
Ian Desmond........22.58  Brandon Moss.......19.6
Wilson Betemit.....22.53  Erick Aybar........19.23*

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.