It's time for summer. At least that's what I hear. Couldn't tell it from the weather out here. But it must be true – what else but rising temperatures could explain the ridiculously long trots that we saw on Friday?
Now let's get to those trots!
Home Run of the Day: Brandon Crawford, San Francisco Giants – 20.43 seconds [video]
There were a number of great candidates for Home Run of the Day on Friday. In Texas, the Kansas City Royals slugged three home runs in the top of the 14th inning in a tie game (after already tying it up in the ninth with a home run) to win 12-7. In Washington, Michael Morse homered for the fourth game in a row in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Nationals a walkoff victory over the Padres. Perhaps this is a slight bit of bias, but I'm giving the honor to San Francisco's Brandon Crawford. His seventh inning home run came with the bases loaded and gave the Giants a 5-3 lead. It was also his first career major league hit, as this was his major league debut. A pretty good game for the kid.
Slowest Trot: Ramon Hernandez, Cincinnati Reds – 28.02 seconds [video]
This was quite the day for slow trots. Of the 25 home runs hit on Friday, five came in over 25-seconds, with three cracking 27-seconds. The king of these trots was Ramon Hernandez, who took the crown in a surprising fashion. Watching his trot, it doesn't feel at all like he's moving that slowly, but he was.
Quickest Trot: Sam Fuld, Tampa Bay Rays – 19.09 seconds [video]
The legend of Sam Fuld continues. Or something. Fuld was one of only two players to come in under 20 seconds on Friday.
All of Today's Trots Ramon Hernandez....28.02 Ian Kinsler........21.96 Alfonso Soriano....27.09 Alex Gordon........21.95 Brayan Pena........27.08 Eric Hosmer........21.87 Melky Cabrera......25.44 Jacoby Ellsbury....21.69 Juan Miranda #2....25.42 Carl Crawford......21.66 James Loney........24.4 Jason Bartlett.....20.98 Jhonny Peralta.....24.03* David Murphy.......20.98 Juan Miranda #1....23.92 Danny Espinosa.....20.65 Andre Ethier.......23.82 Michael Morse......20.57* Mark Teixeira......23.14 Brandon Crawford...20.43 Josh Willingham....22.53 Casey Kotchman.....19.49 Erick Aybar........22.41 Sam Fuld...........19.09 Rickie Weeks.......22.12
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