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It's been a busy day, what with the 19th-inning blown call, the Colby Rasmus trade, the almost-Carlos Beltran trade, and Ervin Santana no-hitter. I'm certainly not complaining. But it has kept us all from what's really important – the Tater Trot Tracker.

Let's get to those trots!

Home Run of the Day: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals – 23.2 seconds [video]
Chase Utley hit an inside-the-park home run, but we can talk about that below. Michael McKenry, the catcher at the center of the Pirates/Braves blown-call, hit a home run early in the game to give the Pirates the runs they needed to stay in the game for 19 innings. Pujols gets the Home Run of the Day, though, for an interesting reason all his own.

Pujols' home run hit the upper corner of the Busch Stadium centerfield wall. It was ruled a home run on the field, but Houston centerfielder Michael Bourn thought otherwise. The umpires went and reviewed the home run and, despite some pretty clear angles showing that the ball hit the wall and did not hit beyond the wall, the upheld the ruling. Pujols' blast remained a home run despite not actually being a home run.

On a day when everyone was demanding the use of instant replay because it would reduce umpire errors, it should probably be noted that, only a few hours earlier, a team in the same division had already benefited from an incorrect call via instant replay. Nothing, it seems, is perfect.

Slowest Trot: Billy Butler, Kansas City Royals – 26.37 seconds [video]
I'm sure I say this every time I talk about Billy Butler, but it is truly remarkable watching a Butler tater trot. He really does seem to be moving at a brisk pace, but, when you get down to the numbers, it's always incredibly slow. It must be because he's big boned.

Quickest Trot: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies – 15.2 seconds [video]
Now, granted, it's no inside-the-park grand slam, but Chase Utley's inside the parker on Tuesday was a blast to watch. The ball was misplayed, sure, but it was off of a weird carom and not poor glovework. What made Utley's trot so great, though, was that slide at the end. It was necessary, of course, but there's just something cool about the look of it. Nice work, Chase.

 

All of Today's Trots

Billy Butler.......26.37    Alex Gordon........22.17
Derrek Lee.........24.36    Nolan Reimold......21.82
Adam Dunn..........23.63    Adam Lind..........21.23
Aaron Rowand.......23.23    J.J. Hardy #1......21.18
Paul Konerko.......23.22*   Michae McKenry.....21.02
Albert Pujols......23.2	    John Mayberry......20.92
Mark Teixeira......23.17    Joey Votto.........20.88
John Buck..........23.09    Matt LaPorta.......20.85
Laynce Nix.........23.06    J.J. Hardy #2......20.73
Yorvit Torrealba...22.88    Jason Varitek......20.69
Aramis Ramirez.....22.77    Ben Zobrist........20.26
Ryan Howard........22.67    Aaron Hill.........20.01
David Freese.......22.66    Raul Ibanez........19.52
Logan Morrison.....22.47    Justin Upton.......18.9
Jesus Guzman.......22.37    Curtis Granderson..18.86
Greg Dobbs.........22.25    Chase Utley........15.2

Thank you for reading

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josephmeyer
7/28
I'd just like to let you know that I check BP for a couple of articles to read everyday, which are always great, but I NEVER miss a Tater Trot Tracker.
lgranillo
7/28
Thanks, Joseph!
lopkhan00
7/28
Would you agree that the Posey/Cousins play likely led to Whiteside setting up too far from the baseline to tag out Utley? The ball clearly beats Utley, but Whiteside is not where he would be if he wanted to maximize his chance of making the play.
lgranillo
7/28
I think that's a very real possibility. Seems that catchers have been doing that a lot recently...

Of course, it could just be that we're looking for it now. Who knows?
comish4lif
7/28
I disagree on the Pujols call. On the replay angle I saw, it looked to me like it directly struck that small, concrete ledge behind the padding. It seemed to ricochet off that concrete as opposed to bouncing off the padding.

My question, is why do stadiums (stadia?) have these quirks where the border between a homer and in-play is practically indiscernible?
lgranillo
7/28
I'm sure the umps saw the same thing as you. Two questions: if it definitely hit the concrete wall, why didn't it bounce back more? And why did I see the padding get squashed down so much?

I'm guessing it hit the green padding but bounced off the concrete because the padding wasn't thick enough to absorb it all. Is that a home run? If the concrete wasn't there, would it have bounced back still (ie, no HR) or would it have pushed through the wall completely (HR)?