Three games, each featuring possible or likely playoff teams, were rained out on Sunday, almost certainly cutting down on the number of home runs hit across the league. In the twelve games that were able to be played, 22 home runs were hit. Add three more games to that, featuring the potent bats of the Yankees and Phillies, for example, and that total likely shoots north to thirty or so. Makes it easy for the Tater Trot Tracker, though!
Let's get to those trots!
Home Run of the Day: Brandon Belt #1, San Francisco Giants – 20.4 seconds [video]
I don't know what Brandon Belt has done to the Giants brass this year – be it Brian Sabean or Bruce Bochy – but they have seen fit to punish him with a full summer's worth of Fresno dirt and heat. Unless Belt just really, really loves the coffee houses of the Tower District, I suspect he hasn't been all that happy with his exile. So I guess it shouldn't come as all that big of a surprise that Belt slugged two home runs in his first game back in the lineup since being called up. This first blast gets the honor of Home Run of the Day for its magnitude, clearing the fence by at least ten feet vertically over the 434' sign, the deepest part of the park. I hope he enjoys his return to Fresno next week.
Slowest Trot: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers – 24.54 seconds [video]
Kemp gets the nod here for his 24.54 second trot, but it's merely a technicality. None of the 22 trots were all that slow, but someone had to take the title.
Quickest Trot: Eric Thames, Toronto Blue Jays – 17.33 seconds [video]
Thames, on the other hand, thoroughly earned his spot at the top of the Quickest Trot list, racing around the bases at full tilt. He's not quite Adam Rosales on the basepaths, but he's still one of the best there is. Three other players came in under 20 seconds, but the nearest was still more than two seconds slower than Thames.
All of Today's Trots Matt Kemp..........24.54 Brandon Belt #2....21.64 Torii Hunter.......24.04 Brent Lillibridge..21.54 Kevin Youkilis.....23.8 Casper Wells.......21.54 Albert Pujols......23.31 Jose Bautista......21.51 Carlos Pena........23.14 Brandon Belt #1....20.4 Justin Upton.......23.08 Justin Sellers.....20.22 Dioner Navarro.....22.89 Lucas Duda.........20.12 Cody Ross..........22.72 Ramon Santiago.....19.95 Nick Markakis......22.62 Jay Bruce..........19.73 Nate Schierholtz...22.2 Mike Stanton.......19.63 Mark Ellis.........21.86 Eric Thames........17.33
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