We are rapidly approaching the end of the season and, yet, things have failed to slow down. I don't know why, but I'm surprised. Of course, the 45 home runs hit on Sunday may be skewing my perspective.
Now let's get to the trots!
Home Run of the Day: Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox (Game 2) – NUM seconds [video]
The home run that launched a thousand MVP votes. Or something like that. After hitting two home runs in the early game, Ellsbury came through in the 14th inning of the second game to give the Red Sox a much-needed victory in their Wild Card hunt. Writers the country over, looking for a much-needed storyline to use in their MVP voting, proceeded to latch onto the Ellsbury bandwagon.
Slowest Trot: Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers – 28.51 seconds [video]
There were three trots of 27-seconds or more on Sunday, but only one went into the 28-second range. It's nothing new for Victor Martinez, but the 27-second trots from Bobby Abreu and Kevin Millwood – yes, the Colorado pitcher – are a bit of a novelty.
Quickest Trot: Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays – 15.21 seconds [video]
Even more impressive than the three 27-second trots were the four 18-second trots hit on Sunday. Don Kelly, Aaron Cunningham, Rene Tosoni, and Andres Torres formed a boy band of fast tater trotters, but they all played the part of the other N'Sync guys to Ben Zobrist's Justin Timberlake. Zobrist took that title with his 15-second inside-the-park home run in Tampa Bay, courtesy of a banged-up Jose Bautista. (I would continue this metaphor, but I probably shouldn't.
All of Today's Trots Victor Martinez......28.51 Kevin Millwood.......27.91 Bobby Abreu..........27.27 Ronny Paulino........25.8 Rod Barajas..........25.08 Kevin Kouzmanoff #1..25.06 Yorvit Torrealba #1..24.87 Yorvit Torrealba #2..24.77 Vernon Wells.........24.59 Josh Willingham......24.25 Kevin Kouzmanoff #2..24.2 Chris Iannetta.......23.56 Trevor Plouffe.......22.65 Jacoby Ellsbury #1...22.64 Jacoby Ellsbury #2...22.54 Carlos Beltran.......22.42 Adrian Beltre........22.39 Jhonny Peralta.......22.17 Miguel Cabrera.......22.14 Michael Morse........22.13 Donnie Murphy........22.1 Nolan Reimold........21.96 Shelley Duncan.......21.86 Michael Carp.........21.84 Alex Liddi...........21.82 Dewayne Wise.........21.65 Jorge Posada.........21.57* Kelly Shoppach.......21.55* Wilson Ramos.........21.47 Ian Kinsler..........21.45 Ryan Braun...........21.42 Evan Longoria........21.27 Chris Gimenez........20.54 Hunter Pence.........20.44 Rafael Furcal........20.4 Jacoby Ellsbury (G2).19.7 Yadier Molina........19.7 Kyle Seager..........19.65 Emilio Bonifacio.....19.25 B.J. Upton...........19.08 Don Kelly............18.84 Aaron Cunningham.....18.77 Rene Tosoni..........18.52 Andres Torres........18.1 Ben Zobrist..........15.21 Saturday's Trots Jesus Montero........24.3 Yuniesky Betancourt..23.94 Torii Hunter.........23.8 Alex Rios............22.07 Mark Reynolds........22.06 Miguel Cabrera.......21.9 Valentino Pascucci...21.62 Brent Morel..........21.62 Omar Infante.........21.45 Jose Bautista........21.26 Freddie Freeman......21.11 Brett Wallace........20.96 Derek Jeter..........20.34 Emilio Bonifacio.....19.62 Johnny Damon.........19.59 Matt Angle...........19.16 Ben Zobrist..........18.33
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