Apologies for the lack of Tater Trot Tracker updates the past couple of days. All home runs for Wednesday and Thursday are included in this post, along with the normal Friday trots.
We've missed them enough, so let's get right to the trots!
Home Run of the Day: Hunter Pence, Philadelphia Phillies – 20.76 seconds [video]
The usual cast of characters vied for this spot on Friday. Giancarlo Stanton blasted a bomb towards la maquina jonron. Albert Pujols hit his sixth home run of the year, and his third home run in four games. Josh Hamilton awoke from a bit of a home run drought and hit his 19th home run of the year for the Rangers. Edwin Encarnacion has 15 home runs after Friday night, Ryan Braun has 13, and Josh Reddick has 12. But it was Hunter Pence, whose 11th home run of the season was a go-ahead, opposite field shot in the top of the 10th inning, who earned the Home Run of the Day.
Slowest Trot: Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies – 25.55 seconds [video]
No one should be surprised to see a slow trot like this from Todd Helton. When you have no knees, you tend to move slow. I suspect, however, that many would be surprised that Baltimore's Chris Davis was right behind him at 25.41 seconds on Friday. Of his seven home runs this season, Davis has only been faster than 23.88 seconds twice.
In St. Louis, Rafael Furcal hit a home run but paused – very briefly – at second base, unsure whether the ball cleared the fence. As per the rules of the Tater Trot Tracker, Furcal's trot is not counted because that pause, however brief, kept the trot from being continuous.
Trots on Wednesday and Thursday were quite a bit slower. On Wednesday, Travis Hafner gingerly circled the bases in 27.11 seconds. Thursday it was AJ Pierzynski who had the leisurely trot, taking 27.59 seconds on his trip around the bases.
Quickest Trot: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees – 19.37 seconds [video]
Career home run number 150 for Robinson Cano was the quickest trot of the night on Friday. He was one of four trotters to break the 20-second barrier.
Thursday's quickest trot wasn't much quicker, with Michael Bourn coming home in 18.95 seconds. Ryan Roberts and Curtis Granderson blew those times out of the water on Wednesday. Roberts sprinted home in only 17.93 seconds. Granderson was right behind him at 18.0 seconds.
All of Today's Trots Todd Helton........25.55 AJ Pierzynski......21.03 Chris Davis........25.41 Melky Cabrera......21 Yorvit Torrealba...24.28 Justin Smoak.......20.98 Shelley Duncan.....23.9 Jason Kubel........20.97 Adam Dunn..........23.63 Dayan Viciedo......20.92 Nelson Cruz........23.5 Josh Reddick.......20.8 Albert Pujols......23.1 Hunter Pence.......20.76 Kila Ka'aihue......23.08 Mark Teixeira......20.55 Nick Swisher.......22.91 Josh Hamilton......20.43 Jeff Francoeur.....22.43 Carlos Pena........20.36 Edwin Encarnacion..22.34 Chris Coghlan......20.05 Corey Hart.........22.21 Elliot Johnson.....19.87* Matt Joyce.........22.09 Giancarlo Stanton..19.72 JD Martinez........21.63 Jason Heyward......19.38 Lucas Duda.........21.29 Robinson Cano......19.37 Ryan Braun.........21.23 Rafael Furcal......n/a Rickie Weeks.......21.16 Thursday's Trots AJ Pierzynski......27.59 Giancarlo Stanton..22.16 Paul Konerko.......24.05* Yadier Molina......22.15 Matt Holliday......23.7 Dayan Viciedo......21.94 Juan Francisco.....23.59 Justin Morneau #2..21.79 David Freese.......23.5 Shin-Soo Choo......21.36 Devin Mesoraco.....23.4* Nick Hundley.......21.19 Justin Morneau #1..23.25 Alex Rios..........20.83 Alejandro De Aza...23 Joe Mauer..........20.13 Albert Pujols......22.53 Drew Stubbs........19.98* Ty Wigginton.......22.31 Michael Bourn......18.95 David Wright.......22.19 Wednesday's Trots Travis Hafner......27.11 Nick Johnson #1....21.19 Adam LaRoche.......24.57 Todd Frazier.......21.04 Adrian Beltre......23.47 Seth Smith.........20.99 Paul Konerko.......23.17 Alex Rodriguez #1..20.82 Carlos Beltran.....22.92* Mitch Maier........20.63 Shane Victorino....22.64 Daniel Nava........20.5 Jonathan Lucroy....22.51 Scott Podsednik....20.2 Troy Tulowitzki....22.49 Kelly Shoppach.....20.09 Billy Butler.......22.48 Alex Liddi.........19.9 Dan Uggla..........21.99 Edwin Encarnacion..19.63 Jose Bautista......21.86 Will Venable.......19.63 Alex Rios..........21.8 Justin Upton.......19.41 Alex Rodriguez #2..21.78 AJ Ellis...........18.87 Reed Johnson.......21.7 Curtis Granderson..18 Nick Johnson #2....21.67 Ryan Roberts.......17.93 David Freese.......21.46
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.
Thank you for reading
This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.
Subscribe now