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Happy Father's Day to everyone. I know you all want some barbeque and beer, but how about some tater trots?

Home Run of the Day: Jonny Gomes, Oakland Athletics – 21.92 seconds [video]
I don't know what it is, but there's been a serious lack of showboating on home run trots this year. As I watch each trot every day, I make comments whenever something notable happens in a trot – things like "first career home run" or "splash hit" or even "huge shot". When a player stands at the plate and watches the ball fly – the typical behavior that fans of opposing teams consider showing up their pitcher – I write something like "slow walk" or "definite watch". Of the 1,900 home runs I've watched so far this year, I've only marked three as emphatic showboaters, and Gomes' pinch hit home run against San Diego may be the biggest.

The home run was powerful, but not that powerful. Hit Tracker Online gives it a true distance of 431 feet. It was an important moment of the game, but not that important. Gomes broke a tie with the two run blast, but it was still the bottom of the seventh. It ended a streak of futility for Gomes, but not one that many people care about. Gomes had been 0-for his last 34 pinch hit at-bats, but only 0-for-6 in 2012. In short, there were some reasons for Gomes to feel excited about his blast, but nothing that really explains how long he stood and watched the ball fly.

To make up for it, Gomes sped around the bases at a pretty good clip, touching home in 21.92 seconds despite the eternity he spent at the plate.

Slowest Trot: Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers – 28.8 seconds [video]
And then there's Nelson Cruz's home run. It was big (the same 431 feet as Gomes), it was important (the Rangers were losing before Cruz put them on top), and it was incredibly slow. But it wasn't slow due to any extra preening at home plate. Somehow it just took Cruz that long to round the bases.

Carlos Quentin hit a home run and trotted around the bases somewhere under 23 seconds. However, thanks to poor direction or camera placement by both television feeds, it's impossible to know exactly when he touched home plate.

Quickest Trot: Jed Lowrie, Houston Astros – 18.54 seconds [video]
The quickest and slowest trots of the day both come from the same game and are over 10 seconds apart. The best part of the trot is the old 1980s uniform that Lowrie is wearing. With the way he's wearing the uniform (ie, not baggy like most of his teammates) and his two-flapped helmet, Lowrie could be a spitting image of a young Craig Biggio.

 

All of Today's Trots

Nelson Cruz........28.8   Ryan Braun #2.........22.2
Aramis Ramirez.....24.75* Ryan Braun #1.........22
Casey McGehee......24.36  Ian Desmond...........21.97
Jose Molina........24     Pedro Alvarez #1......21.96
Yunel Escobar......23.84  Jonny Gomes...........21.92
Yadier Molina......23.32  Miguel Cabrera........21.74
Pedro Alvarez #2...23.24  Jarrod Saltalamacchia.21.54
Jesus Montero......23.12  John Mayberry.........21.36
Luis Valbuena......22.92  Casey Kotchman........21.36
Cody Ransom........22.91  Alex Presley..........20.18
Matt Holliday......22.82  Seth Smith............19.99
Mike Moustakas.....22.61  Casper Wells..........19.79
Asdrubal Cabrera...22.61  Jed Lowrie............18.54
Mark Trumbo........22.53  Carlos Quentin........n/a
Jay Bruce..........22.42

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

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