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April 14, 2011

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for April 13

by Larry Granillo

The day saw some pretty home runs from Alex Rodriguez, Russell Branyan, Prince Fielder, and Chipper Jones, but they weren't big enough to make the cut below. Not bad for a mid-week day in April.

Let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Lance Berkman, St. Louis Cardinals - 21.93 seconds [video]
I don't know what it is - probably nothing more than just a hot streak - but Lance Berkman has been on fire this week. On Wednesday, Berkman hit his fourth home run in three days. This one was an opposite field grand slam that put the Cardinals up 8-0 in the second inning. I'm not sure what we can expect from Berkman this year (and I'm not sure anyone knows what to expect), but this hot streak is a very pleasant surprise.

There were two runners up for Home Run of the Day. In Detroit, the Tigers beat the Rangers in the bottom of the ninth for the second day in a row. Brandon Inge hit the walkoff blast on Wednesday, skipping down the third base line to the tune of 23.39 seconds (video). The other notable home run came off the bat of Carlos Zambrano. It was the season's first home run by a pitcher, and Zambrano's 22nd career bomb. As Jayson Stark noted, this gives him more career home runs than F.P. Santangelo and Harold Reynolds.

Slowest Trot: Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs - 26.75 seconds [video]
I'll have to think on this and address it later, but I'm pretty sure right now that the trotter I would appreciate least as a pitcher is Alfonso Soriano. Maybe he's not quite as slow as David Ortiz, but, considering his size and speed, he's much worse. He also flips the bat away from him in a very visible manner after making contact before embarking on his purposely slow trots. As a pitcher, that would irk me to no end.

Quickest Trot: Skip Schumaker, St. Louis Cardinals - 19.06 seconds [video]
Only three of Wednesday's 23 home run trots came in under twenty seconds: Logan Morrison at 19.36 seconds, Matt Downs at 19.26 seconds, and Skip Schumaker. Schumaker's three-run blast put the Cardinals ahead 12-0 in the fourth inning. The Cards would go on to win 15-5.

(Remember: I am running an experiment over the next couple of weeks. If you're interested in Tater Trot Tracker commentary during the day, follow the Tater Trot Tracker on Twitter at @TaterTrotTrkr. We'll see how it goes. You can also follow me at @Wezen_Ball.)