Notice: Trying to get property 'display_name' of non-object in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/generators/schema/article.php on line 52
keyboard_arrow_uptop

Sometimes the days just line up perfectly. Tuesday was a great example of this, with many important home runs and a few memorable trots. I'm glad the Tater Trot Tracker gives me a chance to see some of these. It's just too easy to miss so much otherwise.

So how about them trots?!

Home Run of the Day: Jason Kubel, Minnesota Twins – 20.81 seconds [video]
It was a great day for home run heroics. Jeff Francoeur, Aubrey Huff, Rob Johnson, and Daniel Descalso all hit late-inning, go-ahead home runs for their clubs. Descalso's was even a three-run homer that put the Cardinals up 7-5 in the seventh inning. The brothers Upton also had big nights, with Justin providing the Diamondbacks with a late-inning, go-ahead blast of his own and B.J. walking the Rays off in Tampa Bay with a two-run shot (B.J.'s 18.82 second trot is very impressive for a walkoff). None of them, however, were responsible for securing a 1-0, no-hit bid with their home run. That honor belonged to Jason Kubel, who earns the Home Run of the Day.

Slowest Trot: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox – 26.58 seconds [video]
Two days in a row with home runs from Big Papi, and two days in a row with Ortiz sitting atop the list of slowest trotters. It's always comforting to see Ortiz here.

Quickest Trot: Eric Patterson, San Diego Padres – 17.01 seconds [video]
Patterson hit all of two home runs in 2010, so his speed around the bases had slipped my mind. It's easy to that when you only see one or two trots from a particular person; it's only when you see a few trots from one player before you really get to know them. But Patterson takes his trotting seriously. The only reason this trot was not speedier is because he slowed himself down a bit past second base once he realized the ball had sailed out.

San Diego pitcher Mat Latos also went long in this game, circling the bases in 20.32 seconds. He even did a neat little slide step as he touched home plate (see the video).

 

All of Today's Trots

David Ortiz........26.58       Chris Johnson......21.31
Aubrey Huff........24.33       Henry Blanco.......21.25
Matt Holliday......23.96       Luke Scott.........21.23
Nate Schierholtz...23.71       Mark Trumbo........21.22
Justin Upton.......23.29       Mark Teixeira......21.18
Adrian Gonzalez....23.28       Jason Kubel........20.81
Carlos Beltran.....22.86       Rob Johnson........20.68
Ike Davis..........22.67       Mat Latos..........20.32
Carlos Pena........22.59       Brett Wallace......20.12
Carlos Gonzalez....22.37       Daniel Descalso....19.91
Marco Scutaro......21.87       B.J. Upton.........18.82*
Jeff Francoeur.....21.72       Eric Patterson.....17.01
Michael Morse......21.48

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
You need to be logged in to comment. Login or Subscribe
mrdannyg
5/05
I know you don't get a lot of comments on these, but I'm sure I speak for many when I say that I really enjoy them! Well-written and interesting, they add a lot of depth to the box scores, and some fun information about the fast and slow trotters as well.

Keep up the great work!
jhardman
5/05
Loving this daily series, Larry. At some point, can you do a focus on the pitchers that have hit home runs and compare their trots against each other? I know there are only a handful of pitcher home runs each year, and it seems like they might be fun to track at some point. (Your pointing out the Latos tater made me think of it again, and got me to actually type it in.)
lgranillo
5/05
Thanks, mrdannyg and jhardman. I'm glad you guys are liking them!

j, I made comment about it in today's Tater Trot Tracker post, but I will absolutely write something specifically about pitchers in the future. I'd like to wait for a few more to be hit before I do so. In the meantime, I try to mention every pitcher home run in the day's post, regardless of quickest/slowest. I think I've only missed doing that once this year.