Home Run of the Day: Adrian Beltre, Boston Red Sox #2 (Trot Time: 21.98 seconds) [video]
I’m giving Beltre the Home Run of the Day mostly because both of his home runs last night were fun to watch. His first shot (video) was crushed into the outfield seats – the NESN camera wasn’t even able to find it, that’s how big it was. His second was the lovely golf shot that you see in the picture. Those are the types of home runs you hope to see every game.
San Diego’s Jerry Hairston hit a home run for the second game in a row, this time a walk-off to beat the Cardinals in 13 innings..
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Slowest Trot: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox – 28.94 seconds [video]
I’m not sure there’s anything I can do to convince Boston fans (and Boston talk radio, apparently) that I’m not out to get Papi. He’s a slow guy and he’s hitting a lot of home runs right now. When you have that combination, you’re going to end up on the list. There are no personal vendettas or anything. My goal with the Tracker was just to have fun watching baseball highlights and to hopefully give people some evidence for the harmless bar “fights” we all have about who the fastest and slowest home run trotters are. Nothing else. So far, we’ve learned that David Ortiz has a pretty good headstart in the “Slowest” category. f it wasn’t him – if he hadn’t have gone on this home run barrage this month – it’d probably Jose Guillen or Miguel Cabrera. Maybe it’d be Billy Butler, who gave us a 26.46 second trot yesterday (video), or Hideki Matsui, who ran one out in 25.68 seconds yesterday (video). It has to be someone.
And, hey, without the Tater Trot Tracker, how would the world know just how fast Adam Rosales really is?
Quickest Trot: Adam Rosales, Oakland Athletics – 16.48 seconds [video]
Rosales’ fourth blast of the year came with two runners on base and he was still able to run it out in only 16.48 seconds. Amazingly, that is only his third fastest home run trot of the year. It also happens to be the third fastest (non-inside-the-park) trot of the year. Have I mentioned that I love the guy? That “Swing Hard, Run Hard” shirt to the left really should be his silhouette.
But Rosales wasn’t the only quick trotter yesterday. In San Diego, Jerry Hairston ran his walkoff home run out in only 17.96 seconds (video), capping it off with a terrific leap into his teammates. Cincinnati’s Chris Heisey ran his out in an even more impressive 17.15 seconds (video), giving him the 4th and 5th fastest trots of the year. If he can keep the power up, we might have a fun race – get it? – between him and Rosales all year.
