If you didn't see it yesterday, you must check out this video of Cuban superstar Alfredo Despaigne admiring his home run. It takes him 8.5 seconds before he even starts running!
Now on to the (disappointing in comparison) trots!
Home Run of the Day: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees – 20.91 seconds [video]
There aren't a lot of home runs to choose from with only 11 home runs hit around the league on Thursday. We'll give this one to Robinson Cano, though, because his was hit in the service of an 18 inning game (in which the Yankees went 17 straight innings without scoring a run after this first-inning shot).
Slowest Trot: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox – 27.91 seconds [video]
The best part about this trot is the Boston announcer (Dennis Eckersley, I believe) commenting on the length of Papi's trot. "Well how about that trot. That's a long trot. That is a very long trot, but that's a very long home run is what it is."
Ortiz has eight trots this year alone that were slower than this one.
Quickest Trot: Mike Carp, Boston Red Sox – 19.55 seconds [video]
This has happened way too much recently. Carp gets the honors today with the quickest trot of the day, but that's only a technicality. In all likelihood, the title belongs to Marlon Byrd. However, on both broadcasts, the camera cuts away from Byrd while he is still a few steps from home plate. He likely touches the plate in the 18-19 second range, but I can't verify that from the video. As such, Mike Carp gets the title.
All of Today's Trots David Ortiz.....27.91 Nelson Cruz.....23.64 Ryan Zimmerman..21.83 Elliot Johnson..21.67 Danny Valencia..21.34 Robinson Cano...20.91 Eric Hosmer.....20.77 David DeJesus...20.64 Hunter Pence....19.97 Mike Carp.......19.55 Marlon Byrd.....N/A
Click here for the ongoing 2013 Tater Trot Tracker Leaderboard. You can also follow @TaterTrotTrkr on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute trot times.
