It’s all about Big Papi today. Let’s get to the trots!
Home Run of the Day: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox – 32.91 seconds [video]
You can find out all the details on Papi’s record-setting tater trot here. Not that there weren’t any other amazing home runs on Wednesday. In Washington, Jayson Werth hit an 8th-inning grand slam to put the Nats ahead for good. Earlier in the game, Bryce Harper blasted a shot down the right field line — and off the railing of the upper deck. It was an amazing thing to see (video).
About that Harper blast. The comment I’ve seen most often about Ortiz’s record-breaker is that he had to wait and see if the ball was fair, so that’s why his trot was so slow. That is absolutely true. If he hadn’t waited for the ball to make up its mind, he would’ve had a perfectly normal trot. But Bryce Harper was in the same boat. In fact, both Harper’s and Ortiz’s home runs were so borderline fair/foul that umpires reviewed both blasts. And yet, Bryce Harper managed to complete his tater trot in 22.37 seconds while Big Papi took 10.5 seconds longer.
So it might be more than just a fair/foul thing, is what I’m saying.
Slowest Trot: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox – 32.91 seconds [video]
Were you not paying attention above?
On a normal day, Albert Pujols (25.53 seconds) and Adrian Gonzalez (25.39 seconds) would be vying for this crown, but today we can safely ignore them.
Quickest Trot: Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers – 17.18 seconds [video]
He slowed down rounding third in order to low-five his third base coach and then slowed down considerably in order to gently touch the plate and then turn towards the dugout, and even so Gomez turned in a 17.18 second trot.
Of course, Gomez is no Adam Rosales. If you don’t remember, Rosales was the star of the 2010 Tater Trot Tracker. He turned in four trots at 16.0 seconds or quicker that season — and he’s still the only player to have even a single sub-16 second standard home run trot. Playing for the Round Rock Express last night, barely an hour after David Ortiz set his own record, Rosales hit a home run of his own. Much like Gomez, Rosales had to slow down to almost a crawl in order to lightly touch home plate before turning towards the dugout. Even so, the Rosales minor league trot clocked in at 16.65 seconds. He could run out two entire tater trots at that speed in the time it took Papi to run out one (plus maybe one extra breath).
What a great day.
All of Today's Trots David Ortiz............32.91 Buster Posey.......21.59 Albert Pujols..........25.53 Mitch Moreland.....21.55 Adrian Gonzalez........25.39* Jonathan Schoop....21.23 Derek Norris...........24.4 Gerardo Parra......21.03 Mark Reynolds..........24.4 Paul Goldschmidt...21.02 Victor Martinez........23.68 Jason Kubel........21.01 Russell Martin #1......23.5 Brian Dozier.......20.92 Pedro Alvarez #2.......23* Mike Olt...........20.88 Junior Lake............22.96 Russell Martin #2..20.52* Carlos Beltran.........22.92 Desmond Jennings...20.5 Alex Gordon............22.86 Jason Heyward......20.31 Jayson Werth...........22.49 Alex Presley.......20.26 Pedro Alvarez #1.......22.48 Devin Mesoraco.....20.03 Bryce Harper...........22.37 Nick Castellanos...19.99* Jason Kipnis...........22.07 Kelly Johnson......19.72 Travis Snider..........22.04 Brett Lawrie.......19.44 Jarrod Saltalamacchia..21.82 Carlos Gomez.......17.18 Michael Morse..........21.69* Derek Dietrich.....N/A
Click here for the ongoing 2014 Tater Trot Tracker Leaderboard. You can also follow @TaterTrotTrkr on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute trot times.
