The rest of Tuesday’s home runs will come later today, but first we have to take a quick look at Jose Bautista’s tater trot.
Twenty-eight seconds is a slow trot for pretty much anyone in the big leagues, but it’s not generally something to write home about. It was a different story when Bautista left the yard last night, however, and that’s thanks to this:
BAUTISTA STARE AND FLIP DOT GIF http://t.co/86wzNzyxBt
— David Shemie (@dshemie8) April 22, 2015
Of the 28.15 seconds it took the Blue Jays slugger to round the bases, 6.15 of them was spent admiring the home run, staring down the pitcher, and flipping his bat. Six seconds! That’ll get anybody riled up. The Orioles didn’t like the display, of course, but Baustista had his reasons. Now, whether you agree with his reaction or not is another question.
Personally, I’m a fan of this version of Bautista. A typically straight-edge trotter (his normal trot is always in the league-wide average 21-23 second range), Joey Bats has a history of slowing down his trots when the other team gets a bit out of hand. In 2010, for example, he also slowed down into a 28-second trot after a pitch went near his head and caused a bench-clearing incident. It’s kind of the ultimate way to leave it on the field – with just a bit of panache thrown in. It helps that he isn’t someone who meanders around the bases on every home run (a Hanley Ramirez or David Ortiz-type, say) so when he does something like he did Tuesday night, you know there was a reason for it. Orioles fans won’t agree, but that’s sports for you.
Slowest Trot: coming later
Quickest Trot: coming later
All of Today's Trots Coming later
Click here for the ongoing 2015 Tater Trot Tracker Leaderboard. You can also follow @TaterTrotTrkr on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute trot times.
