Welcome to the 2015 season! It was snowing or sleeting or something here in Vermont yesterday morning, but thankfully things were a bit different around the rest of the country. With 28 teams suiting up in 14 games yesterday, there was a lot to be thankful for in the baseball world. Well, unless you’re a Brewers fan. Yuck.
Let’s get to the trots!
Home Run of the Day: Todd Frazier, Cincinnati Reds – 23.02* seconds [video]
There were a number of good choices here. Bryce Harper hit his third Opening Day home run of his (very) young career. Out in Philly, Red Sox teammates Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez each hit two home runs, with Ramirez’s second clearing the bases as Boston won 8-0. But the honor goes to Todd Frazier, who celebrated his 8th-inning, go-ahead blast like so:
“Leave the bat, take the home run trot.” – #ToddFather pic.twitter.com/XjSbD7apFN
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) April 6, 2015
Now that’s worthy of the Home Run of the Day!
Slowest Trot: Hanley Ramirez #2, Boston Red Sox – 27.67 seconds [video]
It was a pretty good debut for Ramirez, as he clobbers two home runs to help the Red Sox shutout the Phillies on Opening Day. This second blast – a grand slam – came in the ninth inning and, considering Hanley’s history, could have been much slower than this 27-second trot. He must have been feeling pretty excited if he rushed home so quickly. The next slowest trot belonged to the Dodgers’ Jimmy Rollins, who took about 25-seconds to trot home in his first game as a non-Phillie.
Quickest Trot: Devon Travis, Toronto Blue Jays – 18.56 seconds [video]
Making your major league debut on Opening Day and then socking your first career home run? Yeah, you might sprint home too. Travis beats out Mike Moustakas (18.81 seconds) to top the day’s trotters.
All of Today's Trots Hanley Ramirez #2...27.67 Bryce Harper........20.65 Jimmy Rollins.......25.03* Dustin Pedroia #2...20.37 Hanley Ramirez #1...24.88 Jay Bruce...........20.12 Nolan Arenado.......23.71 Corey Dickerson.....20.07 Jose Abreu..........23.37 Mike Trout..........19.83 Stephen Vogt........23.27* J.D. Martinez.......19.79 Todd Frazier........23.02* Dustin Pedroia #1...19.59 Steve Pearce........22.38 Mookie Betts........19.42 Alex Avila..........22.37 Alejandro De Aza....19.28 Ryan Flaherty.......22.28 Dustin Ackley.......19.06 Alex Rios...........22.19 Ben Zobrist.........19.02 Edwin Encarnacion...22 Mike Moustakas......18.81 Adrian Gonzalez.....21.83 Devon Travis........18.56 Andrew McCutchen....21.78 Brett Gardner.......n/a Evan Longoria.......21.05
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.
