We can talk about the home run itself a little more below, but this sentiment from the MLB twitter account shouldn't be ignored:
This is how you celebrate a #walkoff. twitter.com/MLB/status/336…
— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2013
Remember when Kendrys Morales broke his leg attempting a similar walkoff celebration? And then he didn't play again for over a year? And then he wasn't back to his old self for more like two years? And, in the meantime, major league players pretended like they would try not to be so unnecessarily stupid in the future? And how that pretense lasted all of like two weeks?
Well, maybe Major League Baseball should think twice about tweeting something like what they did yesterday following the walkoff home run from Freddy Galvis.
Home Run of the Day: Miguel Cabrera #3, Detroit Tigers – 23.71 seconds [video]
How do you decide between a trio of home runs from the reigning Triple Crown winner during a Sunday Night Baseball game and a pair of back-to-back home runs to walkoff? It's a tough choice, but I'll give the honors to Cabrera if for no other reason than the fact that this is already the second time this season that a game ended on back-to-back walkoff home runs. Cabrera's other two tater trots on Sunday night clocked in at 23.68 seconds and 23.34 seconds, a remarkable level of speedy consistency from the Tigers third baseman.
In Chicago, Cubs pitcher Travis Wood (and his beard) crused a ball over the left field wall and onto Waveland Avenue. Many days, that would be the easy Home Run of the Day. For Sunday, it was nearly forgotten.
Slowest Trot: Miguel Cabrera #3, Detroit Tigers – 23.71 seconds [video]
Too bad his quickness did Cabrera no good. Despite an unexpectedly pleasant level of consistency from someone many consider a slow trotter, Cabrera still finds himself with the slowest trot of the day. Bad luck. The only other 23-second trot in the league came from Ryan Zimmerman, who ran home in 23.46 seconds.
In Baltimore, a very confusing instant replay situation involving Matt Joyce eventually ended in Joyce being awarded a home run. It may have slowed the game down for ten minutes, but, like all interrupted trots, it does not count for Tater Trot Tracker purposes.
Quickest Trot: Freddy Galvis, Philadelphia Phillies – 17.52 seconds [video]
With the Phillies down by one in the bottom of the ninth inning, Erik Kratz smoked a ball over the wall to tie the game off Cincinnati's closer Aroldis Chapman. Two pitches later, Galvis sent the ball into the left field corner and off the foul pole, winning the game for the Phillies. And though this is the second instance of back-to-back home runs ending a baseball game this season, it is actually a rare feat.
On the bases, Galvis was so excited about the outcome that he raced home in time for a top-10 trot time. That speed likely contributed to the amazing air Galvis got on his leap home (no matter how ill-advised it was).
All of Today's Trots Miguel Cabrera #3..23.71 Jay Bruce..........20.81 Miguel Cabrera #1..23.68 Travis Wood........20.78 Ryan Zimmerman.....23.46 Yoenis Cespedes....20.4 Miguel Cabrera #2..23.34 David Murphy.......20.13 Luke Scott.........22.72 Kyle Blanks........20.1 Ryan Sweeney.......22.27 Dustin Pedroia.....19.86 Yonder Alonso......21.78 Will Middlebrooks..19.81 Pedro Alvarez......21.76 Will Venable.......18.82 Daniel Murphy......21.39 Juan Lagares.......18.45 Michael Brantley...21.28 Freddy Galvis......17.52 Erik Kratz.........20.85 Matt Joyce.........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.
