Fireworks are calling. Let's get right to the trots!
Home Run of the Day: Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians – N/A seconds [video]
It's almost unheard of to have an inside-the-park home run and be able to get a reliable time for the trot. Even if the camera doesn't follow the batter-runner perfectly around the bases live, there's usually seven or eight replays afterwards to clear up matters. For Kipnis on Wednesday, however, there were more pressing matters than a replay of the Indians star running around the bases.
The only reason this inside-the-park home run came to be was that Kansas City's left-fielder, Alex Gordon, injured himself on the play. As the ball began to descend, Gordon leapt awkwardly at the ball, twisting his body to try and make the catch. He missed the ball and fell backwards into the chain-link fence. As he did, Gordon's head bounced hard off the fence and he collapsed to the ground. Kipnis, meanwhile, was charging around the bases, not knowing that his long flyball had just caused a concussion. Eventually, he crossed the plate but, as he did so, the television cameras were focused on the players in the field.
For those watching the video, there are three players who cross the plate. The cameras show Michael Bourn and Asdrubal Cabrera cross the plate (with Cabrera running in late enough that it seems like it's actually Kipnis), but Kipnis isn't shown until after he's already passed the plate and finishing up his high-fives with Cabrera. This happens at roughly 18.5 seconds after contact. A later replay shows Kipnis crossing the plate in real-time and beginning his high-fives. Clocking the time between he touches home and finishes up the high-fives, it seems likely that the trot time is about 16 seconds, though this is nowhere near official.
Slowest Trot: Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers – 27.47 seconds [video]
A huge blast into the second deck at Coors Field. Gonzalez takes his sweet, sweet time, though, giving us the slowest trot of the day by nearly 1.5 seconds. Victor Martinez, at 26.17 seconds, was the runner up.
Quickest Trot: Brandon Moss, Oakland Athletics – 18.97 seconds [video]
The quickest official trot of the day. In Cincinnati, Tater Trot Tracker favorite Chris Heisey hit his third home run of the season, but came in with a disappointingly slow 19.0 second trot. I hope he makes up for it the next time!
All of Today's Trots Adrian Gonzalez..27.47 Juan Uribe.......21.79 Victor Martinez..26.17 Pedro Alvarez....21.76 Hanley Ramirez...24.4 Jonny Gomes......21.44 Chris Carter #2..24.08 Eric Hosmer......21.3 Carlos Gonzalez..23.82 Gordon Beckham...20.9 Chris Davis......23.78 Matt Kemp........20.89 Hank Conger......23.65 Trevor Plouffe...20.76 Tony Abreu.......23.6 Jon Jay..........20.65 Chris Carter #1..23.5 Brian McCann.....20.62 Domonic Brown....22.82 Justin Ruggiano..20.54 David Wright.....22.54 Matt Carpenter...20.35 Daniel Murphy....22.34 David Murphy.....19.94 Alex Avila.......22.12 Anthony Rendon...19.4* Cody Ross........22.12 Kyle Seager......19.32 Luis Valbuena....22.07* Chris Heisey.....19 Jason Bay........22.01 Brandon Moss.....18.97 Ian Kinsler......22 Jason Kipnis.....N/A Josh Satin.......21.89 Tuesday's Trots Alfonso Soriano.....26.26 Chris Young.........21.76 Kendrys Morales #2..26.09 Conor Gillaspie.....21.55 Kendrys Morales #1..24.65 Miguel Cabrera......21.54 Adrian Gonzalez.....24.51 Colby Rasmus........21.04 Adam Dunn...........24.26 Brian Roberts.......20.61 Desmond Jennings....23.26* Martin Prado........20.54 Garrett Jones.......23.08 Anthony Recker......20.33 Robinson Cano.......23 Raul Ibanez.........19.72* Brandon Phillips....22.78 Logan Morrison......19.3 Alex Gordon.........22.51 Yasiel Puig.........18.76 Derek Norris........22.41 Jesus Guzman........N/A Josh Donaldson......22.14
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.
