Since 2010, the goal of the Tater Trot Tracker has been to time each and ever home run trot in Major League Baseball. Though there have been some gaps here and there, the Tater Trot Tracker has put a stop-watch to more than 15,000 home runs over the years! From the big boppers who love to “savor the moment” to the journeymen who “swing hard, run hard”, the Tater Trot Tracker is a celebration of one of sports’ best moments — the victory lap after the batter’s ultimate victory over the pitcher.
And now to answer some of your questions…
When do you start the clock? When does the trot end?
A trot starts the moment the bat touches the ball. The trot ends the moment the foot touches the plate. Anything the batter does to slow things down between those moments — watching the ball fly, slowing down as he approaches the plate — counts as part of the trot time. It’s the only fair way to do it.
How long is a typical trot? What is slow? What is fast?
The average tater trot is right around 22 seconds. On a typical day, a trot in the 18-19 second range will be good enough for the day’s fastest; a trot in the 25-26 second range is typically slow enough for day’s “best.” On the extreme end, the fastest standard home runs are right around 16 seconds while the slowest are at 30 seconds. The Tater Trot Tracker leaderboard will have up-to-date records for the current season and for all-time.
What about inside-the-park home runs?
It never seemed fair to compare inside-the-park home run trot times to those that cleared the wall, so their trot times have always been kept separate. A typical inside-the-park trot clocks in around 15-seconds, but the fastest clock in at ~14.0 seconds.
What happens on instant replay when a double is turned into a home run? That must be a 2-minute trot!
Trots that are interrupted for any reason — the batter stops at second because it was initially called a double or he pauses at first because he’s unsure it was caught, etc. — do not get an official time. They go down as “N/A”.
Whether you savor the moment or swing hard, run hard, remember — happy trottin’!
