Home Run of the Day: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (Trot Time: 23.61 seconds) [video]
Home run #400 was like practically every other one before it for Albert Pujols: crushed the ball right off the bat, and you knew it was gone; Pujols watches the ball fly for a moment at home plate; eventually, he runs hard to first base and then around the bases, coming in with a respectable 23.61 second trot.
It was quite the feat, though. Pujols became the first player to hit 400 home runs in his first 10 years in the league (though that’s only because guys like Alex Rodriguez got called up for a handful of games at age 18 and 19). I give Pujols a hard time here and elsewhere sometimes, but I like the guy. I love being able to watch him play everyday, with the promise of even more years to come. It’s something special.
(And, by the way, Jose Bautista hit his 100th career home run last night. He ran it out in 21.43 seconds, just a tad faster than his previous home run.)
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Slowest Trot: Vladimir Guerrero, Texas Rangers – 27.36 seconds [video]
I watched Carlos Lee‘s home run first, and I was just certain that he was going to get the Slowest Trot of the Day award. It’s not often that a 27.06 second trot isn’t the slowest. But it turns out Vlad is on some kind of tear, both in mashing home runs and in strolling around the bases. In the wake of Wednesday’s nearly 26-second trot, we get Thursday’s 27.36 second trot. Nice to see Vlad still mashing.
Quickest Trot: Roger Bernadina, Washington Nationals – 18.11 seconds [video]
I was beginning to get worried. There were 18 home runs hit yesterday, and I had watched 17 of them before I got to Bernadina’s. None of those 17 came in under 20-seconds, but then I got to watch Bernadina’s. He ran so hard on his late-inning, game-tying shot that his helmet fell off his head while round third base. Now that’s what I like to see.
