Tater Trot Tracker: June 27

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer (R) reacts as Toronto Blue Jays' Vernon Wells (L) runs the bases after hitting a two run home run during the third inning of their interleague MLB baseball game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania June 27, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

Home Run of the Day: Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays (Trot Time: 23.07 seconds) [video]

Robinson Cano and Kurt Suzuki both hit memorable late-inning go-ahead home runs yesterday, but, unless the fans who caught those balls go on some sort of nationwide crime spree, the homers aren’t exactly historic. The home run Jamie Moyer gave up to Vernon Wells in the third inning of yesterday’s game, though, is historic, as it now puts Moyer alone atop the list all major league pitchers ever with the most home runs allowed in a career. The Wells home run was #506.

A couple of funny things about the homer: the game, between the Phillies and Blue Jays, was held at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Ballpark but was considered a “home” game for the Jays. It’s rare, then, to see a “home” player have his home run ball thrown back onto the field like this one was, even if it sets a dubious record. After the ball was thrown onto the field, the left field ballgirl ran and picked it up and stored it in some kind of bag sitting next to her. The bag hardly looked official (you can see it near the end of the video), but it seemed to be okay because Moyer was presented with it after the game. As Yahoo’s Kevin Kaduk points out, Moyer accepted it with the quote “Maybe I’ll let my dog play with it.”

 

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Slowest Trot: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox – 27.43 seconds [video]

It seems like it’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen Papi atop these charts. And, to tell the truth, I’m a bit surprised by it. Watching Papi circle the bases after crushing the Tim Lincecum pitch into McCovey Cove, it felt like he was running fast. He must have slowed down considerably in those final 90 feet, though (and he does tend to do that), because the whole trot timed in at a leisurely 27.43 seconds. The next slowest trot came in at 24.78 seconds, nearly three seconds slower than Ortiz, and belonged to Albert Pujols.

 

Quickest Trot: Michael Young, Texas Rangers – 17.23 seconds [video]

It’s been a pretty good run for Mike Young, and yesterday was his best bet. After running a season-best 17.45 second just last week, Young topped it again with his 17.23 second trot from yesterday. With Josh Hamilton still legging out great trot times, the Rangers just may top the Reds for fastest trotting team by the end of the month. It’ll be interesting to see. After Young, the next quickest trot belonged to Arizona’s Gerardo Parra, who ran his home run out in 19.11 seconds.

I should take a moment here to note that neither Mike Napoli nor Brandon Wood (who hit a grand slam) were able to be timed accurately. In both instances, the video cameras of Fox Sports chose not to film the players approaching home plate.We aren’t able to see them at home plate until well after they’ve arrived and have had a moment to celebrate with their teammates. I’d normally try to record some sort of estimated time from trots like this, but the video (from both Anaheim and Colorado feeds) just don’t allow it. If you want to see what I mean, see Wood’s grand slam here and Napoli’s blast here.

About Larry Granillo

Larry Granillo has been writing Wezen Ball since 2008 and has dealt with such touchy topics as Charlie Brown's baseball stats and Ferris Bueller's day off. In 2010, he got the bright idea to time every home run trot in baseball; he has been missing ever since.

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