Eight games, twelve home runs. Five of them hit in the Baltimore-Seattle game. The game is strange sometimes.
Home Run of the Day: Luke Scott, Baltimore Orioles (Trot Time: 24.56 seconds) [video]
Scott’s go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning is Home Run of the Day as much for its importance in the game as it is for the trot. The ball was nearly caught by Seattle’s Michael Saunders, but his glove ran into a couple of Baltimore fans well-over the fence. Scott ran around first with his fist in the air, shouting, but came to a dead stop right before second place as he became confused about the call. He only stood still for a moment, but the transition from pure joy to utter confusion to joy again was great to see. The grand slam would prove to be the deciding run in the 6-5 ballgame.
(Click “Read More” to continue reading.)
Slowest Trot: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers – 25.31 seconds [video]
Watching Cabrera’s trot, you get the distinct sense that he ran it out pretty quickly. The clock, however, still shows a 25-second trot good for slowest of the day. I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing he slowed down considerably in those last few steps, as players tend to do. If he hadn’t, he likely wouldn’t have been the slowest of the day.
Quickest Trot: Brennan Boesch, Detroit Tigers – 19.54 seconds [video]
The video is tough to tell on this one, as the camera is trained squarely on Boesch’s face as he reaches the plate. He does do the same stutter-step approach that Cabrera and others do, though, and that gives a pretty solid indication of when his foot touched the plate. His nearest competition is Houston’s Hunter Pence, who ran his home run out in 19.57 seconds. There was no word on whether Chris Carpenter got mad at him for running so fast around the bases.
