If you like speedy home run trots, then yesterday was a great day. Of the 31 home runs hit, three were in the 17-second range. That’s pretty rare.
Of course, the real story of the day is…
Home Run of the Day: Trevor Hoffman, Cincinnati Reds (Trot Time: 17.87 seconds) [video]
Whoops. Kind of got that one confused. It was actually Cincinnati’s Scott Rolen who hit the ninth-inning home run yesterday. But, with the way Hoffman has been serving up gopher balls to the batting team these last few weeks as if he were the tee-ball coach pitching to his own team, it seems like a fair mix-up.
There’s been a lot of talk about Hoffman in the Brewers universe these last couple of days. The calls for him to be (temporarily?) removed from his closer duties are getting louder and louder. I’m still not convinced the front office will allow that to happen yet, but it’s really, really close. I’m going to try to put a post up about Hoffman tonight, but, suffice to say, he’s not been good.
Rolen, at least, gave his pinch hit, game-tying homer a classic 17-second trot. (And let’s not forget Joey Votto‘s absolute monster shot into the steamboat in the eighth [video]).
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Slowest Trot: Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies – 27.61 seconds [video]
This was Helton’s first home run of the year in 141 plate appearances, and thus our first chance to see him trot. I was surprised at just how slow it was. We can probably chalk some of that up to his injury history and innate slowness, but it was still surprising. Twenty-seven seconds is pretty elite territory. Juan Rivera (26.56 seconds) was his only competition.
Quickest Trot: Felipe Lopez, St. Louis Cardinals – 17.61 seconds [video]
As I said before, there were three 17-second home runs hit yesterday: the Rolen blast above, a 17.7-second trot from Michael Young, and this one from Felipe Lopez. But no matter how many I see in a day, it still always makes me happy.
