Home Run of the Day: Ryan Doumit, Pittsburgh Pirates (Trot Time: 23.56 seconds) [video]
Josh Willingham also hit a walkoff home run for the Washington Nationals yesterday. I really wanted to put Corey Hart‘s bomb into the Target Field upper deck (first one ever!) as the Home Run of the Day, but that seemed like a little too much homerism there. Plus, it deprives the good Pirates fans out there recognition for a good moment. The best part about Doumit’s trot is just how slow he’s running between first and second. Obviously, he sped up at some point or else this trot would’ve lasted much longer than 23 seconds, but it was fun to see him take it slow if even for a moment.
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Slowest Trot: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers – 26.43* seconds [video]
Easily the slowest trot of the day, but sadly I’m unable to post a precise figure. Dodger Stadium must have some really deep camera wells because the view from the well to home plate is almost perfectly at ground level. This means that, if this is the camera following the player as he touches home plate, you get almost no real indication from the ground of where the plate is. You have only the cues of the batter’s gait and your sense of where he is on the line (from other angles) to decide when he touched the plate. For Cabrera’s home run yesterday, both teams’ feeds used the camera well. It doesn’t matter, though, in this case. No matter which step actually touched home plate – be it at 26.43 seconds or 26.35 seconds – Cabrera was the day’s slowest trotter. The way he stands at the plate to watch the ball (and decide if it’ll stay fair) doesn’t help.
Quickest Trot: Willie Bloomquist, Kansas City Royals – 18.21* seconds [video]
Another home run where the camera angle gives us a less than perfect view of the plate as the runner reached home. The next closest trots to Bloomquist’s both belong to Scott Rolen, who hit two home runs yesterday and ran them both out in less than 19 seconds (18.64 seconds and 18.73 seconds). There was even a brief moment of confusion as Rolen ran out the second shot that caused him to slow down ever-so-briefly.
