Tater Trot Tracker: September 16

Home Run of the Day: Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox (Trot Time: 23.65 seconds) [video]

In the first inning, Paul Konerko was hit directly in the jaw by a pitch from Minnesota’s Carl Pavano. He fell to the ground and the trainer came running out. Konerko ended up staying in the game, though, despite Chicago’s trainer actually physically pulling him towards the dugout. Konerko wasn’t going to sit after a measly 89 mph pitch struck his jaw. You need some serious heat to knock him out of a game.

In his next at-bat, Konerko took the first pitch from Pavano (another 89 mph pitch, but this time directly over the plate and about as far from Konerko’s head as Pavano could put it) over the left field wall. It would have had to take Mark McGwire break Roger Maris’s record again for me to put something other than Konerko’s homer as the Home Run of the Day.

 

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Slowest Trot: A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago White Sox – 26.75 seconds [video]

On the first pitch of the second inning, Mark Buehrle beaned Michael Cuddyer in the shoulder. Cuddyer took it without argument, and everyone seemed to think that the Konerko beaning was paid back in full. Not AJ, apparently. After his blast, he took his sweet time running the last 180 feet from second to home, moving his feet incredibly slowly.

 

Quickest Trot: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants – 21.57 seconds [video]

This may just be the slowest “quickest trot” we’ve had all year. But, on a night when only ten home runs are hit (six games played with home runs in only three of them), there’s not much you can do. Plus, it gives me a chance to mentions Posey’s absolute bomb to left field. The shot would normally be Home Run of the Day, but Posey would have had to get pegged directly in the nose in the first inning for that to have happened. The shot is a thing of beauty, though, and I recommend checking it out. Even Jon Miller said “That ball is gone!” the moment the ball met the bat.

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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