With only 17 home runs hit in 12 games Thursday, it feels a bit wrong to say that it was a big night for home runs. But…
It was a big night for home runs. In Arizona, Freddie Freeman hit two home runs for the Braves. The real story of Thursday, however, was Curtis Granderson. Up early this morning is a quick look at Granderson's three tater trots. The rest of the day's trots will be up at their normal time this afternoon.
UPDATED: The trots are now complete for April 19. Let's take a look!
Home Run of the Day: Curtis Granderson #3, New York Yankees – 19.19 seconds [video]
By the time the Yankees and Twins had completed four innings in the Bronx Thursday night, Granderson was 3-for-3 with three home runs and was looking at four or five more innings to go at a chance at number four. He ended the night 5-for-5, but with no additional home runs. Not that we're disappointed!
The three trots: #1 – 18.93 seconds [video], #2 – 20.02 seconds [video], #3 – 19.19 seconds [video]
Curtis Granderson has always been a quick trotter. In 2011, he recorded only three trots slower than 20.0 seconds, and at least one of those was directly caused by the runner in front of him. So it shouldn't be all that big of a shock to see three such consistently fast times. That's just how Granderson runs. Then again, players who are enjoying such a successful night tend to pause and do just that—enjoy it. A brief slowdown on the basepaths as he celebrates his career-best third home run of the night, for example, would be perfectly understandable. But it's not how Granderson does things. Head down, legs moving, dirt flying—that's Curtis Granderson. Last night was no exception.
One more note: Granderson's three trots took a combined 58.14 seconds. That's three whole trips around the bases (1,080 feet!) in under a minute! If I were a sportscaster, I might say Granderson was… gone in 60 seconds!
Slowest Trot: Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals – 26.26 seconds [video]
Holliday wasn't the only one to take his time around the bases. In New York, the lone Minnesota home run came off the bat of Ryan Doumit (his first for the club), and he rounded the bases in 25.22 seconds. Combined, Holliday's and Doumit's two trots took 51.48 seconds to complete.
Quickest Trot: Curtis Granderson #1, New York Yankees – 18.93 seconds [video]
Granderson finds himself in the rare spot of having the first, second, and fourth quickest trots on the night. Only Matt Kemp and his 19.85 second trot kept Granderson from sweeping the podium.
All of Today's Trots Matt Holliday........26.26 Mark Teixeira........21.48 Ryan Doumit..........25.22 Freddie Freeman #1...21.08 Brandon Phillips.....24.33 Ryan Ludwick.........20.4 Ryan Zimmerman.......23.75 Drew Stubbs..........20.19 Adam Jones...........23.25 Curtis Granderson #2.20.02 Mike Napoli..........22.62 Matt Kemp............19.85* Desmond Jennings.....22.56 Curtis Granderson #3.19.19 Evan Longoria........22.54 Curtis Granderson #1.18.93 Freddie Freeman #2...22.26
Click here for the ongoing 2012 Tater Trot Tracker Leaderboard. You can also follow @TaterTrotTrkr on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute trot times.
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