Of all the things a player can do on a baseball field, few annoy quite like a pose or a slow trot on a home run. A player who habitually watches his own homers or takes his time around the bases will in short order earn himself hatred from opposing fans and a bruised ribcage from opposing pitchers, and by and large, unless the player in question just hit a walk-off, there’s really no recommended time to showboat in such a disrespectful fashion.
Alex Rodriguez Admires Alex Rodriguez
↵So here’s something that should come as little surprise to many of you: among current Yankees who hit at least ten dingers a year ago, noted Code-breaker Alex Rodriguez’s average home run trot was the longest. Internet wizardry has allowed us to quantify an offense that until recently was strictly subjective, and this result is almost too perfect. Alex averaged nearly 25 seconds, while Derek Jeter came in just over 20 and Curtis Granderson under 19.
↵Of course, this isn’t a perfectly fair comparison. As the linked post notes, Alex tends to hit no-doubters, while his teammates hit more balls that scrape the top of the wall. Alex had the longest average home run on the team, at 400 feet, and nobody sprints out of the box when they know the ball’s gone. Still, for all the people who see Alex Rodriguez as the embodiment of all that is wrong with baseball today, this is just more fuel on the fire.
↵If you’re looking for more home run trot information that isn’t so Yankee-specific, check out Tater Trot Tracker. Slowest trot of the 2010 season? Alex Gonzalez. It wasn’t a no-doubter - the ball barely cleared the fence. And it wasn’t a walk-off - it came in the fourth inning. Gonzalez, though, didn’t showboat. He simply forgot to touch first base.
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