A light day for home runs - in the majors at least. The minors were a different story. Monday did have good news in one form, though. It was the day Major League Baseball welcomed Adam Rosales back to the field. There will be more on that in a minute.

For now, let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Adam Rosales, Oakland Athletics - 19.16 seconds [video]
It didn't take long for me to find my favorite trotter last year. The A's Adam Rosales isn't the biggest of home run hitters, but, when he does hit one, it's nothing but fun. In 2010, the only home run trots clocked in under 16.5 seconds were inside-the-park home runs (17 of them) - and five Adam Rosales trots. That's right, Rosales was on par with inside-the-park hitters five times. Of his seven home runs, the only two that weren't under 16.5 seconds were the two non-solo home runs he hit. More than anyone else, Rosales hauls around the bases at the moment of contact on all home runs.

It was sad, then, when he went down for the season last August. That meant no more tater trots. Monday was his first day back in the big leagues and, in his second at-bat, he went yard. The trot was a bit slow - partly due to Rosales himself, but mostly due to the runner on base who just didn't seem to know a sprinter was behind him. Monday's trot may not have been quite as fast as we're used to from Rosales, but I'm glad to have him back.

For the rest of today's trots (including trot times for all home runs), head over to Baseball Prospectus.

I usually do my best to keep abreast of the day's goings on in the baseball world (through Twitter and whatnot) so that I don't accidentally miss something home run-related when I watch through the videos. There are times, though, when I don't get a chance to do that and, as such, go into the home run videos pretty blind only to discover some pretty interesting things happened. Sunday was a day like that.

Let's get to those trots.

Home Run of the Day: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals - 24.26 seconds* [video]
I could get away with not giving the Home Run of the Day to Pujols' walkoff yesterday because of the terrific play by Torii Hunter in the Yankees/Angels game. There is no valid excuse to skip over Pujols today, when he hit a walkoff home run for the second night in a row. I can only imagine how excited Cardinals fans are by the back-to-back walkoffs. You don't have to imagine how excited Pujols is, though - you can see it in his trots. Just watch Saturday's walkoff trot and then Sunday's trot. That's excitement right there.

Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley also had a big game, hitting a home run, a double, and earning a run-scoring walk in Cincinnati. Almost any other day that would be enough for Home Run of the Day, but it pales in comparison to Pujols today.

For the rest of today's trots (including trot times for all home runs and one of the most blatant cases of intentional showboating I've yet seen), head over to Baseball Prospectus.

Family issues kept me from posting Monday's trots yesterday. There were 46 hit that day - the biggest day of the year, I believe - but I still had to go back and time then. The times are included below. Tuesday's home run haul was a little smaller, but it was still a pretty good day for taters.

Let's get to those trots!

Home Run of the Day: Mitch Moreland, Texas Rangers - 23.46 seconds [video]
This home run is from Monday, but I can't let it slip by. Watch the video. Now that is a home run. I'm pretty sure he just hit it out of Tropicana and all the way to Tampa. Pretty darn impressive.

For the rest of today's trots (including trot times for all home runs), head over to Baseball Prospectus.

I know everyone is anxious to get out to their grills for some hot dogs and beer, so I won't keep you waiting.

Let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox - 24.45 seconds [video]
For only the fourth time in his career, David Ortiz hit a pinch-hit home run. Also for only the fourth time in his career, David Ortiz trotted out a 24-second trot.

I kid, I kid. Papi busts out a quick trot every now and then, and it's nice to see it come on Sunday, after a late-inning, go-ahead, pinch-hit bomb. Very appropriate.

Houston starter J.A. Happ hit his first career home run on Sunday, coming in at a league-average 22.06 seconds. The Astros would win the game 4-2. The home run hit by Jay Bruce was not measurable. Being the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game, the Cardinals/Braves game had only one video feed, and that feed chose not to show Bruce touching home plate. What a shame.

For the rest of today's trots (including trot times for all home runs), head over to Baseball Prospectus. 

Sorry for the late post today. The lunch hour gets tough during busy times at work. But at least we had a great night for home runs to make up for it.

Let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies - 21.72 seconds [video]
This could just as easily be Jay Bruce's tenth-inning home run from the Reds/Phillies game, but we'll go with Howard's blast because it kept the game alive. A game that took 19 innings to complete and saw Wilson Valdez - far from a pitcher! - pitch the last frame en route to a victory. There wasn't much to dislike about this game, and the two tenth-inning shots only made it that much more exciting. I just wonder if I would have been able to stay all nineteen innings if I were in Philadelphia last night.

In Milwaukee, Zack Greinke made his case for Home Run of the Day (24.86 seconds) by lacing a flyball down the rightfield line. It's only his second career home run, and his first in the National League. You can tell he was excited about the blast because he actually laughed in the postgame press conference.

For the rest of today's trots (including trot times for all home runs), head over to Baseball Prospectus.

Another day, another three-home run game. How boring!

How about some trots?!

Home Run of the Day: Carlos Quentin #3, Chicago White Sox - 21.98 seconds [video]
I hope it's obvious that I don't actually think a three home run game is boring. They're always something to see (I was at a Blue Jays/Red Sox game where Adam Lind hit three home runs - it was incredibly fun to see in person). I also enjoy the randomness of the players who have hit three home runs this year (all in the last two weeks): Carlos Beltran, Jason Giambi, Corey Hart, Jose Bautista, and now Quentin. It's one of those things that makes baseball great.

For the rest of today's trots (including trot times for all home runs), head over to Baseball Prospectus. 

I'm not sure I've ever had a day with such a tight competition for the Home Run of the Day. Here in Milwaukee, Corey Hart hit his first, second, and third home runs of the year in the Brewers' 11-3 rout of the Nationals. In San Diego, Albert Pujols hit his first home run in over 100 plate appearances (that didn't stop him from admiring the blast). Jose Bautista continued his torrid pace of making obnoxious sportswriters say inane things with his 19th home run of the season. In Detroit, Andy Dirks hit his first career home run. Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz returned to the Rangers' lineup down in Texas and proceeded to each hit a home run to celebrate their return. For a day with only twenty-one home runs hit, it certainly seemed like every one of them was meaningful.

So what was the Home Run of the Day? Let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Jim Thome #2, Minnesota Twins - 23.19 seconds [video]
As excited as I am for all the home runs mentioned above (and, believe me, it's great seeing Corey Hart playing well), the one that made me most excited was Jim Thome's second blast of the game. The home run came in Target Field and was the 593rd of Thome's career. Like Cruz and Hamilton, this was Thome's first time in the lineup for a few weeks, having recently returned from the disabled list. What makes this more special than any of the others, though, is that the Twins were honoring Harmon Killebrew during the game. Thome is often described as the Killebrew of his generation, so the fact that he managed to sock two home runs on the day Killebrew's memory was honored takes it to a whole other level.

For the rest of today's trots (including trot times for all home runs), head over to Baseball Prospectus.