On his first homer of 2018, Adam Rosales recorded the season's fastest home run trot because that's his brand
There are a few things we can all count on in our lives: "Death, taxes and
Now that we're in the final week of the 2018 regular season, though, there was a chance Rosales wouldn't have a chance to add to his legacy. After being called up by the Indians in early September, he hadn't hit a homer ... yet.
In Monday's 4-0 win over the White Sox, he cracked a solo shot down the left-field line and the race was on: a race between Rosales and every other player that has hit a homer thus far this season. Spoiler alert: Rosie won.
The man with the quickest HR ˇ°trotsˇ± in the game is at it again!@arosie7 circles the bases in just 16.23 seconds, the fastest time on an over-the-fence HR in 2018. pic.twitter.com/SoLnYm1SSc
— #Statcast (@statcast) September 25, 2018
This 16.23-second trot falls just a bit short of last year's 15.88, which was a record set by ... Adam Rosales, then with the A's, and the fastest trot recorded since Statcast started tracking them in 2015:
Some hitters take their time around the bases. Those who do don't have blurry action shots like this one, only caused by head-down, full-on sprints around the bases:
Don't expect Rosales to ever give anything less than 100 percent. He has a brand to keep up, after all.
So why all the sprinting?
"I've just been doing it since I was a kid," Rosales explained after the game. "Ever since I've been a kid, I always promised myself, 'Hey, as far as I can go playing baseball, I'm always going to play the same way I did when I was 10, 12 years old.'"
As for his reaction to hearing it was the fastest home run trot of 2018:
"I was super excited to hit my first home run as a Cleveland Indian. They used to be a little bit faster."
Rosales' teammate,
"I've seen it on TV before -- never in person. I've heard a lot about it. That's pretty good, man. That's pretty crazy how he does that, but it's fun to watch."
"It was fast," said manager Terry Francona. "He doesn't short-change on effort, on attitude. It's kind of fun to watch. He gives you everything he has."
