Josh Hamilton Hits 2 More Homers, Has 17 In 33 Games

Josh Hamilton is really, really, really good at playing baseball this month.

Baseball Prospectus: Josh Hamilton's Home-Run Trots

We know that, Tuesday night, Josh Hamilton hit four home runs in one game in Baltimore. We know where to go to see how many times someone has done that before. We know where to go to see how far each of Hamilton's home runs was hit. And we know where to go to see how long Hamilton took to circle the bases. Baseball Prospectus, of course, present home of Larry Granillo's Tater Trot Tracker. Take it away, Larry!

There was very little difference in the feel of each trot. Hamilton isn't one to show too much emotion during a home run trot. Instead, he tends to just put his head down and run hard. For someone who is usually so consistent with his trots, it was interesting to see the inconsistency in Tuesday's trots. For home run #1 [video], Hamilton was a bit slower than normal, rounding the bases in 23.62 seconds.

Things sped up for home run #2 [video], the only ball that didn't clear the centerfield fence. On the opposite field blast, Hamilton came home in 21.42 seconds. The third home run [video] was nearly a clone of #1, only this time Jones didn't crumple to the ground after he made the jump. Later, Hamilton would say that he always wanted to have a three-home run game. That might explain Hamilton taking so much time on the bases, soaking it all in. That trot clocked in at 24.22 seconds.

There was very little doubt on the final home run, which bounced past the fence and off into the Orioles bullpen. Hamilton saved his best and quickest trot for last, speeding around the bases on his record-tying home run in 20.8 seconds. It's not as fast as some of Hamilton's trots can be, but we can't fault him for that! It was his fourth home run of the day!

With his fourth home run of the game - his fourth home run of the game! - Josh Hamilton had his quickest home-run trot of the game. Not by a whole lot, but by a little, which I think is a little surprising since you'd think one would want to soak that sort of thing in. But what do I know, it's not like I've ever hit four home runs in a game before. I don't think I've even hit four home runs in a video game before, with an entire team, much less one player. Baseball video games are so hard!

I think the Tater Trot Tracker is an underrated resource, myself. It's of very little practical value, but it adds to the story - the story of baseball - which is a welcome quality in a statistic. Hamilton's had faster trots and slower trots than he had Tuesday night, but Tuesday night, he had four trots, and thanks to Granillo we've got numbers for all of them. That's not not neat.

How Not To Cover Josh Hamilton's 4-Homer Game

Tuesday night in Baltimore, superstar outfielder Josh Hamilton slugged four home runs. In one game! And he hit a double too! That sure seems like something we should be talking about.

A (Half-Hearted) (Kinda Sorta) Defense Of The Josh Hamilton Trade

Reds fans are wondering if the Josh Hamilton trade will overtake the Frank Robinson trade as the worst in franchise history. It might yet. But that doesn't mean it was an awful idea at the time.

Where Does Josh Hamilton Rank With The Other 4-Homer Men?

Some players who hit four home runs in a game are Hall of Famers. Some aren't even close. Where does Josh Hamilton rank among them?

How Josh Hamilton Narrowly Missed 5 Home Runs

Tuesday night, Josh Hamilton hit four home runs in one baseball game. Lots of guys have hit four home runs in one baseball game before. I mean, not that many guys, because it's kind of an exclusive group, but if that many people were in your living room, you'd be like, "there are lots of people in the living room." It would be crowded if all of those guys were in one place.

Nobody has ever hit five home runs in one baseball game before. Not in the major leagues, which is the only baseball we care about. Josh Hamilton didn't hit five home runs, either, but he did hit four home runs and a double, and it wasn't a ground-ball double down the line. It was a ... it was a very long fly-ball double. This is about where it landed:

That close. That was in the fifth inning, and it would've gone for Hamilton's third homer. Now, had that gone for Hamilton's third homer, there's no telling whether he would've gone on to hit another two homers, but it's fun to pretend, so, sure, Josh Hamilton came just several feet away from a five-homer game.

When Mike Cameron had his four-homer game, in his final at-bat he lifted a fly to the warning track. Someday, somebody's going to hit five. We've had our threats.

Incidentally, in his final at-bat Tuesday night, Adam Dunn struck out looking to extend his strikeout streak to 35 consecutive games. Dunn's streak is unprecedented for a position player. Hamilton's achievement is not unprecedented. Both are amazing. Good night for baseball history, Tuesday.

VIDEO: Josh Hamilton Mashes 4 Home Runs

Tuesday night in Baltimore, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton batted five times and came away with four homers and a double. That's one of them productive games, and for your convenience we have video of his feat. Or video of his four feats. (Nobody cares about the double.) (Stupid worthless double.)

In the first inning, Hamilton blasted a first-pitch outside curveball to center field.

In the third inning, Hamilton blasted a 2-and-0 outside fastball to left field.

In the seventh inning, Hamilton blasted an 0-and-1 outside slider to center field.

In the eighth inning, Hamilton blasted an 0-and-2 outside sinker to center field.

Hamilton did a pretty good job of covering the outer half of the plate Tuesday night, I would say. Hamilton attempted nine swings in all in the game. He turned those nine swings into 18 total bases, or two total bases per swing. With the effort, Hamilton raised his season slugging percentage from .703 to .840. Matt Kemp's season slugging percentage is sitting at .832. Did Josh Hamilton just serve Matt Kemp? Is that how this works?

Josh Hamilton Hits 4 Homers Against Orioles

Josh Hamilton slugged a record-tying four home runs on Tuesday, driving in eight runs.