Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez, all 6-foot-3, 235 pounds of him, is not known for his baserunning—or for much of anything besides hitting home runs and striking out. But he managed to circle the bases last night on an ordinary single because Padres right fielder Chris Denorfia did this.
Alvarez was credited with a single and a three-base error (though not an RBI, as the video below incorrectly indicates). The world record for circling the bases on an inside-the-park home run is 13.3 seconds, set in 1932 by Evar Swanson in Columbus, Ohio, and nearly matched last season by the Reds' Billy Hamilton. Alvarez's journey around the diamond wasn't quite so fast:
Alvarez said he was waiting for third-base coach Nick Leyva to stop him: "He didn't, and I just kept on going." Andrew McCutchen, who was on first base, also scored. The Pirates would add another run in the sixth on an actual home run by Alvarez, his NL-leading 31st. Denorfia hadn't committed an error since June 24. "I just missed it," he said. Center fielder Will Venable finally got to the ball at the wall, but it honestly looked like it might roll to Mission Bay Park first.