The HR trot that should be seen 'round the world (it took a whole minute!)

January 28th, 2025

Junior Caminero took the swing of his life on Tuesday night, a lightning-quick strike that sent the ball deep to center field. The Rays infielder and former top prospect then took his sweet time with everything that came after.

Caminero’s 454-foot solo home run in the top of the ninth inning put the Leones del Escogido ahead for good in a 6-5 victory over the Tigres del Licey to be crowned champions of the 2024-2025 season of the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League (LIDOM).

The 21-year-old set off on one of the most epic trips around the bases you will ever see, celebrating raucously with all of his teammates – who had come streaming out of the dugout – along the first-base line. It wasn’t so much a trot as it was a full-on party before Caminero had even touched first. He proceeded to pump his fist multiple times as he made it the rest of the way around, a full tour that took just shy of a minute.

The longest home run trot by a Major Leaguer last season came in a heated matchup between the Rays and Yanks and was 37.7 seconds by Juan Soto … who was in the opposing Tigres dugout watching this all unfold.

Caminero’s historic moonshot gave Escogido their 17th LIDOM title, and it was the first for their new manager, Cardinals legend Albert Pujols.

The Leones took the lead in the fourth inning, getting to starter Radhames Liz with two straight singles from Socrates Brito to left field and Caminero to right field, placing runners on the corners. Carlos Vargas came on in relief, and another single from Jean Segura to center field drove in the first run. Caminero then scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Yamaico Navarro.

Licey snatched the lead back in the fifth with a four-run rally, with three of those runs coming against starter Johnny Cueto. But the Leones rallied again in the sixth when Caminero hit a double to left field against Anthony Vizcaya and scored on a single by Segura to right field. José Marmolejos walked, and Adonis Medina took the mound and was greeted with a two-run double from Navarro to center field.

Continuing the back-and-forth Game 7, Licey tied it up in the seventh inning on a double from Emilio Bonifacio and an RBI single to center field from Harold Ramírez. That set the stage for Caminero's game-winning moonshot heroics in the top of the ninth.

The bottom of the frame was not without drama, though, with Licey threatening to tie the game and potentially win it off closer Rafael Montero. The Tigres had the go-ahead run at second base when Francisco Mejía laced a sinking line drive to right field that looked like trouble. But Brito came racing in to make a sliding catch, punctuating the final out by slamming his glove to the ground as the Escogido players poured out of the dugout and onto the field to celebrate.

Caminero led the way offensively for Escogido, going 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits, and Segura was 4-for-4 with two RBIs, a run and a walk. Silvino Bracho got the victory after coming on in the eighth inning to retire the three batters he faced, striking out two of them, and Montero picked up the tight-rope-walking save.

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