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By Ben Watanabe
Contributing Sports Writer
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Word has it Junior Caminero eventually finished rounding the bases on Tuesday night, but you'd be forgiven for having your doubts.
The Tampa Bay Rays third baseman took forever -- and ever and ever -- to take his victory lap after swatting a walk-off home run to lift the Rays over the Athletics 2-1 at Tropicana Field. He hadn't even reached first base before he began celebrating with his teammates along the foul line, finally tossing his bat aside and slooooooooooooowly making his way around the bases.
If his trip to home plate felt interminable, it's because it was literally the slowest on record.
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Caminero's trip took 40.65 seconds, the longest tracked in the Statcast era, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs. And after his shot cleared the left field wall, he let his teammates know that his celebration would take a while.
"Wait for me, my guys," Caminero said he told his teammates, according to MLB.com's Adam Berry. "Let me have a little bit of time right here."
Before Friday, Caminero had zero career MLB walk-off hits. Now the 23-year-old has two in five days, following his game-winning blast against the Houston Astros on Friday. And Tuesday's was no cheapie. His homer came off a 100.4 mph fastball from Elvis Alvarado after an effective pitching night by the A's, who had four pitchers combine to hold Tampa to six hits.
The Rays are officially playoff-bound and are close to locking up the AL East title. If this is how Caminero celebrates regular season walk-offs against the A's, we'll need a calendar to time his home run trots in the postseason.
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