Toronto's latest dance craze: The ... 'Ernie Shuffle'?

TORONTO -- Midway through the 32.6 seconds it took Ernie Clement to trot around the bases Thursday night, he decided to add a little spice.

As Clement rounded second, he was suddenly seemingly possessed by the spirit of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., hitting the slugger’s signature shuffle. Clement slowed, stutter-stepped, skipped into the air, then kept rounding the bases, an artistic flourish to an eight-run inning and a 12-0 win over the Athletics.

This was just Clement’s second home run of the season -- his trot took 10 seconds less the first time -- but he’s looking for some magic here, anything that can wear off on him, and where better to look than Vladdy?

“Every time he does it, he seems to keep hitting them, so I thought maybe I’d throw a little flair in there and try it,” Clement said. “I don’t think it was quite as smooth. I think he’s been doing it for a lot longer, but I’ll just keep working on it. I’ll get back to the drawing board and keep trying to get better.”

Six batters later in that seemingly never-ending inning, Guerrero strolled to the plate and launched one of his own. Vladdy’s was a towering blast, and as he rounded the bases for the 168th time in his MLB career, you saw the smooth choreography developed over time. Each trip is the same, from his skip between second and third to his celebration with third-base coach Carlos Febles and the mighty hand clap at home plate.

“I was laughing,” Guerrero said. “I kept laughing and after I hit a home run, I told him, ‘Hey, I showed you how to do it. That is how you do it.’”

The 90 feet between second and third have become the runway for baseball’s best, particularly the game’s Latin stars. Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a similar shuffle to Guerrero, albeit a little closer to third. Juan Soto has his own signature at times, a toe-tap through his final few strides rounding third, while Ronald Acuña Jr. often pauses for a little sidestep before the bag.

The "Ernie Shuffle" may still be a work in progress. Where Guerrero smoothly decelerated and flowed into his skip, Clement’s entry point was a bit more abrupt, but he still showed clear potential. This comes naturally to Guerrero, who spends half of batting practice each day dancing if he’s not swinging. It’s all in the hips, they say.

Clement’s manager had some notes, too.

“He had a lot going on there. That was a slow trip around the bases, so you can attribute that to the travel [from Texas],” Toronto skiper John Schneider said. “Then, the Vladdy and the Euro step, he looked like a guy that’s hit 400 homers in the big leagues there. I don’t know. It was all right. It was OK. I think practice makes perfect and I think Vlad has a little more practice than Ernie does.”