Blog Kiosk: 7/12/2016 - Dodgers Links - Urias, Kershaw and Corey Seager

That wasn't half bad.

Last Night was the MLB All-Star Game Home Run Derby and rookie shortstop Corey Seager was slated to face off against the Mark Trumbo, who leads the league in homers this season.  It was the first round of the derby and pitching to Seager was his father, Jeff (as seen in the photo above).  Per Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider:

Seager said choosing dad was a sentimental pick, but he also provided a lot of familiarity. And as we’ve learned with Seager, familiarity breeds success.

“He’s probably as nervous as I am,” Seager said. “He said he’s going to try and not look at me and not stare up. He said he’s just going to try and stare at the catcher and block everything out. I said, ‘Good luck.’”

Overall, I thjink Corey's Dad did just fine.  He threw strikes and Corey hit 15 of them out.  Unfortunately, the inhuman Trumbo bested him with 16 of his won.  Via Alden Gonzalez at MLB.com:

"It was fun," Seager said of the event, ultimately won by Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton. "It was very fun. It was one of those things that not a lot of people get to experience, and to be able to do it, with my dad, was real fun. It was really enjoyable."

Jeff Seager has been throwing batting practice to his three sons -- Kyle and Justin of the Mariners, Corey of the Dodgers -- since they each could even swing. Corey took hacks from him four times a week in North Carolina throughout this past offseason, but this was wholly different.

"I thought I was really lucky that he thought of me and asked me," Jeff Seager said. "Then I started thinking about what it means."

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out a bunch of great pics by Jon from the day.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History: In 1949 Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians and Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe of the host Dodgers became the first black players to appear in an All-Star game.  In 1966 Maury Wills drove in the winning run on a walk-off single in the 10th inning of the All-Star Game played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
• Happy Birthday, Ron Fairly and Howie Kendrick!
• This is amazing.  Via the LA Times, they created a graphic that takes a look at Clayton Kershaw's dominant first half, pitch by pitch.  Check it out here.
• Via Sean Casey and Mark DeRosa at the Players Tribune; "“Guys Know When a Guy is the Guy”: An MLB First Half Recap."  They took a good amount of time chatting about Clayton Kershaw:

Casey: I only faced him one time. Actually, I was the first guy he ever faced in a spring training game. I turned to Terry Francona and was like, “Who’s this guy?” And he shrugged and said, “He’s some minor leaguer off the back fields.” First pitch comes in at 97 on the outside black. I don’t even see it, I just hear a big thunk as it hits the catcher’s mitt. I look over at Joe Torre and he’s cracking up in the dugout. And I’m thinking, Who the hell is this guy?

DeRosa: Oh no.

Casey: Next pitch was a nasty knee-buckling hook for strike 2. I now look at the bench and Larry Bowa and Joe Torre are both laughing at me, and I’m thinking to myself, They must know something I don’t know. The next pitch was strike 3, but the ump called it a ball. Next pitch, Kershaw throws a ridiculous hook on the outside corner, and that was called strike 3. I never pulled the trigger on any pitch. It was the first time I had felt like a little kid in the big leagues in a long time.

• Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA; "Dieter Ruehle – More than just the new Dodger Stadium organist."

“I’m having a great time with it, I love baseball,” Ruehle said, during a recent interview. “Being able to play music here at Dodger Stadium has been very thrilling, very exciting for me.”

• Here's an interesting comment on Urias by his agent Scott Boras, via a tweet by Bill Plunkett:

Talked to Scott Boras about innings limit on his client, Julio Urias. Boras said he is "happy" with way #Dodgers have handled the 19yrold

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) July 11, 2016

• Via Sarah Langs at ESPN; "Remembering Mike Piazza's best All-Star moments."
• Wha...!?  Via Carmen Tse at LAist; "Insane San Diego Padres Player Thinks East Coast Mexican Food Is Better."  Wil Myers, you are not right in the head!
• Via Colin Ward-Henninger at CBS Sports; "LOOK: Pokemon Go is taking over baseball stadiums across the country."

Dodgers stadium is a great spot for #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/3Tgd6WrZvZ

— crazy rockman (@crazyrockman) July 8, 2016

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