I suspect yesterdays exploits at the plate will result in at least one Topps Now card being issued for the Dodgers... Maybe, two. After all, when you steamroll over an opposition then there will no doubt be plenty of highlights worthy of special recognition.
Case in point, Adrian Gonzalez (seen high-tening AJ Ellis above) had a career kind of day. Not only did he start off the Dodger offense by walloping an three-run home run in the first inning, but he also continued to mash the ball all afternoon. He finished up going 3 for 6 with three home runs and eight RBI's.
Then in the fifth inning a couple of rookies hit back-to-back first-career home runs. This unique feat accomplished by Andrew Toles and Rob Segedin had only occurred three other times over the past thirty years. Per Cody Pace at MLB.com:
"I mean, when I saw he hit his, I looked up on the board and I saw that it was his first, so I was excited for him because I knew, especially because it landed in the net that he was going to get the ball back," Segedin said. "It was a big hit at the time, too. What I was able to do, the next pitch, it was pretty cool."Later on in the same inning Corey Seager hit his 22nd home run of the year - matching a Dodgers franchise record for homers by a shortstop. Per Mark Sheldon and Cody Pace at MLB.com:
"There was a lot of good things," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Obviously, Adrian had a career day and Chase [Utley], Corey [Seager], guys were on base all game and to see that these guys didn't let up and continue to put together at-bats, run the bases, hit some balls out of the ballpark, very excited for our offense."BTW, the Dodgers defeated the Reds, 18-9, and extend their lead to a full game over the Giants. Photo at the very top via @Dodgers on twitter. Below are more links to check out:
- This Day in Dodger History: In 1958 Gil Hodges hit his 14th career grand slam. It had set a new NL record for grand slams in a career. In 1989 Tommy Lasorda had Expos mascot Youppi! ejected from a game in Montreal. The mascot was causing too much noise by jumping on top of the dugout roof during the 22-inning game. You can watch Youppi! get tossed here. BTW, the Dodgers defeated the Expose, 1-0, on an home run by Rick Dempsey in the 22nd inning.
- Happy Birthday, Casey Blake!
- Video: Former Dodger Carl Erskine discusses pitching in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, as well as playing with Sandy Koufax and other Hall of Famers (Link Here).
- Podcast: Ross Yoshida, Director of Graphic Design for the Dodgers, joins the "Makers of Sports" podcast to discuss his break early in his career into the sports design industry for his favorite team (Link Here).
- Via Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs; "All Right, Adrian Gonzalez Is Back."
Gonzalez is getting his swing back, and he’s also showing a better ability to hit the ball hard to right. Of course, at his best, he’s been more of an all-fields threat — and Monday, he pulled two homers while sending another the other way. I know it was a day game in Cincinnati against the Reds, but big-league homers are big-league homers. Gonzalez can hit them again, and he can do other things, and suddenly he’s up to a 123 wRC+. That’s in line with where he’s been for a while.
- Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA; "Scott Kazmir dealing with back and neck issues."
"We worked on it pretty much the entire time in between starts and it pretty much got worse,” Kazmir said. “I can feel like this and get it done, that's just the competitiveness in me. But when you put up numbers like that and have the bullpen put up a lot of work in one day, that's tough to swallow. We're going to see what's going on and go from there.“I fully intend on making my next start.”
- Via a PCL report at MiLB.com; "Clutch Nimmo, dominant (Trevor) Oaks collect weekly awards." Dodgers pitching prospect Trevor Oaks named PCL Pitcher of the week.
Oaks fired his only career 9-inning complete game August 15 vs. El Paso, allowing three hits and one run, walking none and striking out a career-best 11 over 106 pitches (78 strikes). He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, retiring 19 of the first 20 hitters, before surrendering a Hunter Renfroe one-out double. Oaks gave up his only run in the ninth inning, but set down the final three hitters to finish off his outing.
- Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA; "Jose De Leon takes no-hitter into 7th, strikes out 10."
- Via Michael Grennell at Standard-Examiner; “Ogden Raptors outfielders making an impact on the team and on each other.”
“Those three guys, for this level, we’re really lucky to have,” Raptors manager Shaun Larkin said. “From a physical standpoint, to a leadership standpoint, to a personality standpoint, I’m not sure you’re going to find three outfielders of that caliber on one team at this level anywhere else.”
- Via Chance Michaels at UniWatch; “Hats Off to Brooklyn, Part III: Hollywood Loves a Happy Ending.”
I argued that, of all the versions of Brooklyn’s “B”, an inaccurate one had been adopted by the team putting together the Cooperstown Collection official digital files, essentially re-writing history. At the time I wrote that, even in this consumer culture it was impossible to buy a baseball cap with an authentic Brooklyn logo. Well, I’m happy to tell you that it’s gotten better in the years since.
- Blowout Buzz provides an early sneak peak at Panini America's Prime Cuts Baseball card set slated to be released in late October. Below is an example of the Corey Seager book card. Go here to check out more.
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