Blog Kiosk: 6/21/2017 - Dodgers Links - Jansen, Kershaw, AGon and Seager

Homers are starting to get contagious.

Last night was Corey Seager's turn with the round-tripper parade. He slugged three home runs and almost accomplished something that had never been done. He came close to recording the only "home run cycle" in Baseball history -- Seager recording one-run, two-run and three-run home runs. Amazingly, he had the chance to hit a grand slam to complete the feat when he came up with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, but lined out a deep left-centerfield. Per Joshua Thornton at MLB.com:

"It's just one of those nights where balls go where you want it to and you're putting good swings on it and they're going out of the park," Seager said.

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2017. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1998 the Dodgers replaced their manager, Bill Russell, with coach Glenn Hoffmann. Tommy Lasorda also becomes the GM. In 2016 the Dodgers signed Dean Kremer -- the first ever Israeli to sign a contract with a major league club. He had just been drafted in the 14th round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft.
• Happy Birthday, Randy Moore, Jackie Collum & Rick Sutcliffe!
• Video: Dave Roberts addresses the media after the Dodgers shuts out the Mets on Tuesday night. (video link)
• Video: Corey Seager speaks after his 3 home run performance against the Mets on Tuesday night. (video link)
• Per Tim Brown at Yahoo Sports; "The night Kenley Jansen went from a good pitcher to a great one."

The night of Oct. 13. Washington D.C. An inning, then two, and into a third. Walks happened. Baserunners. A hit. Fifty-one pitches came and went, and then big ol’ Kenley came off the field last October in a puddle of sweat and satisfaction.

“I never thought I could be on that level,” Jansen said this week, “and I did it.”

• Per Travis Sawchik at FanGraphs; "Kenley Jansen is Mariano Rivera 2.0."
• Per Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs; "Clayton Kershaw Has Developed a Home-Run Problem."
• Per ESPN; "Adrian Gonzalez says he won't push return from herniated disk."

"This time around, I'm not going to rush," Gonzalez said Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Obviously, I felt fine, but then the more baseball I [played], the more it started to stiffen up. I think slower is better than faster right now, at this point."

• Per Joshua Thornton at MLB.com; "Dodgers sign 21 Draft picks, 6 of top 10."
• Per Jordan D. Hill at the Ledger-Enquirer; "Glenwood’s Amaury Telemaco Jr. signed by Los Angeles Dodgers."

“He definitely has professional stuff,” Glenwood head coach Tim Fanning said. “When he first came (to Glenwood), you saw the way his arm worked, and it’s live. He has things you can’t teach. He has size and he has the arm strength. When he dedicates himself to professional baseball and gets in the kind of shape they want him in, that should translate to even more velocity.”

• This is a fantastic story and well worth your time to check out. Per Cyd Zeigler at OutSports.com; "Former Patriots and Chiefs tackle Ryan O’Callaghan comes out as gay."

"No one is going to assume the big football player is gay," he said. "It’s why a football team is such a good place to hide.

So he dove into football and made a pact with himself: As long as he put on those pads, he was good to go. Once football was over, he’d take a gun to his head and end it all. That was the deal, and he would hold himself to it.

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