Munenori Kawasaki hits first career home run - MLB

Blue Jays shortstop Munenori Kawasaki hit his first career home run in the seventh inning of tonight’s game against the Orioles. It was a two-run shot to right field off of Tommy Hunter that tied the game at six apiece. After rounding the bases and getting a round of high-fives in the dugout, his teammates pushed him back out into the field so he could acknowledge a raucous Toronto crowd. Kawasaki meekly emerged and politely bowed in several directions.

You may remember Kawasaki when he gave one of the best post-game interviews in baseball history after helping the Jays walk off victorious on May 26.

Kawasaki had entered the night with baseball’s second-longest career homerless streak among active non-pitchers, having racked up 287 plate appearances without going yard. Phillies outfielder Ben Revere leads the pack, by far, with 1,315.

Here’s the full list of players with a streak of at least 100 PA:

Rk	Player	PA	From	To	Age	Tm
1	Ben Revere	1315	2010	2013	22-25	MIN-PHI
2	Munenori Kawasaki	287	2012	2013	31-32	SEA-TOR
3	J.B. Shuck	239	2011	2013	24-26	HOU-LAA
4	Chase d’Arnaud	157	2011	2012	24-25	PIT
5	Justin Christian	155	2008	2012	28-32	NYY-SFG
6	Robbie Grossman	131	2013	2013	23-23	HOU
7	Chris Marrero	127	2011	2013	22-24	WSN
8	Jesus Feliciano	119	2010	2010	31-31	NYM
9	Jordan Brown	106	2010	2013	26-29	CLE-MIA

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/21/2013.

The Jays, by the way, walked off in the ninth on an RBI single by Rajai Davis. The 7-6 victory was the Jays’ ninth in a row, bringing them to .500 as they continue to gain ground in the AL East. As recently as June 10, the Jays were 12 games behind the first-place Red Sox. After the Sox wrap up their victory over the Orioles, the Jays will be a mere seven games behind.

Update (10:45 PM) — Had to add this in here:

Kawasaki on outpouring of affection from the crowd: "Very happy. Appreciate. Yeah. Thank you appreciate."

— John Lott (@LottOnBaseball) June 22, 2013

Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.