08 Oct

ghosts of smith-wills

They played professional baseball of some variety at Smith-Wills Stadium for 30 years, so maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that there are so many people with ties to the old ballpark involved in this year’s playoffs. Still … seven of the eight clubs, all except the New York Yankees, have someone in uniform who either played, coached or managed the Jackson Mets or Generals. (Sorry, no Diamond Kats or Senators involved here.) Players include ex-Generals stars Julio Lugo with St. Louis, Bobby Abreu with the LA Angels and Billy Wagner with Boston. Former Jackson Mets shortstop Ron Gardenhire is managing Minnesota, and ex-OJM Rick Anderson is his pitching coach. Former JaxMets manager Sam Perlozzo coaches third base for Philadelphia. Former JaxMets third baseman Dave Magadan, who played for Perlozzo on the ’85 title team, is the hitting coach for the Red Sox, and ex-OJM shortstop Tim Bogar is the first-base coach. Bob Apodaca, a former JaxMets pitching coach, performs the same duty for Colorado, which fired former JaxMets manager Clint Hurdle earlier this year. Last but hardly least, former JaxMets manager Bob Schaefer is a coach for the LA Dodgers.

08 Oct

impact player

He didn’t start either of the first two games of the National League Division Series in Philadelphia, but Seth Smith made an impact for Colorado in Game 2 today. The former Ole Miss and Hillcrest Christian star got a pinch-hit single off the leg of Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ in the seventh inning of the Rockies’ series-tying 5-4 win. Happ left the game with what was later called a contusion and may no longer be a candidate to start game 3 on Saturday at Colorado. Smith, who hit .293 with 15 homers and 55 RBIs in the regular season, may be limited to pinch hitting in the postseason because the Rockies have such a plethora of outfielders. But pinch hitting is fine by Smith. It’s a role in which the sweet-swinging lefty excelled this season, leading all of the majors with a .472 average. He’ll no doubt be heard from again.

06 Oct

they’re back

Ron Gardenhire has done it again. The Minnesota Twins, the flagship of baseball’s limited payroll fleet, are in the playoffs for the fifth time in the former Jackson Met’s eight seasons as manager. They made it again tonight with a 12-inning 6-5 win over Detroit in the American League Central tiebreaker, a game that had the good old Metrodome rocking. Matt Tolbert, the former Ole Miss and Centreville Academy star, was in the middle of things for the Twins, going 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI, the latter coming in the bottom of the 10th. It was a bitter end for Detroit, which appeared to have the division sewn up weeks ago. Former Jackson General Carlos Guillen was a quiet 0-for-3. Former Mississippi Brave Zach Miner got a blown save; he got a big out — against Tolbert — in the sixth but yielded a two-run homer to Orlando Cabrera in the seventh that put the Tigers behind.
P.S. The Chicago White Sox picked up the option on pitcher Freddy Garcia, the former Jackson General who beat the Tigers in a big game Sunday. He’s not done yet.

04 Oct

on the spot

A pair of pitchers with Mississippi connections played key roles in the frantic American League Central race on Saturday. Delta State alumnus Dusty Hughes, a rookie with the Kansas City Royals, served up Michael Cuddyer’s go-ahead home run in the eighth inning of Minnesota’s 5-4 win over Kansas City. The Twins, winners of 15 of their last 19, moved into a tie for first later that night when former Jackson Generals ace Freddy Garcia, now with the Chicago White Sox, beat Detroit, scattering six hits over seven innings with seven strikeouts in one of his best outings in a while. The Tigers are one of Garcia’s many former employers. The big right-hander has had a hard time finding a spot in the majors the last couple years. If that was his last start, what a way to go out.

02 Oct

is that good?

Lenny Dykstra’s 1986 World Series ring sold at auction for $56,762.50, according to reports today. Should we be happy or sad for the former Jackson Mets star? Dykstra filed for bankruptcy in July, claiming more than $31 million in debts. Wonder if he still has the 1984 Texas League championship ring he won with the JaxMets? That might fetch a few hundred.

02 Oct

the finish line

Tommy Hanson, the former Mississippi Braves ace, made his last start of the season for Atlanta on Thursday night (no decision in a 2-1 defeat vs. Washington) and thus closed his case for National League rookie of the year honors. He’s got a strong one. He went 11-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 21 starts and was a big reason the Braves made a late run at the playoffs. That should count for something. Of course, Ole Miss alumnus Chris Coghlan emerged as a .300 hitter in the leadoff spot for Florida and helped the Marlins stay in the race until the final week, as well. Coghlan went 4-for-9 with three runs in Florida’s wins over Atlanta on Tuesday and Wednesday, losses that severely damaged Atlanta’s chances of catching Colorado. … Though it was a meaningless game for playoff-bound Philadelphia, it might be a sign of trouble that former Meridian Community College star Cliff Lee continued to stumble down the stretch in a loss to Houston on Thursday. Lee started 5-0 with Philly after coming over from Cleveland. He is 2-4 with a 6.13 ERA since then. … What a weird series Boston experienced against Toronto early this week. First, the Blue Jays swept the three games at Fenway and hit 13 homers in the process. On Tuesday night, when Adam Lind came to the plate looking for his record-tying fourth homer of the game, former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon plunked him on the elbow with apparent intent, though he wasn’t ejected. On Wednesday, Roy Halladay baffled the BoSox on three hits in a 12-0 rout. Hattiesburg native Joey Gathright, whose primary role has been pinch runner since Boston recalled him, got two of those hits, including a sixth-inning single that broke up the no-hitter. … Minnesota won Thursday’s beanball-marred series finale at Detroit and thus remained in the fight for the American League Central title, 2 games out with three left. The Twins won 8-3 despite making four errors (one by ex-Rebel Matt Tolbert, in as a defensive replacement at third base). It was a class act by Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, the former Jackson Met, to apologize to the Tigers for pitcher Jose Mijares inexplicably throwing at Adam Everett in the eighth inning. The Tigers retaliated by hitting Delmon Young. Though Young was visibly upset, possibly at Mijares, Gardenhire said the Tigers did what they needed to do in that situation.