Monthly Archives: October 2013

Cody Satterwhite notched a save on Tuesday in his first Arizona Fall League appearance. The former Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss standout is now in the New York Mets’ system, having been signed out of an independent league in mid-summer. Satterwhite, 26, was a second-round pick by Detroit in 2008 whose career was derailed by arm problems. The hard-throwing right-hander was out of baseball in 2012 but appears to be on the comeback trail now. In high Class A ball this year, he put up a 2.78 ERA in 22 2/3 innings with 23 strikeouts. P.S. The Biloxi City Council has voted to back $21 million in bonds for the construction of the ballpark that reportedly will be home to a Southern League franchise, possibly by 2015.

Seth Smith’s production was down this year, but things have picked up for the Ole Miss product in the postseason. Smith hit a key home run for Oakland on Monday as the A’s beat Detroit 6-3 and took a 2-1 lead in their American League Division Series. Smith, whose numbers dropped this year in homers, RBIs, on-base and slugging percentage, is 4-for-8 in the series. On Monday, he belted a 3-1 pitch over the left-center field wall for a two-run bomb that put the A’s up 6-3 in the fifth inning and chased Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez. Many wondered why Detroit manager Jim Leyland left the right-hander in to face the lefty-hitting Smith, whose homer was his fourth all told against Sanchez, two coming in postseason play. “With their whole staff, you’re looking for a mistake and hope you can capitalize on it,” Smith told The Associated Press. “You will miss them sometimes, but fortunately for me, I was able to get the barrel to it.” He’ll attempt to barrel up some balls from Doug Fister, another righty, in Game 4 today at Comerica Park. Smith is 0-for-3 career against Fister.

Who would have ever thought that the Atlanta Braves’ postseason hopes would rest so heavily on Freddy Garcia, ace of the 1998 Jackson Generals? Garcia, who turned 37 on Sunday, gets the ball tonight for Atlanta in a must-win National League Division Series game at Los Angeles. Garcia was a top-rated Houston Astros prospect in 1998 and was 6-7 with a 3.24 ERA for the Double-A Generals when he was dealt to Seattle as part of the Randy Johnson trade. The big right-hander has been a horse over his long career, posting 156 wins with a 4.15 ERA. He put up a 1.65 for the Braves in six games, including three fairly impressive September starts. He is 6-3 with a 3.28 in 10 postseason starts and went 3-0 for the world champion Chicago White Sox in 2005. Garcia will put up a fight against a loaded Dodgers lineup, but still, who would have ever thought, with all the arms the Braves’ system has produced in recent years, it would come down to this? … Heard on the TBS broadcast of Sunday’s game that Julio Teheran, a former Mississippi Braves standout, was the first rookie to start a postseason game for the Braves franchise since Vern Bickford in the 1948 World Series. Bickford was a member of the original Jackson Senators, a Boston Braves farm club that played for many years at a ballpark located on the Fairgrounds. Bickford won 10 games for the 1946 Senators. Coincidentally, Bickford took the loss against Cleveland in Game 3 of the ’48 Series and Teheran, who pitched for the M-Braves in 2010 and had a hand in a combo no-hitter, took the loss against the Dodgers on Sunday. … Another former M-Braves hurler, Charlie Morton, starts for Pittsburgh today in a possible NLDS clincher for the Pirates against St. Louis. Morton went 7-4 with a 3.26 for Pittsburgh this year. M-Braves fans might remember that Morton really emerged as a prospect after a sterling outing in the 2007 Southern League playoffs. He made it to the big leagues the next year. … Ole Miss product Seth Smith, who has a .313 career average and two home runs against Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez, is in the lineup for Oakland today against the Tigers’ right-hander, who led the American League in ERA. Smith is the DH, hitting fifth. He went 2-for-4 Saturday as the A’s squared the ALDS at 1-all. … Ex-Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings likely will start for Tampa Bay today as the Rays try to stay alive in the ALDS against Boston, which is up 2-0. Jennings is 2-for-7 in the series and 2-for-6 career vs. Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz (12-1, 1.74 ERA).

They call Tampa Bay’s Joe Maddon a “mad scientist” for his unorthodox approach to managing. One of his go-to concoctions is Desmond Jennings, a blend of power and speed. The former Itawamba Community College standout, playing with a troublesome hamstring, had two hits, including a two-run double, for the Rays in Wednesday’s 4-0 Wild Card Game win over Cleveland. Jennings is, plain and simple, a run producer, no matter where Maddon sticks him in the lineup. He scored 82 runs and drove in 54 in 139 games this season. His speed has been compromised a bit by his injury, but the longer the Rays stay alive in the postseason, the healthier Jennings figures to get. And to think, this one time Alabama football recruit almost went to that other sport. … Having been left off the National League Division Series roster by Atlanta, Mississippi State product Paul Maholm may be wondering about his future with the Braves. The left-hander went 10-11 with a 4.41 ERA in 2013, and the Braves likely will have an abundance of starting pitchers in camp next spring. … Ole Miss alumnus Lance Lynn will start Game 2 of the NLDS for St. Louis. Lynn was 15-10 with a 3.97 this year, finishing strong after a wobbly stretch. Only in his third MLB season, Lynn already has pitched in 16 postseason games, with two starts, and won a World Series ring in 2011. His postseason ERA is 4.50. … Former Rebels star Seth Smith didn’t have a great year — .253, eight homers, 40 RBIs — with Oakland, but he figures to get some at-bats in the American League Division Series against Detroit. Smith is a lefty hitter, and the Tigers’ rotation consists of all right-handers. Smith also has postseason experience, batting .231 with a homer over 14 games dating to his rookie year with Colorado in 2007. … The Houston Astros, following their abysmal season, announced they won’t bring back first base coach Dave Clark, the former Shannon High and Jackson State star who briefly managed the club in 2009. … Another JSU alum and former big leaguer, Wes Chamberlain, is being inducted into his alma mater’s Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The baseball spotlight shifts to the National League tonight when former Ole Miss standout Zack Cozart, Taylorsville High alumnus Billy Hamilton and the rest of the Cincinnati Reds take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the do-or-die Wild Card Game. The Reds limp into the postseason with five straight losses, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates in Cincinnati over the weekend. Now they get to face Pirates ace Francisco Liriano (16-8, 3.02 ERA) at PNC Park in a town that hasn’t hosted a postseason game since 1992. Looks like a tough spot for the Reds, who’ll throw lightly raced Johnny Cueto. Cincy shortstop Cozart, for his part, went 2-for-10 in 2013 against Liriano with a home run, one of the 12 he hit while batting .254 and driving in 63 runs. The Reds may be left to hope that Hamilton gets to play a role. He won’t start, but if there is a late-game need for a pinch runner, he’ll be it. And he is a weapon, having stolen 13 of 14 bases during his September call-up. P.S. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was the last skipper of the Jackson Mets, taking the team to the Texas League playoffs in 1990. The Mets pulled their Double-A club out of Jackson after that season, and the Houston-affiliated Generals moved in. The Generals’ first manager was Rick Sweet, now a roving instructor in the Reds’ system.