August 7, 2017 - All Mississippi Baseball

next?

Kudos to former Jackson State coach Bob Braddy and ex-Mississippi State and MLB star Jay Powell on their induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame over the weekend. Braddy, an icon at JSU, should have been in a long time ago. Who’ll be the next baseball luminary to get the call? Longtime big leaguers Roy Oswalt (163 MLB wins, three-time All-Star) and Charlie Hayes (.262, 144 homers, World Series ring) certainly should get in at some point, as well as Luke Easter, who was the first black Mississippian to make the major leagues. Sam Hairston and Howard Easterling, a couple of Negro Leagues stars, also rate consideration. Among coaches, there’s William Carey’s Bobby Halford, the 2017 NAIA coach of the year who has more than 1,100 wins, and Millsaps’ Jim Page, who has over 700 W’s and seven conference coach of the year honors on his ledger. Both are deserving of recognition over on Cool Papa Bell Drive.

power broker

Former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier reached the 20-home run plateau for the fourth straight season when he went deep on Sunday in Minnesota’s 6-5 win over Texas. He joins fellow Mississippians Corey Dickerson (21) and Hunter Renfroe (20) in the 20-bomb club. Never considered a power hitter in college or in the minors, Dozier started pulling the ball more in 2013, when he hit 18 homers for the Twins. He followed with seasons of 23, 28 and then 42 last year. Dozier also drove in 99 runs and scored 104 in 2016, numbers he isn’t going to reach this year. He is batting .248 with 56 RBIs and 54 runs. The subject of trade rumors in the off-season, Dozier insisted he wanted to remain in Minnesota, where, despite his best efforts, things haven’t gone well. The Twins haven’t made the postseason during Dozier’s time with the club and aren’t likely to break through in 2017. He is under contract for one more year, so it seems likely he’ll be hitting homers for some other club in the near future.