September 13, 2018 - All Mississippi Baseball

down to wire

Hunter Renfroe is surging. Tim Anderson is on the brink of a special accomplishment. Mitch Moreland is a solid contributor on the best team in baseball. Corey Dickerson’s numbers are pretty darn good, and Brian Dozier has 20 homers and more RBIs than any other Mississippian in the big leagues. Picking All Mississippi Baseball’s Cool Papa Bell Award winner for 2018 is going to be tough. Ex-Mississippi State star Renfroe clubbed his 22nd homer for San Diego on Wednesday. He is batting .258, slugging .519 and has 48 runs and 60 RBIs in 102 games (he spent time on the disabled list and in the minors). He credits a new two-strike approach for this late-season bolt. “I’m letting the ball get deep, shortening up a bit, making sure I’m as short and quick to the ball as possible,” he said in an mlb.com article. Anderson, the East Central Community College alum, hit his 19th homer – a game-winner – for the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. With 26 stolen bases, he is a homer shy of becoming the ChiSox’s fifth 20-20 man. “I’m excited to be able to chase that,” he told mlb.com. Anderson is hitting .248 with 62 RBIs and 73 runs in 141 games. Unlike Renfroe and Anderson, former State standout Moreland plays for a playoff-bound team, the 100-win Boston Red Sox. An All-Star in July, he has scuffled of late but is still hitting .250 with 16 homers and 57 RBIs and playing a good first base. Meridian CC product Dickerson also has faded recently but is batting .291 with 11 homers, 49 RBIs, 57 runs and eight steals for Pittsburgh. That’s a productive year. Former Southern Miss star Dozier, winner of the last two Cool Papas, has slumped since moving from Minnesota to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are chasing a division title. Playing on a troublesome knee, he is hitting .219. Can he possibly muster a finishing kick? It’s going to be fun final couple of weeks.

on this date

On this date in 1925, according to nationalpastime.com, Dazzy Vance threw a no-hitter for Brooklyn; in 1936, Bob Feller, at age 17, struck out 17 batters, an American League record; in 1946, Ted Williams hit the only inside-the-park home run of his career, clinching the AL pennant for Boston; in 1965, Willie Mays hit his 500th homer; in 1971, Frank Robinson hit his 500th homer; in 1983, Mike Fitzgerald, a former Jackson Met, homered in his first MLB at-bat; in 1998, Sammy Sosa hit his 62nd homer of the year; in 2008, Francisco Rodriguez – “K-Rod” – notched his 58th save of the season, breaking Mississippi State alum Bobby Thigpen’s record; and in 2011, Mariano Rivera got his 600th save.
Also on this date, in 1956, a boy was born at Great Lakes Naval Base near Chicago (and Wrigley Field). He would grow up in Augusta, Ga. (where Ty Cobb once played), become a fan of the Braves (and Hank Aaron), play second base on the dusty fields at Eisenhower Park, collect baseball cards (can’t quit), discover the joys of APBA Baseball, become a sports writer, move to Mississippi (the land of Boo Ferriss and George Scott), get married to a sweet girl (who graciously endures his baseball ramblings), cover Double-A baseball (and five championship teams) for 20-odd years, raise a Braves (and Jeff Francoeur) fan, make many friends through baseball connections, cobble together a book on Mississippi baseball history and start a baseball blog that inspires him to get out of bed every day and write something. To those who read this stuff: a heartfelt thank you.