Tag Archives: Korean Baseball Organization

13 Feb

minor matters

Former Petal High star Anthony Alford and ex-Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz have found new teams for 2024, Alford signing a minor league contract with Cincinnati and Pomeranz agreeing to a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels, per reports. … Alford, a 29-year-old outfielder, spent the last two seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, batting .288 with 29 homers overall. He hit .209 over scattered parts of six MLB campaigns, including two games with Pittsburgh in 2022. He was a third-round draft pick out of Petal by Toronto in 2013, but his baseball career went on the back burner while he played football at Southern Miss and Ole Miss. Alford did not receive an invitation to the Reds’ big league camp in Arizona, according to redlegnation.com, but surely will get a look there. … Pomeranz, 35, who has been injured much of the last two years, reportedly will get a non-roster invite to the Angels’ Arizona camp. The tall left-hander has appeared in 289 MLB games, posted a 3.91 ERA, won a World Series ring and earned an All-Star game nod. A former fifth overall draftee (2010), he had a 1.75 ERA with San Diego in 2021. His four-year, $34 million contract with the Padres expired after last season.

16 Oct

over there

Anthony Alford wrapped up a strong season in the Korean Baseball Organization with a strong finish for one of the league’s best teams. Now the former Mississippi Mr. Baseball (and Mr. Football) from Petal and his KT Wiz teammates await the start of their postseason later this week. Alford, once a highly rated outfield prospect in the Toronto system, never really took off in the U.S. big leagues (.209 in 220 at-bats) but has been a standout the past two seasons in the KBO. Alford, 29, batted .289 with 15 home runs, 70 RBIs, 83 runs and 17 steals in 133 games this year for the Wiz, who finished 79-62-3, good for second in the league. Alford hit safely in eight of his last 10 games with 14 hits all told. The Wiz received a bye into the second round of the playoffs. … Former Southern Miss star and erstwhile big leaguer Kirk McCarty went 9-5 with a 3.39 ERA this season for SSG Landers, which also made the KBO playoffs. McCarty, in his first year in Korea, has not pitched since Sept. 23; it is unclear if he is injured. SSG Landers is the defending league champion.

21 Jul

odds and ends

A way-too-early mock draft for 2023 by MLB Pipeline has Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez going second overall to Cincinnati and former Southern Miss pitcher Hurston Waldrep ninth to the Los Angeles Angels. Waldrep reportedly has transferred to Florida. … Former Petal High star and ex-big leaguer Anthony Alford, who turned 28 on Wednesday, is batting .244 with four homers and 17 RBIs for the KT Wiz in the Korean Baseball Organization. Alford, who has played in 102 MLB games, had four at-bats with Pittsburgh this season. … Oddly coincidental: Mississippi natives Nook Logan and Craig Tatum debuted in the big leagues on this date five years apart. Logan, a Copiah-Lincoln Community College product from Natchez, went 1-for-3 in his first game for Detroit in 2004, while Hattiesburg native Tatum, a Mississippi State alum, was 0-for-2 for Cincinnati in 2009. Logan was one of three Mississippians, along with Dmitri Young and Marcus Thames, who started for the Tigers on July 21, 2004, against Kansas City. Logan hit .268 with 56 steals in 321 games over four MLB campaigns. Tatum hit .223 over parts of three seasons. … The Double-A Mississippi Braves, off to a 14-4 start in the second half of the Southern League season, return to the field on Friday at Montgomery. The M-Braves have won six straight. The Biloxi Shuckers (6-12) return on Friday against Pensacola at MGM Park. … The state semi-pro tournament is slated for this weekend at Mississippi College’s Frierson Field. The venerable Hattiesburg Black Sox are the presumptive favorites. … The Triple-A Nashville Sounds are having a Tim Dillard Bobblehead Night on July 29 and will retire the former pitcher’s number in a pregame ceremony. Dillard, a Saltillo High and Itawamba Community College alum, pitched with the Sounds for parts of nine seasons and spent parts of four years in the big leagues with Milwaukee. … On July 30, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will formally induct ex-Delta State star Barry Lyons and Ole Miss product David Dellucci, both former major leaguers, as part of its Class of 2022.

06 May

stalking baseball

Several Mississippians, all pitchers, have found success in the Korean Baseball Organization, which is getting a lot of attention these days (thanks to ESPN) as the only professional league going. Gary Rath, the Gulfport native and ex-Mississippi State All-American, won 43 games over parts of four years in the KBO between 2001 and ’08, including a 17-8, 2.60 ERA season with Doosan in 2004. Ole Miss product Mickey Callaway, now the Los Angeles Angels pitching coach, went 32-22 in three seasons in the KBO, including a 16-win campaign in 2005. Rath and Callaway, both of whom had some big league time, went to Korea at the end of their careers. Former Southern Miss standout Scott Copeland used a recent stint in the KBO as a route back to the big leagues. After making the majors with Toronto in 2015 (his sixth pro season), Copeland was released early in 2016 and went to Korea, where he made 13 starts for the LG Twins and then re-signed with the Blue Jays later that summer. He ultimately returned to the big leagues with the New York Mets – for one game — in 2018. Copeland spent last season in Washington’s system and is currently a minor league free agent. Meridian native Jamie Brown (2006-08), Jackson State alum Mike Farmer (2000-01), Columbus’ Luther Hackman (2005), UM alum Phil Irwin (2015) and ex-Purvis High star Kenny Rayborn (2007-08) also pitched in the KBO. Brown, Farmer, Hackman and Irwin had MLB appearances on their resumes.

04 May

kbo connections

ESPN will televise LIVE baseball from the Korean Baseball Organization beginning Tuesday morning (midnight CDT). As Jack Buck might’ve said, “Go crazy, folks.” If you’re wondering about a Mississippi connection in the KBO, there are at least a couple. Former Mississippi Braves Jake Brigham (2015) and Mel Rojas Jr. (2016) are established three-year veterans there, Brigham with the Kiwoom Heroes and Rojas with the KT Wiz. Brigham, a right-handed starter, went 6-3 with a 3.05 ERA for the M-Braves in 2015 and made the Southern League All-Star Game. He reached Atlanta later that summer and got into 12 games, his only MLB appearances. Brigham is 34-18, 3.72 in the KBO. Rojas, son of the ex-big league pitcher, batted .244 with two homers in 35 games for the ’16 M-Braves. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound switch-hitting outfielder has been a force in South Korea, belting 85 homers and hitting .310 over his three seasons. Quite a few former major leaguers are on KBO rosters.