Monthly Archives: February 2012

Today’s subject; Pat McGehee. The Meadville native played a hundred years ago. Literally. A right-handed pitcher, McGehee debuted for the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 23, 1912. That was his only appearance. Ever. He faced two batters, allowing a hit and a walk. Then he was pulled, perhaps with an injury but that’s not known. Neither of the runners scored, so his ERA is not infinity. It’s just non-existent. The ’12 Tigers, a team that included Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford, were not very good. They went 69-84 and finished sixth in the eight-team American League. They couldn’t blame McGehee for their troubles.
P.S. On another historical note, as major league teams begin reporting for spring training, it is worth mentioning that Mississippi was once a spring destination. The Cubs trained in Vicksburg in 1908; the Cardinals in Jackson in 1912; the Tigers in Gulfport from 1913-15; the Senators (the ones that moved to Minnesota) in Biloxi from 1930-35; and the Phillies in Biloxi in 1938. This was reported in Spring Training magazine in 2001.

O.K., so Kansas City manager Ned Yost, the former Jackson Mets catcher, got a contract extension through 2013. That’s not the big news as the Royals head to spring training. This is: Dayton Moore, the onetime Atlanta Braves farm director, has put together a club that looks ready to contend for a playoff berth. After years and years of irrelevancy, KC is a team to watch in 2012. And there are a number of players with Mississippi ties who figure prominently in the Royals’ plans. Reliever Louis Coleman, the pride of Pillow Academy, had a solid debut in 2011: 2.87 ERA in 48 games. Lefty Tim Collins, a former Mississippi Brave, put up a 3.63 in 68 games out of the pen. Ex-M-Braves right fielder Jeff Francoeur enjoyed a resurgence in 2011, batting .285 with 20 homers and 87 RBIs. Jarrod Dyson, a Southwest Mississippi Community College product, stole 11 bases in limited opportunities last season and will vie for the center field job. Onetime M-Braves starting pitcher Zach Miner, on the mend from Tommy John surgery, could make the Royals’ staff with a good spring. Kansas City was just 71-91 last year under Yost but has a core group of young talent that could improve significantly on that mark this season. Long-suffering Royals fans certainly hope so.

Mississippi College plays Belhaven today at Smith-Wills Stadium in the second game of the Maloney Trophy Series, which is back to a nine-game round robin this season. Each team plays the other three times. Belhaven has claimed the trophy the last two years and, as a nationally ranked NAIA school, looms as the favorite again this season over its two NCAA Division III rivals. However, Millsaps did beat the Blazers in the Maloney opener, and the Majors get four home games this time around.
Here’s the rest of the Maloney schedule:
Feb. 28 — MC at Millsaps; March 20 — Belhaven at MC; March 27 — MC at Millsaps; April 4 — Belhaven at Millsaps; April 10 — Millsaps at MC; April 17 — Millsaps at Belhaven; and April 23 — MC at Belhaven.

If Jones County Junior College is feeling any burden from being ranked No. 2 in the nation, it did not show in the Bobcats’ season-opening doubleheader on Saturday. Jones, the only Mississippi school in the NJCAA Division II preseason Top 20, beat Mississippi Delta 6-4 and 8-0 in Ellisville. Jones went 46-17 in 2011, won the Region 23 championship and made a serious run at the national title. This is definitely a team to watch in 2012. Zac Fowler and Zane Walley — the Killer Z’s? — homered in the Bobcats’ first game and Cody Minter had two hits and two RBIs to back a five-man combo two-hitter in Game 2. The player in the spotlight at JCJC might be 6-foot-4 Vito Perna, who went 11-1 with a 2.20 ERA as a starting pitcher and batted .344 with seven homers and 56 RBIs as a DH. He got the win in this year’s opener. Also returning from a dominant 2011 pitching staff is Logan Riddell, who posted a 10-4 mark.
P.S. Hinds CC is scheduled to open its season today at East Mississippi. The Eagles return 11 lettermen from a 23-18 club. The stalwarts include 2011 MVP Tyler Akins, a Belhaven signee who went 6-4, 3.57 and batted .333 with five homers; lefty Alex Gunn (7-1, 2.62); Mississippi State signee Pierson Waring (.363); and fellow infielder Daniel Gilbert (.380), who is Belhaven-bound.

Delta State’s performance with the bats in its weekend series at Montevallo was nothing short of amazing. The Statesmen racked up 24, 17 and 20 runs in the three-game sweep — scores the football team would have been proud of. They totaled 61 hits. They had an 11-run ninth inning that fueled their Game 2 victory. Michael Vinson, a lefty-hitting first baseman from Southaven, was 9-for-17 with 12 RBIs in the series. Ben Kingsley, a Meridian Community College transfer, and Josh Crowdus had four-RBI games on Sunday. Vinson knocked in six on Saturday. Jon Carnahan picked up six RBIs on Friday, and Kris Koerper had a four-RBI effort in that one. Can’t wait to see what the NCAA Division II green machine does its next time out, which is Wednesday at Arkansas-Monticello. The home opener is Saturday.

Cody Satterwhite’s anticipated path to the big leagues will take a detour — at the very least. The big right-hander, a former Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss standout, was recently released by the Detroit Tigers. Satterwhite, a second-round pick in 2008, missed all of the 2010 season after shoulder surgery and pitched in just eight games, all in the rookie Gulf Coast League, in 2011. He reportedly has lost velocity on what was once a wicked mid-90s fastball. In 2009, Satterwhite posted a 3.47 ERA and 12 saves at the Double-A level and was regarded as a top prospect in the Tigers’ system. He appeared to be on his way to The Show. But arm problems have shot down many a promising career. It remains to be seen if Satterwhite will get another shot.
P.S. The Houston Astros will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first major league season in 2012. They debuted as the Colt .45s in 1962 — with Ellisville native Harry Craft as their manager. This will also be Houston’s last season in the National League; the Astros move to the American League West in 2013. The Astros’ Double-A club operated in Jackson from 1991-99 as the Generals, winning Texas League pennants in 1993 and ’96.

Today’s subject: Barry Lyons. Lyons, a catcher who played parts of seven years in the major leagues, touched all the bases of Mississippi connections. He was born in Biloxi, where he was a standout talent at an early age, went on to star at Delta State for Boo Ferriss and then played for the 1985 Texas League champion Jackson Mets. He famously hit a game-winning homer in the JaxMets’ home opener in ’85. Lyons put up MVP-quality numbers in the Double-A loop in ’85 and made the New York Mets club the next season. He hung around the majors until 1995, though his career never really took off. His best year was probably 1989, when he played in 79 games for the Mets and batted .247 with three homers and 27 RBIs. He also threw out 27 percent of runners trying to steal, though he did commit 10 errors. He played for three more major league teams (battling back problems along the way) and finished with a career .239 average, 15 homers and 89 RBIs. It could be argued that he is the best big league catcher Mississippi has produced.
P.S. Delta State, which is ranked as high as No. 8 in one NCAA Division II poll, opened its season Friday with a 24-3 win at Montevallo. Jon Carnahan homered and drove in six runs; Michael Vinson and Kris Koerper had four hits and four RBIs each; and Aaron Newcomb yielded one run over five innings for the W. DSU has 17 lettermen back from a 30-19 team that missed the D-II regionals for a third straight year. The Statesmen should be very, very motivated in 2012.

Couldn’t ask for much more from the first game of the Maloney Trophy Series. Millsaps, playing its season opener, got a two-out, two-run single from Andrew Evans in the bottom of the ninth inning to top Belhaven 8-7 today at Twenty Field. Evans, a senior from Ocean Springs who had six RBIs in all of 2011, got four today, including the game-winner off Blazers closer Josh Clarke. BU, now 5-2, had taken a 7-4 lead in the top of the ninth on a three-run homer by Anthony Doss. What a start for the compelling small college round robin that includes Millsaps, Belhaven and Mississippi College.
P.S. Bill Hall will go to spring training with the New York Yankees on a minor league contract. The Nettleton product excitedly broke the news himself today on Twitter, saying he wants a ring. Of course, making the Yanks won’t be easy. Hall, 32, hit .211 with two homers in 185 at-bats in the majors last season. And offense is his game. … And this just in: Roy Oswalt, the pride of Weir, is still unsigned. Cincinnati has joined the list of teams that may or may not be interested.

Millsaps will make its 2012 debut today when it hosts Belhaven in a Maloney Trophy Series contest. The Majors are coming off a 24-18 campaign and for the first time in four years don’t have slugger Will Hawkins on their roster. Hawkins hit .368 with eight homers and 49 RBIs last season. Belhaven, ranked 15th in NAIA, is 5-1 and coming off a doubleheader split at LSU-Alexandria. … Meanwhile, in Hattiesburg, William Carey will be eager to get back on the field today for its doubleheader against Tougaloo. The Crusaders are 0-3, having lost a weekend series at NAIA fifth-ranked LSU-Shreveport 7-1, 11-1 and 9-2. Always undermanned Tougaloo, which lost its opener last week to Belhaven 11-1, could be in for a long day.

Today’s subject: Rufus Lewis. Lewis, a high school baseball and football star in Hattiesburg and an Army veteran, pitched in the Negro Leagues after Jackie Robinson broke the “organized baseball” color line. Lewis, a right-hander, posted an 18-3 record for the 1946 Newark Eagles and also won Game 7 of the Negro Leagues World Series that year. In 1948, he started in the East-West All-Star Game, quite a notable honor. He never got a shot at the major leagues but did pitch in the minors in 1952, at age 33, in the Arizona-Texas League. That was his final season in pro ball.
P.S. There were reports last week that Nettleton native Bill Hall was talking with the New York Yankees about a minor league deal, but there has been no word of an agreement. Hall hit .211 without much of his trademark power during brief stints with Houston and San Francisco last year.