Monthly Archives: April 2015

14 Apr

heat check

Roughly one week into the season, the hottest-hitting Mississippian in the majors is Seth Smith, the Ole Miss product who is at .385 in 13 at-bats for his newest team, Seattle. Another UM alum, Chris Coghlan, is batting .375 with a pair of home runs for the Chicago Cubs, who are off to a 4-2 start. Former Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson is sailing along at .357 with two homers and nine RBIs for 5-2 Colorado. Ex-Taylorsville High standout Billy Hamilton, batting just .250, has seven steals and seven runs for Cincinnati, off to a 4-3 start. … As for pitchers, Aaron Barrett (Ole Miss, Washington), Jonathan Papelbon (Mississippi State, Philadelphia) and Drew Pomeranz (UM, Oakland) are unscored upon to this point, with Pomeranz yielding just two hits over seven innings in a win against Seattle. … Former Bulldogs star Kendall Graveman gets a start tonight for Oakland at Houston looking to shave his 18.90 ERA. Also eagerly awaiting his next turn is Picayune High product T.J. House, who has a 40.50 ERA for Cleveland. … Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi CC alum, finally got in a game for Kansas City on Monday and delivered a single. … Ex-MSU star Ed Easley spent a couple of days in a St. Louis uniform but did not make his MLB debut before being returned to Triple-A Memphis.

08 Apr

so much to remember

The year 2015 brings a bonanza of significant anniversaries for Mississippi pro baseball teams.
On April 19, 1975, 40 years ago, the Jackson Mets played their first game at Smith-Wills Stadium, beating the Arkansas Travelers 6-4 before a crowd of 2,862. Managed by John Antonelli, the original JaxMets went 65-65 and did not make the Texas League postseason. It was not a club of future big league stars. It was a club of Mike Agosto, Craig Casek and Angel Cantres, the team leaders in homers, average and RBIs. There was also Craig Clark, Rich Miller, Randy Trapp and Carlos Sagredo. Jeff Grose went 13-8 with a 3.54 ERA, and Mississippian Bobby Myrick won seven games.
In 1985, 30 years ago, the Jackson Mets won a Texas League championship, the franchise’s third pennant and second in a row under manager Sam Perlozzo. The tone was set in the home opener at Smith-Wills, when Biloxi native and Delta State product Barry Lyons hit a walk-off home run. Lyons, who batted .307 with 11 bombs and 108 RBIs, was one of a bunch of future big leaguers on that club. Some others: Mark Carreon, Keith Miller, Greg Olson, Randy Milligan, Stanley Jefferson and DeWayne Vaughn.
Fifteen years later — in the year 2000 — after Jackson’s Texas League team had moved away to Round Rock, Texas, the DiamondKats took up residence at Smith-Wills for one largely forgettable campaign. The independent club, managed by ex-Ole Miss and MLB star Steve Dillard, posted a 38-74 record and was outscored by almost 200 runs. Crowds were sparse. Some players did manage to shine, however. Mark Carreon, at age 36, joined the team late in the season and hit .340 in 42 games. Casey Myrick batted .329 with nine homers and 56 RBIs, and Jeremy McClain, another Delta State product, went 7-9 with a 3.27 ERA. The roster also included Popeye Cole, Willie Gardner, Jimbo Pinnix, Perry Miley and Rusty Camp, all Mississippi natives.
And 10 years ago, a new era dawned when Double-A baseball returned to central Mississippi. The Mississippi Braves trotted out a team on opening day at brand new Trustmark Park in Pearl that would produce 10 major league players, including Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, Gregor Blanco, Blaine Boyer, Luis Hernandez, Scott Thorman, Macay McBride and Zack Miner. But that original group wasn’t together for very long. McCann went to Atlanta in June, and many others would also move up over the next few weeks. The ’05 M-Braves, managed by Brian Snitker, finished 64-68 overall, failing to make the Southern League postseason. Still, it was a great debut act, one that started a steady stream of talent flowing through Pearl to the big leagues.

07 Apr

poll position

Northwest Rankin High, which is on a 17-1 roll, has broken into Baseball America’s new Top 25, checking in at No. 20. The Class 6A Cougars, who have a game tonight at Starkville, haven’t lost since March 7, when they fell 2-1 in extra innings to Germantown. They notched two big wins over rival Madison Central on March 31 and April 2. Acy Owen leads NWR in hitting at .500, and Ian Ladner is at .442 with four homers and Damione Granger .333 with 15 RBIs. On the bump, Hunter Smith is 5-0 with a 0.40 ERA and Cannon Gibbs 4-0, 0.33. … Brandon is 25th in BA’s latest poll; DeSoto Central, which lost three of four in the National High School Invitational late last month, dropped out.

07 Apr

with a bang

Seth Smith did something Monday that no Seattle player had ever done on opening day. And he did it in his Mariners debut. Before a packed house at Safeco Field, the former Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss star delivered three extra-base hits (two doubles and a triple) to help the Mariners whip the Los Angeles Angels 4-1. “Opening day is special,” Smith, acquired by Seattle from San Diego in the off-season, told the Seattle Post Intelligencer. He has been in a different uniform for each of the last three. … Not to be overlooked, Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson homered in his first at-bat, added a double and finished with four RBIs as Colorado routed Milwaukee 10-0. “He just swings hard in case he hits it – that’s pretty much his approach,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss told mlb.com about Dickerson, who blasted 24 homers last year. … Also of note from an action-packed opening day in MLB: Mississippi Gulf Coast CC alum Tony Sipp threw a clean eighth inning in Houston’s 2-0 shutout of Cleveland, and ex-Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton had a hit, scored twice and stole a base in a win by Cincinnati.

07 Apr

ten years after

Drumroll, please. As the Mississippi Braves approach the 10th anniversary of the first game at Trustmark Park (April 18), here’s an updated all-time M-Braves team (based on their performance with the Double-A club): At catcher, the great Brian McCann (.265, 6 homers, 26 RBIs in roughly two months in 2005) has to take a backseat to Christian Bethancourt, who went .277, 12, 45 in 2013 and was very good behind the plate. At first base, Ernesto Mejia’s monster season in 2011 will be tough to top; he batted .297 with team records for homers (26) and RBIs (99). Second base belonged to J.C. Holt, who hit .285 with 45 RBIs and 22 steals for the 2008 Southern League championship club, until Tommy La Stella came along in 2013. La Stella batted .343 with four homers, 41 RBIs and 32 runs in 81 games. Tyler Pastornicky still rates the nod at shortstop after batting .299 with six homers, 36 RBIs, 50 runs and 20 steals in 90 games in 2011. Third base goes to Kyle Kubitza, whose 2014 numbers (.295, eight homers, 55 RBIs, 31 doubles, 11 triples, 21 bags) eclipse Wes Timmons’ production in 2005 (.272, seven homers, 34 RBIs and 31 doubles). In the outfield, there’s Matt Young (.289, 10 triples, 81 runs, 42 steals in 2009), Brandon Jones (.293, 15 homers, 74 RBIs, 12 steals in 2007) and Todd Cunningham (.306, 23 doubles, 51 RBIs, 77 runs, 24 steals in 2012). The M-Braves have had so many good arms, it’s hard to whittle the number down to five starters. But here goes: Tommy Hanson, Todd Redmond, Chuck James, Jo-Jo Reyes and Jason Hursh. Luis Valdez (now known as Jairo Asencio), with his 28 saves in 2008, is the closer. P.S. Amid the new hot prospects and familiar veterans that fill the Mississippi Braves’ 2015 roster, there is one name that sorta jumps out. Who is Kyeong Kang? Well, he is a 27-year-old South Korea native who went to high school in Georgia and junior college in Alabama and has spent eight years in pro ball. He was drafted in the 15th round by Tampa Bay in 2006, played in the MLB Futures Game in 2009 and toiled for the Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League from 2011-13. A 6-foot-2, 210-pound left-handed hitting outfielder, Kang has a career .269 average and 68 home runs, with four double-figure dinger seasons. He batted .282 with 12 homers in Double-A with Baltimore in 2014. Atlanta signed him in the off-season. … Former M-Braves Brandon Cunniff and Cody Martin, both looking for their MLB debut, made Atlanta’s opening day roster, and Jeff Francoeur, an original M-Brave from 2005, made Philadelphia’s club.

06 Apr

weekend warriors

There was no shortage of step-up performances over the weekend by Mississippi college players. On Friday, Jake Vickerson banged out three hits, scored a run and drove in two as Mississippi State clinched its SEC series against South Carolina with a 7-5 win. Jovany Felipe drove in eight runs in a Friday doubleheader and Sam Campbell picked up six RBIs in a Saturday twinbill as Jackson State swept four games from Alcorn State, scoring 48 runs in the process. Ben Pickard hit a grand slam, drew two walks and scored twice to pace Delta State to a Gulf South Conference-series clinching 11-2 win over Lee University on Saturday. Also on Saturday, James McMahon (6-0, 1.22 ERA) went 6 1/3 innings to beat UAB 3-2 and give Southern Miss a C-USA series win. But the top performer award goes to Millsaps’ Keith Shumaker, who went 5-for-5 with four runs and an RBI AND pitched eight innings to get the W in a 9-8 victory over Birmingham-Southern in the opener of a Saturday doubleheader. The Majors clinched the Southern Athletic Association series with that win and are now 22-4, 12-2. Shumaker is batting .451 with 40 runs and 20 RBIs and has a 7-0, 2.17 pitching ledger. P.S. Watch for it: DSU coach Mike Kinnison may have a chance to pick up his 800th career win when the Statesmen visit Mississippi College for a three-game GSC series next weekend.

06 Apr

battle stations

Eli Whiteside, who retired in the off-season at 35, is now San Francisco’s bullpen catcher. Whiteside, a former Delta State star from New Albany, played 216 MLB games spread over 10 years, batting .210 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs. He was in the majors briefly with the Chicago Cubs last season and signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the off-season before opting to retire. … There are still four managers with Mississippi connections in MLB: Former Mississippi State star Buck Showalter in Baltimore, ex-Jackson Mets skipper Clint Hurdle with Pittsburgh and former JaxMets players Ned Yost and John Gibbons in Kansas City and Toronto. Coaches with connections are scattered about, as well: Bobby Dickerson (Laurel resident, Baltimore), Jim Hickey (Jackson Generals coach, Tampa Bay), Bobby Thigpen (State, Chicago White Sox), Mickey Callaway (Ole Miss, Cleveland), Dave Clark (Jackson State, Detroit), Neil Allen (JaxMets, Minnesota), Dave Hudgens (Gens coach, Houston), Alan Zinter (JaxMets, Houston), Dave Magadan (JaxMets, Texas), Roger McDowell (JaxMets, Atlanta), Jeff Branson (Waynesboro, Pittsburgh) and Chris Maloney (State, St. Louis). … Former Southern Miss and MLB star Kevin Young is now a special assistant for the Pirates and spent much of spring training working with Pedro Alvarez, who is shifting from third to first base, as Young did in his playing days. … Former Mississippi Braves managers Brian Snitker and Rocket Wheeler are still running teams in Atlanta’s system, at Gwinnett and Danville, respectively, and ex-M-Braves standout Scott Thorman will manage in Kansas City’s system in 2015. Other minor league skippers with Mississippi ties: Rick Sweet, Gary Allenson, Wally Backman, Al Pedrique, Joe Mikulik, Pedro Lopez and Jimmy Gonzalez.

05 Apr

getting started

Firing up the Way Back Machine, we stop in 1935, 80 long years ago. That was the year in which Waynesboro’s Claude Passeau, one of Mississippi’s greatest pitchers, made his big league debut. He would win 162 games and make five All-Star teams. Also debuting in ’35 was Jim Bivin of Jackson. He won 160 fewer games in his career than Passeau and lasted only that one season. But Bivin did manage this noteworthy feat: He retired Babe Ruth on a ground ball in The Babe’s final at-bat. Shift gears and move on to 1945, the debut year of Boo Ferriss, the Shaw native who won 21 games as a rookie for the Boston Red Sox. In 1955, Don “The Corinth Comet” Blasingame played the first game in a nice career that spanned 12 seasons. In 1965, Jerry Moses of Yazoo City broke in; he would hang on for nine years, mostly as a backup catcher. Chet Lemon, a Jackson native, launched his career in 1975; he batted .273 over 16 big league seasons. On to 1985, when Jackson’s Curtis Ford broke in with the St. Louis Cardinals; he got a game-winning hit, off Lee Smith, no less, in his first at-bat on June 22. In 1995, Gulfport’s Matt Lawton began a 12-year MLB career that saw him make two All-Star teams and one Sports Illustrated cover. And in 2005, Paul Maholm, the former Mississippi State ace from Greenwood, made his debut. Recently released by Cincinnati, the 77-game winner is looking for another team. P.S. Art Gardner, the Madden native and longtime Major League Scouting Bureau scout, made his MLB debut in 1975. Gardner didn’t stick long in the majors. The high point of his playing career might have come five years later when he starred for the 1980 Denver Bears, a Triple-A Montreal Expos affiliate that won 92 games and is generally regarded as one of the greatest minor league clubs of all-time. On a roster that included Tim Raines, Tim Wallach, Bill Gullickson, Charlie Lea, Randy Bass and Jerry Manuel, Gardner hit .317 with 14 home runs, 64 RBIs, 11 triples and 26 steals.

04 Apr

ups and downs

Louis Coleman, the former Pillow Academy star, cleared waivers on Friday and was outrighted to Triple-A Omaha by Kansas City. The Royals reportedly wanted to keep the right-handed reliever in their system; he posted a 3.55 ERA this spring and has a 3.25 career MLB mark, though he struggled in 2014. … Expectations certainly have changed for Lance Lynn. Entering the 2014 season, the Ole Miss product was considered St. Louis’ No. 4 or 5 starter. He went to the post 33 times, worked over 200 innings, won 15 of his 25 decisions and put up a 2.74 ERA. For 2015, he gets the nod in Game 2 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. Lynn capped his spring with six shutout innings against the New York Mets on Thursday. “He was great – everything we needed to see,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told FoxSports.com. … Former UM standout Alex Presley, designated for assignment by the Houston Astros earlier this week, is likely to be traded, according to reports. Presley, an outfielder with five years of big league experience, hit .244 with the Astros in 2014 and has a career .259 average. … Meridian Community College alumnus Corey Dickerson, who had been out of the Colorado lineup with a back problem, returned on Friday. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton got a pair of hits Friday for Cincinnati to boost his spring average to .240. The speedster is 2-for-4 on stolen base tries.

02 Apr

numbers of note

4 – Wins in five decisions for Ole Miss’ Brady Bramlett, who also has a 1.79 ERA as he comes back from arm surgery.
5 – Home runs by Mississippi State’s Reid Humphreys, a third of the team’s total.
6.07 – ERA of Jackson State’s pitching staff. The Tigers (16-11) are batting .300 as a team, led by Melvin Rodriguez at .411.
8 – Hits in his last five games for Mississippi College’s Caleb Upton, who leads the Choctaws in hitting at .355.
11 – Shutout innings posted last week by Southern Miss’ James McMahon against nationally ranked foes Rice and Mississippi State. He is 5-0 with a 0.99 ERA.
32 – Runs scored by Delta State in a win over Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday. Trent Giambroni drove in five and hit one of the Statesmen’s four homers.
37 – Runs scored by William Carey’s Tyler Richardson, who also leads the team in hits (45), average (.398) and on-base percentage (.481).
37 – RBIs for Millsaps’ Isaac Glenn, including 12 last week. He ranks No. 2 in the NCAA Division III.
51 – RBIs for Belhaven’s Adam Kowalczyk, who is batting .362 with 11 homers.
796 – Wins at Delta State for coach Mike Kinnison.