Monthly Archives: April 2021

04 Apr

anniversaries

Twenty years ago, Roy Oswalt, a 25th-round draft pick, began a big league career that stands among the best of any Mississippi-born player. A Holmes Community College alumnus from Weir, Oswalt debuted for Houston on May 6, 2001, working an inning against Montreal. He picked up the first of his 163 career wins on May 14, beating Cincinnati in another relief outing. On June 2, he made his first start and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers. Oswalt would pitch 13 years in The Show, making three All-Star Games, winning an ERA title and leading the Astros to their first World Series berth in 2005. The lean right-hander finished in the top six in Cy Young voting six times. Only one other Magnolia State native, Guy Bush, won more games than Oswalt. Other debut anniversaries of note occurring this season: Ninety years ago, brothers Gee and Hub Walker of Gulfport reached the majors, debuting on back-to-back days in April as the leadoff batter for Detroit. Gee went 1-for-4, Hub 3-for-5. Gee batted .294 over a long career, Hub .263 over a much shorter one. … Seventy years ago, Bob “The Rope” Boyd of Potts Camp and Sam Hairston from Crawford, both former Negro Leagues stars, got their first taste of the majors. Hairston is the patriarch of MLB’s first black three-generation family. … Sixty years ago, Silver City’s Jack Reed broke in with the New York Yankees; he played only 28 games that season but had a front-row seat in September as Roger Maris chased down Babe Ruth’s home run record. … Ten years ago, Louis Coleman, from Greenwood by way of LSU, debuted with Kansas City and went on to post a 3.51 ERA over seven MLB seasons (264 games) as a reliever.

02 Apr

hey, what’s that sound?

Leather popping. Bats, uh, clanking. Infielders chattering. Yes, college baseball is what’s goin’ down this weekend around the Magnolia State. While Mississippi State is hosting Kentucky in an SEC showdown at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, there are notable games also in Itta Bena, Cleveland, Clinton, Blue Mountain, Jackson, Columbus and Holly Springs. Jackson State (14-7, 9-0 SWAC) visits Mississippi Valley State (0-9, 0-6). The Delta Devils dodged a likely beatdown from MSU when Tuesday’s game was rained out, but they figure to take some lumps from the Tigers, who outscored Alabama A&M 36-5 in a series last weekend. Delta State (12-10, 10-10 Gulf South) takes a six-game win streak into a league series against Valdosta State at Ferriss Field, and Mississippi College (8-13, 5-11 GSC) rides a four-game wave into its series against West Georgia at Frierson Field. Up at Blue Mountain, the Toppers (11-8, 2-4 SSAC) welcome in-state rival William Carey (16-7, 1-5) in a key conference series. Carey leads the all-time series 22-4, but BMC’s program is on the rise. At Twenty Field in Jackson, Millsaps (6-16, 4-8 SAC), recovering from a disastrous start, welcomes D-III nationally ranked Birmingham-Southern, always a power in their conference. At Columbus High today, MUW, 12-3 with seven straight W’s, takes on Tougaloo (2-15) in a twinbill. The Owls then play two against Rust College in Holly Springs on Saturday. Matt Wolfenbarger has put together a solid D-III program in short order at The W, which is 3-1 against Tougaloo and 2-0 vs. Rust, both NAIA schools.

02 Apr

arlington legacy

Nate Lowe became, on Thursday, the latest in a long line of former Mississippi State sluggers to suit up for the Texas Rangers. Acquired in an off-season trade with Tampa Bay, the lefty-hitting first baseman/DH went 2-for-6 and drove in four runs in his Texas debut. Ex-Bulldogs Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Jon Shave and Mitch Moreland also played in Texas. The Rangers-Mississippi connection goes way back — to the club’s second year in the Lone Star State. Donny Castle was the eighth overall pick in the 1968 MLB draft, taken out of Coldwater High by the Washington Senators, who moved to Arlington, Texas, in 1972. Castle, perhaps best known from his time as the coach at Northwest Mississippi Community College, was a Kokomo, Ind., native who grew up in Coldwater. He played pro ball for 11 years, getting a cup of coffee (four games) with the Rangers in 1973. A lefty-hitting first baseman/DH, Castle hit .268 with 115 homers in the minors. He coached at NWCC from 1998-2005, winning 271 games and a state title. P.S. The first hit by a Mississippian in 2021 was delivered by JaCoby Jones, the former Mr. Baseball from Richton High who stroked an RBI double in his first at-bat for Detroit. The first win by a Mississippian went to Ole Miss alumnus Mike Mayers, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Los Angeles Angels, who beat the Chicago White Sox. … A couple of former Mississippi State stars are closing in on significant milestones in their MLB careers. Hunter Renfroe, whose Boston debut was delayed by rain, needs three homers to reach 100. Moreland, who went 0-for-2 in his Oakland debut, needs 32 hits to reach 1,000.

01 Apr

no place like home

Brandon Woodruff gets the start today in Milwaukee’s home stadium, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its grand opening this month. Former Mississippi State star Woodruff delivered one of the greatest moments in the ballpark’s history three years ago, one Mississippi baseball aficionados surely remember. Miller Park, which opened on April 6, 2001, has a new name this season: American Family Field. (Ugh.) A writer for mlb.com recently ranked the top five games in Miller Park history, and coming in at No. 4 was Oct. 12, 2018, Game 1 of the NLCS, a 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Woodruff, in his first MLB postseason, took a star turn that night, pitching two perfect innings in relief and hitting a 407-foot home run off Clayton Kershaw in the third inning. P.S. More stadium stuff: PNC Park in Pittsburgh also opened 20 years ago with three Mississippians in the starting lineups for Cincinnati and the host Pirates in Game 1 on April 9, 2001. Vicksburg native Dmitri Young, Cincy’s left fielder, scored the first run at the new yard. In the first inning, he was hit by a pitch and came around on Sean Casey’s homer. The Pirates’ leadoff batter was McComb’s Adrian Brown, the center fielder, who struck out to start a 1-for-4 day. Also in the Pittsburgh lineup was ex-Southern Miss star Kevin Young, who played first base and went 1-for-3. The Reds won the game 8-2. … Los Angeles Dodgers fans will finally get to experience the renovated Dodger Stadium this month. The team will be allowed to host fans at 20 percent capacity – about 11,000 people — at the onset of the regular season. The World Series champs’ home opener is April 9. Under the direction of Jackson native Janet Marie Smith (see previous post), the Dodgers spent $100 million renovating the stadium ahead of the 2020 season, which was delayed to July and played without fans because of the pandemic. Smith, a Mississippi State grad, previously oversaw stadium projects at Camden Yards, Fenway Park and Turner Field and has consulted on many others.