Monthly Archives: February 2023

10 Feb

represent

Four Mississippi college products are on the rosters for the World Baseball Classic, three with the U.S. team and one with Canada. Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn, Mississippi State’s Kendall Graveman and ex-East Central Community College star Tim Anderson — all members of the Chicago White Sox — will suit up for Team USA when the 20-team event gets under way next month. MSU product Jacob Robson, who had a cup of coffee in the big leagues in 2021, is on the Canada team, which is in the same five-team group — Pool C — with the U.S. That group begins play on March 11 in Arizona. Lynn, 35, is an 11-year veteran who has 123 wins and a career ERA of 3.52. Graveman has pitched eight years in the majors, working in relief the last few years, and has a 4.04 ERA. Anderson, a shortstop, is a .288 career hitter over seven seasons with 97 homers and 104 steals. He won the American League batting title in 2019. Robson, originally drafted by Detroit, got a brief call-up in ’21 but was back in Triple-A last year. He was released midseason and finished the year with the independent Kansas City Monarchs before heading to Australia to play winter ball. Former Biloxi Shuckers reliever Devin Williams, now Milwaukee’s closer, made the loaded U.S. roster, which includes the likes of Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw. Former Mississippi Braves Ronald Acuna (Venezuela), Freddie Freeman (Canada) and Andrelton Simmons (Netherlands) are also on WBC rosters.

04 Feb

cold open

Alex Frillman got a hot start despite the cold conditions for Blue Mountain College’s opener on Friday. Frillman belted a pair of homers and drove in five runs to lead the Toppers to an 11-3 win against visiting Bethel. Chris Smith had three hits for BMC, and Will Long got the win in relief. Frillman, a DeSoto Central High and Holmes Community College product, hit .387 with eight homers in 2022 for the NAIA Toppers. … Mississippi College was beaten 7-1 by Arkansas-Monticello in its chilly opener at Clinton. Beau Kirsch got two of the Choctaws’ six hits. Gavin LeBlanc allowed three runs in five innings and took the loss. … Rust’s opener at Tuskegee was cancelled on Friday with a twinbill now slated for today. Delta State’s scheduled opener at Harding has been pushed back to Sunday; they’ll play a doubleheader. The Statesmen’s home opener is set for Feb. 10.

03 Feb

historic significance

Much attention is being given to the fact that two black quarterbacks will face off in the Super Bowl for the first time on Feb. 12. As a nod to Black History Month, let’s highlight a less-celebrated but perhaps equally significant event that occurred in baseball 70 years ago and involved a pioneering Mississippian. Dave Hoskins, a Greenwood native, faced future Hall of Famer Satchel Paige in an American League game on Sept. 7, 1953, marking the first time in history that African-Americans opposed each other as starting pitchers in the traditional major leagues. This was six years after Jackie Robinson broke the color line. Hoskins was a major league rookie at age 35 in 1953 with Cleveland. Hoskins, who had attended G.H. Jones Industrial School in north Mississippi (per a SABR article), pitched several years in the Negro Leagues and was the first black player to appear in two minor leagues, including the Texas League in 1952. He became on May 10, 1953, the first black Mississippian to win a game in the major leagues. On May 24 of that year, he and Paige, with the St. Louis Browns, faced each other as relief pitchers in a game in Cleveland. Months later, they met again as starters at old Cleveland Stadium. Neither pitched well. Hoskins gave up five runs in 3 2/3 innings, Paige seven in 4 2/3. Neither was involved in the decision as the Indians prevailed 10-7. Hoskins won nine games for Cleveland in ’53 but would last just one more year in the majors, finishing 9-4 with a 3.81 ERA — and a piece of history — over 40 games. P.S. Jackson State is ranked eighth among the big schools and Rust College No. 3 among the smalls in Black College Nines preseason HBCU Top 10 polls.

01 Feb

name-dropping

Former Mississippi State standout Jordan Westburg is ranked the No. 74 prospect in the minors by MLB Pipeline and is the only Mississippian on the list. The infielder, who reached Triple-A last summer and belted 27 homers at two levels, is one of eight Baltimore prospects in the Top 100. Atlanta is the only organization without a single player in the Top 100. … The Braves’ list of non-roster invitees to big league spring training includes a host of 2022 Mississippi Braves, among them outfielders Justin Dean and Cody Milligan, infielder Luke Waddell and pitchers Jared Shuster, Dylan Dodd and Victor Vodnik. … Ex-Biloxi High star Colt Keith, regarded as one of the top third base prospects in the minors, received a non-roster invite to Detroit’s major league camp, as did outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, who played for the M-Braves last season before being traded. … MSU alum Justin Foscue and Mississippi College product Blaine Crim have received non-roster invitations to Texas’ big league camp. … Taylor Broadway, a former Ole Miss closer, is on Boston’s NRI list. Traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Red Sox last summer, the 2021 draftee reached Double-A. … Tampa Bay signed minor league free agent Gavin Collins, a former State standout, and invited him to big league camp. Catcher/third baseman Collins, 27, a 2016 draftee by Cleveland, played in the Guardians’ system in 2022. … Former Jackson Senators pitcher/coach Jeff Ware has been promoted to Toronto’s big league staff as assistant pitching coach. … Lindy’s 2023 preseason magazine rates Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez as the No. 3 draft prospect for this summer. Ex-Southern Miss pitcher Hurston Waldrep, now at Florida, is No. 17 on that 50-player chart, and Magnolia Heights shortstop Cooper Pratt is No. 46. P.S. NAIA member William Carey University, originally slated to open Mississippi’s college season on Feb. 2, will instead debut on Saturday with a doubleheader against Campbellsville in Hattiesburg. … On Friday, weather permitting, NCAA Division II Mississippi College hosts Arkansas-Monticello, NAIA Blue Mountain hosts Bethel and NAIA Rust visits Tuskegee.