Monthly Archives: April 2023

14 Apr

whatever happened to …

Bobby Bradley, the erstwhile big leaguer from Gulfport, has signed with the Charleston (W.Va.) Dirty Birds of the independent Atlantic League. The lefty-hitting slugger, 26, was Cleveland’s opening day first baseman in 2022 but wound up being released out of the minors last August. Bradley was drafted in the third round out of Harrison Central High in 2014 and was ranked among Cleveland’s top prospects during his climb to the majors. He debuted in 2019. But he didn’t make enough consistent contact to stick in The Show, batting just .199 with 17 homers in parts of three seasons. He hit .246 with 163 homers and 539 RBIs in the minors, belting 33 homers in Triple-A in 2019. Many former big leaguers populate Atlantic League rosters, and Mississippi natives Stan Cliburn and Barry Lyons are managers in the league. The season starts April 28. Don’t be surprised if Bradley is among the league home run leaders.

14 Apr

watch for it

There are compelling reasons to focus on Starkville and Hattiesburg this weekend but tonight, at least, cast a glance at Orlando, Fla. John Rhys Plumlee, the former Oak Grove High and Ole Miss standout, will play a baseball game for Central Florida and then rush over to the football field to play quarterback in the Knights’ spring game. The remarkably athletic Plumlee played both sports in high school and again at UM before transferring to Central Florida. Obtuse NCAA rules kept him from playing baseball for the Knights in 2022, but the outfielder has emerged as one of the club’s better players this spring, batting .302 with five homers and 12 RBIs in 32 games. As the UCF quarterback in 2022, Plumlee rushed for 861 yards, threw for 2,586 and accounted for 25 touchdowns as he steered the Knights to the American Athletic Conference title game. And, yes, he also plays a mean piano. P.S. Shout-outs to Brent Rooker and Spencer Turnbull in MLB. Mississippi State alum Rooker hit two homers for Oakland on Wednesday and is 6-for-12 with three bombs in his last three games. Madison Central product Turnbull, roughed up in his first two outings of the season for Detroit, beat Toronto, throwing five innings and yielding a lone run while punching out six.

13 Apr

two weeks notice

Two weeks — 14 days — into the MLB season, the Atlanta Braves are living up to their billing as one of the best teams — and Austin Riley is living up to his billing as one of the best players. The former DeSoto Central High standout, a 2022 All-Star, went 2-for-3 on Wednesday to lift his average to .340 as the Braves beat Cincinnati and improved to 9-4, best mark in the National League. Riley has two homers, seven RBIs and eight runs, having started every game at third base and in the 3-hole in the lineup. Hunter Renfroe, the Crystal Springs native and Mississippi State alum, also has gotten off to a hot start with yet another new team. He is batting .295 with three homers and nine RBIs as a middle-of-the-order bat for the Los Angeles Angels, who have broken out at 7-5. Ex-MSU star Adam Frazier, now with Baltimore, is hitting .273 for his new club; he earned the distinction as the first Mississippian to homer in 2023, going yard on April 2 for his only bomb to date. Nathaniel Lowe, a State alum, went deep for Texas in a loss on Wednesday and is batting .260 with two homers and 10 RBIs. Brent Rooker, the former Bulldogs slugger, got a rare start for Oakland on Wednesday, batting cleanup, and hit a three-run homer in the first inning to help the woeful A’s beat Baltimore. The much-traveled Rooker is batting .294. Former Ole Miss standout Chad Smith, just called up from Triple-A, got the win for the A’s with two innings of scoreless relief. Several Mississippi-connected pitchers have scuffled. Madison Central alum Spencer Turnbull, who had not pitched in 666 days before his 2023 debut, is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA heading into a start for Detroit today at Toronto. Ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn is 0-1, 7.31, in three starts for the Chicago White Sox, and MSU product Kendall Graveman has a 5.79 ERA in five relief outings for the ChiSox. … Three Mississippians have already landed on the injured list: Corey Dickerson, Tim Anderson and Brandon Woodruff. Drew Pomeranz, the Ole Miss alum who hasn’t pitched in a big league game since August of 2021, is slated for a rehab appearance today for San Diego’s Triple-A El Paso club.

08 Apr

flashing back

Flash back a hundred years, if you will. In 1923, on Sept. 17 to be precise, Guy Bush made his big league debut for the Chicago Cubs, launching a decorated career that saw the Aberdeen native win 176 games, still the most by a Mississippi native. Fifty years ago, in 1973, seven-time All-Star Dave Parker of Grenada and five-time All-Star Frank White of Greenville broke in with Pittsburgh and Kansas City, respectively. Ten years ago, Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton first appeared on an MLB field and took off on a path that made him the all-time stolen base leader from the state. Those are just a few of the significant anniversaries of significant Mississippians in the majors that warrant celebration in 2023. In 1913, Reb Russell, a Jackson native, made his debut as a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox and threw three shutout innings. An arm injury forced him to become a position player in 1922 with Pittsburgh; he homered in his final game in 1923. Russell is one of just four players in MLB history to win 10 or more games in a season and hit 10 or more homers in a season. Also in 1913, John Howard “Lefty” Merritt, from Plantersville, got into one game (no at-bats) for the New York Giants; he had a long minor league career thereafter but never got another look in the majors. In 1963, Mickey Harrington of Hattiesburg got into one game as a pinch runner for Philadelphia. He never got into another. Seventy years ago, Dave Hoskins, a pioneering black pitcher from Greenwood, made his big league debut for Cleveland at age 35. Forty years ago, Al Jones, a Charleston native, became the only Alcorn State alum to play in the majors when the White Sox called him up. Twenty years ago, Greenwood native Matt Miller debuted for Colorado. He might be remembered by some for getting the final out, as a pitcher for Tulsa, in the final game of the Jackson Generals era at Smith-Wills Stadium in 1999.

05 Apr

pennant fever

Friday is opening day No. 18 for the Mississippi Braves, who’ll take on the Biloxi Shuckers at 6:35 p.m. at Trustmark Park in Pearl. A championship is the ultimate goal, of course, for a franchise that has won two Southern League pennants (2008 and 2021). The 2023 roster is expected to be released today, when the team holds its first workout. The talent in Atlanta’s minor league system has been thinned out in recent years, but the organization has a true knack for scouting and development, so expect a competitive team. Jackson-area Double-A teams have won eight pennants all told, and this year marks a notable anniversary of two of those titles. Twenty years ago, the independent Jackson Senators won the Central Baseball League championship. In one of the most dramatic moments in Smith-Wills Stadium’s long history, Keto Anderson delivered a game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning of the decisive fifth game against Amarillo. That Senators team included Jeremy McClain, Gerard McCall, Ryan Creek, Kenny Rayborn, Robbie Kison, Vernon Spearman and onetime big leaguer Lonnie Maclin. Thirty years ago, the Double-A Jackson Generals won the Texas League championship, the first for the franchise as a Houston Astros affiliate. League MVP Roberto Petagine was the star of that team, which also included Brian Hunter, Jim Dougherty, Alvin Morman, Ray Montgomery, Lance “Bam-Bam” Madsen and Jackson native Fletcher Thompson.

01 Apr

just stuff

South Carolina is the SEC leader in home runs, but Mississippi State beat the highly ranked Gamecocks at their own game on Friday night in Starkville. The Bulldogs won their first SEC game of the season, 13-3, behind an 18-hit barrage that included four homers, two by Slate Alford and one each by Hunter Hines and Dakota Jordan. MSU is 16-12, 1-7. South Carolina, which homered once Friday, is 25-3, 7-1. … Meanwhile, Ole Miss fell at Texas A&M and is still seeking its first conference W, and Southern Miss won at Troy to move to 4-3 in the Sun Belt. … Former USM ace Nick Sandlin, working 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief on Friday, notched a win in his first appearance of 2023 with Cleveland, which beat Seattle. .. After getting the win in relief on Thursday, ex-MSU standout Kendall Graveman got knocked out and took the L in the Chicago White Sox’s loss to Houston. Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn pitched into the sixth and stood to get the win until the ChiSox’s bullpen melted down. … Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High star, is in Triple-A for the White Sox and went 0-for-3 in his season debut. Other Mississippi-connected ex-big leaguers sent to Triple-A include Mike Mayers, Demarcus Evans and Jonathan Holder. … Former Mississippi Braves Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake played shortstop and second base, respectively, for Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday. Shewmake hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the ninth. Grissom had a hit, scored three times and made a fielding error. … Jones College (26-6, 11-1) continues to rule in the MACCC after bashing Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College 17-4 and 12-0 last Wednesday behind Beau Bryans’ eight RBIs. But hot on the Bobcats’ heels is East Central, which has won seven in a row and stands 9-1 in the conference. ECCC won two one-run games at Copiah-Lincoln on Wednesday. Leighton Jenkins drove in three runs in a 4-3 win, Manny Huffman went 4-for-4 with four RBIs in an 8-7 victory and David Burton saved both games.