a significant debut

On this date in 1976, Bobby Myrick made his big league debut for the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. The Hattiesburg native and Blair High grad retired the only batter he faced — St. Louis’ Hector Cruz — for the final out of the fifth inning. Myrick was the 13,755th player to play in MLB, but his debut was an historic one: The left-hander, a member of the original Jackson Mets in 1975, became the first JaxMets player to advance from the Double-A team to the majors. A flood of players would follow that trail, several others off the ’75 team. Drafted in the 20th round out of Mississippi State in 1974, Myrick’s rise was rapid. He played parts of three seasons (’76-78) with the Mets, going 3-6 with two saves and a 3.48 ERA in 82 games. He pitched in the minors until 1981. He died in 2012. … The Mets left Jackson and Smith-Wills Stadium after the 1990 season and were followed by the Generals, a Houston affiliate. Tony Eusebio was the first Gens player to get a call-up in 1991. The first Mississippi Braves player to go up was Brian McCann in 2005, during the Atlanta Double-A affiliate’s first season at Trustmark Park in Pearl.