Author Archives: Mike Christensen

15 Apr

tagging up

Brandon Woodruff, described as “angry (and) effective” by an mlb.com writer, got his groove back for Milwaukee on Thursday. The ex-Mississippi State standout threw five shutout innings to beat St. Louis. It was a nice bounce-back effort from the big right-hander, who was whipped by the Chicago Cubs (and George County High alum Justin Steele) in his first start of 2022 last week. One week into the new MLB season, Woodruff’s former State teammate, Hunter Renfroe, new to the Brewers’ roster this year, is scuffling along with a .160 average. Former Bulldogs star Adam Frazier, who also changed teams in the off-season (San Diego to Seattle), is hitting just .133. Corey Dickerson, the ex-Meridian Community College standout, is batting .125 for his new club, St. Louis. He wasn’t in the lineup Thursday against Woodruff. On the flip side, East Central CC product Tim Anderson is off to a sizzling start for the Chicago White Sox, batting .471 with a homer, four RBIs and three runs. He missed the first two games of the campaign while serving a suspension from 2021. His ChiSox teammate Kendall Graveman, an MSU alum new to Chicago this season, has not allowed an earned run in 4 2/3 innings. Nathaniel Lowe, another Bulldogs alum, is hitting .348 for Texas with six RBIs. And while defending World Series champion Atlanta is wobbling along at 3-5, ex-DeSoto Central star Austin Riley has been steady at .286 with two homers and five RBIs. P.S. MSU alum Brent Rooker, traded from Minnesota to San Diego just before the season opened, already has hit two homers for Triple-A El Paso in the Padres’ system. … Former Columbia High standout Ti’Quan Forbes recently signed a minor league deal with Arizona; he was previously in the White Sox’s system.

07 Apr

anniversary time

Sixty years ago, in the summer of 1962, Jake Gibbs made his debut for the New York Yankees. Known more for his football prowess at Ole Miss, the Grenada native was signed by the Yankees and converted into a catcher. He played 538 games in the big leagues, mainly as a backup, and batted .233. He retired after the 1971 season to become the Ole Miss coach. Gibbs’ big league anniversary is one of quite a few we should celebrate this year. To wit: 110 years ago, Meadville native Pat McGehee played in his one and only major league game. Pitching for Detroit, he gave up a hit and a walk and departed the contest. … Ninety years ago, Tomnolen’s Paul Gregory debuted with the Chicago White Sox. He would go on to greater fame as the coach at Mississippi State from 1954-74. Also debuting in 1932 was Skeeter Webb, a Meridian native who played 12 years in the majors. … Seventy years ago, Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell, a Leakesville native, made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals. He won 90 games over nine seasons and later became a U.S. Congressman in North Carolina. (The nickname came from a community in Alabama where he had played youth baseball.) … Fifty years ago, former Laurel prep star Rod Gilbreath broke in with Atlanta, debuting on June 17, 1972, at the age of 19. He played seven years for the Braves. … Forty years ago, the inimitable Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd, from Meridian by way of Jackson State, launched a 10-year MLB career during which he went 78-77. In the movie “Field of Dreams,” Boyd is the Boston pitcher in the scene at Fenway Park. … Thirty years ago, Jeff Branson of Waynesboro, Kevin Rogers of Cleveland, Scooter Tucker of Greenville and Pete Young from McComb broke in. … Twenty years ago, Marcus Thames of Louisville made his debut, famously homering off Randy Johnson in his first at-bat. Also making The Show that year was Nettleton’s Bill Hall, a pretty fair slugger in his own right. … Ten years ago, Fulton’s Brian Dozier got his first taste of the majors en route to a splendid career that included an All-Star Game nod, a Gold Glove and a World Series ring before ending too soon in 2020. Brandon’s Tyler Moore and Hattiesburg’s Robert Carson also debuted in 2012.

04 Apr

sudden change of sox

Suddenly, the local flavor of the Chicago White Sox has been seriously diluted. Craig Kimbrel, the former Mississippi Braves star, was traded; Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet is lost for the season with Tommy John surgery; and Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn will be out four weeks and probably more with a knee injury. On top of that, ex-East Central Community College standout Tim Anderson will miss the first two games of the season while serving a suspension. (Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, who was with the team last year, became a free agent and signed with Seattle.) The loss of Lynn, a Cy Young Award contender in 2021, is a big blow to the rotation of a team with postseason aspirations. Losing Kimbrel and Crochet from the bullpen likely means an enhanced role for Mississippi State product Kendall Graveman, who signed a 3-year, $24 million contract as a free agent after a standout 2021 with Seattle and Houston. The right-hander was 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA, 11 holds and 10 saves between those two clubs and helped the Astros reach the World Series. He has not allowed a run in four appearances this spring.

03 Apr

memory lane

The scene was reminiscent of the final act in the movie “A League of Their Own.” A group of ballplayers, a little worn down by time, wandered onto their old playground again, rekindling memories of days gone by. It was a sight to behold. A large number of former Jackson Mets players, back in town for a special reunion, made the short trek over to Smith-Wills Stadium on Saturday from the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, where a bunch of fans had come out to greet them. The JaxMets played the last of their 16 seasons at Smith-Wills in 1990, and most of the players here Saturday were from seasons well before that. Clearly, they have not been forgotten. There was Darryl Strawberry, perhaps the most accomplished of all the old JaxMets. Mississippi’s own Barry Lyons was there. And Randy Myers, Calvin Schiraldi, Rusty Tillman, Ed “Smoke” Pruitt, DeWayne Vaughn, Bill Latham, Al Carmichael, Mickey Weston and Joe Graves, to name a handful. Sam Perlozzo, manager of the Texas League championship teams of 1984-85, was there. Mike Feder, the longtime GM, was there with his son, Nate, who had the run of the ballpark as a kid back in the ’80s. Museum director Bill Blackwell is also a former JaxMets GM. Former franchise owner Con Maloney was there, and longtime radio broadcaster Bill Walberg and team trainer Rick Rainer, also. Several former Smith-Wills office staffers and press box workers turned out. One old sportswriter even showed up. Fans of a wide variety of ages brought old scorebooks and team photos and the like for signing. The air in the museum was thick with nostalgia. Players and fans swapping old stories is one of the things that makes baseball so very special.

01 Apr

spring cleaning

It certainly looks as if Bobby Bradley will open the season as Cleveland’s first baseman. How long he’ll hold the job isn’t so certain. Bradley, the former Harrison Central High star, had a poor second half in 2021 and has not perked up in spring training. “He’s not swinging the bat very well,” Guardians manager Terry Francona told cleveland.com in a story published Thursday, before Bradley got a couple of hits against Seattle in a Cactus League contest. “I don’t know (if) that means he won’t.” Bradley, 25, is batting .200 with no homers or RBIs this spring. He hit .208 with 16 homers and 99 strikeouts in 245 at-bats last season, his second stint in the majors. His minor league power numbers were impressive; the strikeout totals not so much. “It’s too early to give up on Bradley,” writes Terry Pluto for cleveland.com. But that time may come if things don’t change. … In that same Thursday game in Peoria, Ariz., Mississippi State alum Adam Frazier banged out two more hits as the Mariners’ new leadoff batter. Acquired from San Diego in the off-season, the All-Star second baseman is batting .474 this spring. Frazier is optimistic that Seattle’s 20-year postseason drought will end in 2022. “Take care of business each day and I think we’ll be there at the end,” he told seattlesports.com. P.S. After punching out the only batter he faced, Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet left a Chicago White Sox game Thursday with an apparent arm injury. The flame-throwing lefty reliever has a 2.08 ERA this spring and registered 14 holds with a 2.82 as a key bullpen piece for the ChiSox last season. … Hunter Renfroe, the ex-State star from Crystal Springs, is getting work at first base with Milwaukee, his new team. Renfroe had 16 outfield assists with Boston in 2021. … Former Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz, a lefty reliever recovering from elbow surgery, will start the season on the 60-day injured list for San Diego.

01 Apr

homecoming

No foolin’: The Jackson Mets are back. Some members of the minor league team that occupied Smith-Wills Stadium for 16 seasons beginning in 1975 are gathering for a reunion this weekend. A meet-and-greet is scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m.-noon at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum adjacent to the old ballpark. The JaxMets had a special bond with the community. The Capital City had not had a pro club since 1953 before the New York Mets moved their Double-A franchise to newly constructed Smith-Wills in ’75. In some circles the team was affectionately referred to as “Our Jackson Mets,” or OJMs for short. During their stay that ended in 1990, the OJMs won three Texas League championships and sent dozens of players to the big leagues. The 1984 team, which won a pennant, trotted out eight players on opening day who reached the majors. The bond with fans was such that when The Clarion-Ledger conducted a reader poll to select an all-time Jackson team in 1999, the last year the Generals were in town, nine of the 10 players picked were former Mets. The roster of alumni includes the likes of Darryl Strawberry, Lee Mazzilli, Jeff Reardon, Billy Beane, Kevin Mitchell, Rick Aguilera, Lenny Dykstra, Greg Olson, Kevin Elster, Todd Hundley and Mississippi’s own Bobby Myrick and Barry Lyons. Davey Johnson, Clint Hurdle, Sam Perlozzo and Mike Cubbage were among the managers. Credit the late Bill Hetrick, who worked in the JaxMets’ front office in the early days, with originally hatching the idea for this event, which promises to be very special.

30 Mar

gut check time

Things were quickly going south for Pearl River Community College on Tuesday. Freshly ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA Division II poll, the Wildcats lost a lead and lost the first game of a twinbill at Mississippi Gulf Coast, then fell behind in the first inning of Game 2 on a Bulldogs bomb. What’s the old saw? When the going gets tough … . The Wildcats got going, rallying for a 9-2 win behind two homers from Matt Mercer, a Petal High product, and the pitching of Leif Moore (St. Martin) and Cole Tolbert (West Jones). “I think a lot of the character of this team is coming out now,” PRCC coach Michael Avalon said in a school release. Tate Parker, the former West Harrison star who leads all D-II jucos in homers with 10, had a quiet day. But other hitters stepped up with big knocks in Game 2, including Mercer, D.K. Donaldson (West Harrison) and Preston Soper (Germantown). Moore shook off the first-inning homer to pitch four scoreless innings thereafter, and Tolbert followed with a strong two. The split left PRCC with a 20-6 overall record, 8-2 in the MACCC. Another challenge arrives on Saturday, when East Mississippi, 9-1 in the league after a Tuesday sweep of Itawamba, comes to Poplarville. P.S. Ole Miss, deposed from the No. 1 ranking in the Baseball America poll after getting swept by Tennessee, unleashed its frustration on North Alabama, pounding five homers in a 20-3 victory in Oxford. The Rebels, now ranked ninth by BA, are 17-7.

28 Mar

let’s get some runs

The focus here is on runs. Not home runs. Not RBIs. Just runs, which, when you get down to it, is what baseball is all about. Alcorn State scored eight runs on Sunday, just enough to win for the first time this season after 16 consecutive losses in which the Braves rarely scored. (They actually scored nine times on Saturday but, curse their luck, managed to lose 10-9.) So give a shout-out to first-year Braves coach Reggie Williams, the ex-big leaguer, and to Jamil Betancourt and Garrett Palladino, who each scored twice in the 8-7 win at Prairie View A&M. Alcorn’s leading scorer this season is Clayvonje Wright, who scored once on Sunday and now has six of the Braves’ 37 runs on the season. Ole Miss could have used a few more runs against Tennessee, scoring just seven all told in losing three times in Oxford. Jacob Gonzalez leads the Rebels (16-7) in runs with 28, though he never touched home plate in the UT series. Leading scorers in baseball don’t get the attention that they do in basketball or soccer or hockey. Doesn’t seem right. Here’s a tip of the cap to Mississippi State’s runs leader, Hunter Hines, who has 30 as a freshman for the 15-10 Bulldogs and ranks second in the SEC. Southern Miss (17-7), which tallied 35 times in a sweep at Western Kentucky over the weekend, is led by Christopher Sargent and Slade Wilks with 22 runs apiece. Jackson State (12-12) is led by Ty Hill with 29 runs. Mississippi Valley State (6-9-1) is topped by Maury Weaver with 13 runs. Chad Ragland is the leading scorer at Delta State (16-8) with 28, and Mississippi College (11-19) is led by Caleb Reese and Markarius Lee with 22 each.

27 Mar

a ray of sunshine

Something good happened for Anthony Alford on Saturday. The former Petal High star launched an opposite-field home run for Pittsburgh in a Grapefruit League game against Baltimore. He needed something good, because his previous results this spring had been mostly bad. Alford, battling for an outfield job, was 0-for-12 with nine strikeouts before that homer. Greg Allen, a newcomer to the Pirates this spring, is batting .300 with a couple of homers; he appears to have locked down the right field job, with Bryan Reynolds and Ben Gamel penciled in at the other spots. Alford, 27, played well in Triple-A last year but hit just .233 with four homers in 44 games with the Pirates. He struck out 58 times in 133 at-bats. He is a .208 career hitter who has played sparingly in the majors since 2017. If he doesn’t step it up, his 40-man roster spot for 2022 might be in jeopardy. P.S. Also scuffling: Mississippi State alum Brent Rooker, in Minnesota’s camp, is 0-for-8 this spring and has been down lately with a reported shoulder issue. He hit .201 with nine homers in 58 big league games in 2021 and is no lock to make the Twins’ opening day roster. … Not scuffling: Ex-State standout Nate Lowe, who is batting .467 after a 2-for-3 day for Texas on Saturday. He hit 18 homers last year, his first with the Rangers. … Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central Community College star, had another hit Saturday for the Chicago White Sox and is 6-for-15 (.400) this spring. … Ocean Springs High alum Garrett Crochet punched out two more batters on Saturday and now has five in three innings of scoreless work for the White Sox. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, recently signed by Seattle, got his first stolen base on Saturday and is 1-for-4 in two Cactus League games.

25 Mar

present arms

Pitchers took center stage on Thursday in MLB spring training. Former Mississippi State and Wheeler High standout Brandon Woodruff, fresh off agreeing to a $6.8 million contract for 2022, made his Cactus League debut and promptly got knocked around by Arizona. The right-hander, an emergent ace for the Brewers, yielded six hits, a walk and four runs in three innings. “I don’t like to stink,” he said in a published report following the game, while noting that he was working on a new slider. … George County High product Justin Steele started for the Chicago Cubs against the Los Angeles Angels. The first batter he faced was Shohei Ohtani. “I was really looking forward to that, like last night I was thinking about that,” he told NBC Sports Chicago. Left-hander Steele walked Ohtani, walked one more batter in the frame but allowed nothing else in his two innings of work. After making his MLB debut last year, Steele is vying for a job in the rotation in 2022. … Ex-State star Jonathan Holder, in Cubs camp as a non-roster invitee, pitched one inning and gave up a game-winning homer to Taylor Ward. Holder had a 4.38 ERA over five seasons with the New York Yankees but missed virtually all of 2021 with a shoulder problem. … Ole Miss alum James McArthur, a newcomer to Philadelphia’s 40-man roster, worked against Pittsburgh and gave up three hits and a run in 2/3 inning in his second spring outing. … MSU product J.P. France, a non-roster pitcher in Houston’s camp, pitched a scoreless inning against Washington. P.S. Former Ole Miss standout Chris Ellis, recently re-signed as a minor leaguer by Baltimore, has yet to make his spring debut but is looking forward to that opportunity. The right-hander told baltimorebaseball.com he aims to “take care of business and earn my spot back.” He went 1-0 with a 2.15 ERA in seven games last season. … Madison Central High product Spencer Turnbull apparently is headed to salary arbitration with Detroit. The right-hander reportedly asked for $2.1 million for this season, and the team offered $1.325M. The arbitrator will chose one of the two figures. Turnbull threw a no-hitter last season before having Tommy John surgery that could force him to miss all of 2022. He is 11-25, 4.25 over four years with the Tigers.