bravo

Nice closing act by the Mississippi Braves on Tuesday night. They beat Birmingham 9-1 in their last game at Trustmark Park for 2011; the M-Braves finish the season with a five-game series at Carolina. Here’s a few fun facts from the home finale: The Barons started three sons of former major leaguers: Kenny Williams Jr., Jake Oester (Ron) and Jose Martinez (Carlos). … The Barons’ manager is former Jackson Generals infielder Bobby Magallanes. … The Barons, first-half champs in the Southern League South, made five errors, believed to be a record for a visiting team at the TeePee. … Every M-Braves starter had at least one hit in a 13-hit attack. … The M-Braves started their six-run sixth inning with six straight hits. … Antoan Richardson, small but oh so swift, is excitement personified. To wit: In the sixth, with runners at second and third, he dropped a soft single into right field. He kept going toward second, expecting right fielder Martinez to throw home. Martinez instead rushed a throw toward second which skipped past the second baseman and then past the third baseman backing up the play. Richardson dashed around the bases, sliding in ahead of a throw to the plate, for a classic “Little League home run.” … Jose Lugo overcame a wobbly first inning to work seven strong and get the win. … Brett Butts and Kenshin Kawakami, both of whom had been struggling, worked a scoreless inning each. … Despite an announced turnout of just 1,733 on Tuesday, the M-Braves finished with a season average of 2,737. That’s up from 2010 (2,620). Since the club drew 3,847 in 2005, the inaugural season, the average had dipped each year until this one. … The M-Braves finished 33-37 at the TeePee. … When M-Braves fans look back on 2011, what they might want to remember is that this was the team that had, for a brief spell, a rotation of Randall Delgado, Arodys Vizcaino, Brett Oberholtzer, J.J. Hoover and Paul Clemens. The first two already have made the big leagues and the latter three are likely to get there.