famous connections

Dave Parker was born in Mississippi and Billy Wagner pitched for the Jackson Generals en route to the big leagues. CC Sabathia, also being formally inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame today, has a peripheral Mississippi connection that is certainly worth noting. When he was making his pro debut in the low minors, pitching for Burlington in August of 1998, Sabathia faced a kid from Meridian named Brian Cole, batting cleanup for Kingsport. “Of course I remember,” Sabathia said in a 2013 Sports Illustrated story, “The Best Player You Never Saw.” “It was my first start as a professional.” The 6-foot-7 Sabathia, the 20th overall pick by Cleveland in the 1998 MLB draft, was already throwing in the upper 90s at age 18. According to Michael McKnight’s wonderful piece, the 5-foot-8 Cole, in his first at-bat, doubled off the wall on a Sabathia fastball. They met again in July of 1999, Sabathia throwing for Columbus, Cole batting for Capital City. Cole took him deep. Sabathia said he never forgot that bomb off the scoreboard. “Brian Cole was the player who showed me I needed to develop an off-speed pitch,” Sabathia, who would win 251 games in The Show, said in the SI story. Cole was one of the most promising players Mississippi has ever produced, but his life was cut tragically short in a 2001 car wreck. He was 22. After starring at Meridian High, he played a year at Navarro Junior College in Texas, hit a reported .524 with 27 homers and was named Baseball America’s juco player of the year. The New York Mets drafted him in the 18th round in 1998, and two years later he was their minor league player of the year and No. 3-rated prospect. P.S. Wagner, who pitched for the Double-A Generals 30 years ago, is the first player from Jackson’s Texas League era (1975-99) to be elected to Cooperstown. A flame-throwing left-hander, he was a seven-time All-Star who registered 422 saves with a 2.31 ERA over 16 seasons in the big leagues. … Grenada native Parker, being inducted posthumously, is the first MLB player born in Mississippi to make the Hall; Starkville’s Cool Papa Bell played in the Negro Leagues during the game’s segregated era. Parker, who should have been elected a long time ago, was a seven-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, three-time Silver Slugger winner, two-time batting champion, two-time World Series champ and one-time National League MVP over 19 seasons (1973-91). … Ichiro Suzuki and the late Dick Allen also are going in today. The ceremony will be televised by MLB Network beginning at 12:30 CDT.