hitting up a storm

The recently released ESPN-produced documentary “Thunder and Lightning” shines a well-deserved spotlight on Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro, heroes of Mississippi State’s 1985 College World Series team. They are generally regarded as two of the best college players the state has ever produced. Both are in the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, and both were All-Stars in the big leagues. Clark lit up opposing pitchers for a .420 mark at State in 1985, when he won the Golden Spikes award. Palmeiro’s best year in Starkville was 1984, when he batted .415 (with 29 homers and 94 RBIs to win the SEC Triple Crown). He “slumped” to .300 in ’85. Just for the record, the record for highest average by a Division I player in Mississippi belongs to Greg Daniels, a one-man storm who batted .545 in 1983 for Alcorn State. Daniels was 55-for-101. He played only 32 games, but .545 is still quite a feat. That’s the second-highest average ever recorded by a D-I player, according to the NCAA record book. New Mexico’s Keith Hagman hit .551 in 63 games in 1980. The fifth-highest average belongs to Dave Magadan, who hit .525 at Alabama in 1983, two years before he starred for the Jackson Mets. P.S. Today is the great James “Cool Papa” Bell’s birthday. The late Hall of Famer, a Negro Leagues star known for his blazing speed, was born in Starkville in 1903. He died in 1991.