old times here
Who would have ever thought that the Atlanta Braves’ postseason hopes would rest so heavily on Freddy Garcia, ace of the 1998 Jackson Generals? Garcia, who turned 37 on Sunday, gets the ball tonight for Atlanta in a must-win National League Division Series game at Los Angeles. Garcia was a top-rated Houston Astros prospect in 1998 and was 6-7 with a 3.24 ERA for the Double-A Generals when he was dealt to Seattle as part of the Randy Johnson trade. The big right-hander has been a horse over his long career, posting 156 wins with a 4.15 ERA. He put up a 1.65 for the Braves in six games, including three fairly impressive September starts. He is 6-3 with a 3.28 in 10 postseason starts and went 3-0 for the world champion Chicago White Sox in 2005. Garcia will put up a fight against a loaded Dodgers lineup, but still, who would have ever thought, with all the arms the Braves’ system has produced in recent years, it would come down to this? … Heard on the TBS broadcast of Sunday’s game that Julio Teheran, a former Mississippi Braves standout, was the first rookie to start a postseason game for the Braves franchise since Vern Bickford in the 1948 World Series. Bickford was a member of the original Jackson Senators, a Boston Braves farm club that played for many years at a ballpark located on the Fairgrounds. Bickford won 10 games for the 1946 Senators. Coincidentally, Bickford took the loss against Cleveland in Game 3 of the ’48 Series and Teheran, who pitched for the M-Braves in 2010 and had a hand in a combo no-hitter, took the loss against the Dodgers on Sunday. … Another former M-Braves hurler, Charlie Morton, starts for Pittsburgh today in a possible NLDS clincher for the Pirates against St. Louis. Morton went 7-4 with a 3.26 for Pittsburgh this year. M-Braves fans might remember that Morton really emerged as a prospect after a sterling outing in the 2007 Southern League playoffs. He made it to the big leagues the next year. … Ole Miss product Seth Smith, who has a .313 career average and two home runs against Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez, is in the lineup for Oakland today against the Tigers’ right-hander, who led the American League in ERA. Smith is the DH, hitting fifth. He went 2-for-4 Saturday as the A’s squared the ALDS at 1-all. … Ex-Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings likely will start for Tampa Bay today as the Rays try to stay alive in the ALDS against Boston, which is up 2-0. Jennings is 2-for-7 in the series and 2-for-6 career vs. Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz (12-1, 1.74 ERA).