on this date

Seattle shook up its outfield on Jan. 6, 2017, with a pair of trades, acquiring one Mississippi native from Kansas City and shipping another to Baltimore. The Mariners, coming off an 86-76 season, got McComb’s Jarrod Dyson from the Royals for Nate Karns and dealt Jackson’s Seth Smith to the Orioles for Yovani Gallardo. Oddly enough, Ole Miss alum Smith, a 10-year MLB vet entering 2017, played just one season for Buck Showalter’s Orioles, batting .258 with 13 homers for a losing club, and then quietly retired at age 35. Dyson — a World Series champ in 2015 with KC — spent just one season in Seattle, batting .251 with 30 stolen bases in 111 games for a losing team. Dyson played four more years for five different teams before bowing out in 2021 after 12 seasons. … After six solid years with San Francisco, Jeff Brantley officially signed as a free agent with Cincinnati on this date in 1994. The former Mississippi State star had gone 29-20 with 42 saves and a 3.24 ERA for the Giants, his original club, but performed even better with the Reds. He saved 88 games — an MLB-best 44 in 1996 — with a 2.64 ERA over four seasons with Cincy and twice helped the club make the postseason. He last pitched in the majors in 2001. Now a broadcaster with the Reds, Brantley — aka “The Cowboy” — was recently named Ohio’s sportscaster of the year. … On a somber note, Yazoo City native Mike Miley — who starred in baseball and football at LSU — died in a car crash in Baton Rouge on this date in 1977. A first-round pick by California in 1974, Miley played in 84 MLB games in 1975-76.