04 Nov

run it back

Before we get too deep into the Hot Stove season, take a look back at a few highlights from Mississippians in the majors in 2024:
April 1 — Jordan Westburg (Mississippi State alum) hits his first MLB walk-off homer for Baltimore.
April 7 — Justin Foscue (MSU) gets an RBI hit in his second MLB at-bat for Texas.
April 19 — Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central High) starts a game with six no-hit innings for Philadelphia.
May 4 — Brent Rooker (MSU) hits two homers in one inning for Oakland.
May 4 — Nathaniel Lowe (MSU) notches a four-hit, two-RBI, two-run game for Texas.
May 17 — Nick Fortes (Ole Miss) goes 3-for-4 with a homer and catches a third straight shutout for Miami.
May 24 — Colt Keith (Biloxi High) blasts his first big league homer for Detroit.
May 31 — Dakota Hudson (MSU) yields one run in seven innings to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers for Colorado.
June 13 — Garrett Crochet (Ocean Springs) fans 13 over seven innings for the Chicago White Sox.
June 21 — Tim Anderson (East Central Community College) gets his first walk-off knock for Miami.
July 5 — Justin Steele (Lucedale) throws a two-hitter for his first win of 2024 with the Cubs.
July 8 — Matt Wallner (Southern Miss) hits a 116.7 mph home run for Minnesota.
July 13 — Rooker hits a 452-foot homer for Oakland.
July 16 — Crochet throws a scoreless inning in the All-Star Game.
July 23 — Lance Lynn (Ole Miss) registers his 2,000th career strikeout for St. Louis.
July 29 — Wallner notches 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his pitching debut for Minnesota.
Aug. 1 — Austin Riley (DeSoto Central High) hits career homer No. 150 for Atlanta.
Aug. 21 — J.T. Ginn (MSU) throws two hitless innings in his MLB debut for Oakland.
Aug. 23 — Hunter Renfroe (MSU) gets his 500th career RBI for Kansas City.
Aug. 24 — Rooker reaches the 30-homer mark for the second straight year with Oakland.
Sept. 13 — Adam Frazier (MSU) homers in his return to Pittsburgh’s PNC Park for Kansas City.
Sept. 26 — Ginn starts the last game at Oakland Coliseum; Rooker and Lowe also play.

01 Nov

halloween hauls

Three Mississippi college alums went to the bump on Halloween in the Arizona Fall League. Houston Harding cleaned up. The other two, Jackson Fristoe and Dylan DeLucia, came away with the proverbial bagful of rocks. Left-hander Harding, a Coldwater native and ex-Mississippi State standout, pitched four innings — with a 13-1 lead — for Mesa on Thursday night, allowing just one hit and no runs in a 17-4 victory against Salt River. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Los Angeles Angels in 2021, Harding, now 26, reached Triple-A this season; he has a 4.41 career ERA in the minors. Over three appearances (seven innings) in the AFL, he has posted a 3.86. … The starting pitcher for Salt River was Fristoe, who got just two outs before departing. He yielded five hits (one homer), two walks and seven runs (five earned) and is now 0-2, 11.37, in four AFL starts. Fristoe was a 12th-round draft pick by the New York Yankees in 2022; he pitched in A-ball this summer. … DeLucia, a hero on Ole Miss’ 2022 College World Series winner, worked three innings in relief for Suprise on Thursday and gave up four hits, three walks and four runs (three earned) in a win against Peoria. He has a 11.12 ERA in four AFL outings. A sixth-rounder by Cleveland in 2022, DeLucia, because of arm issues, did not make his pro debut until this season, working in 13 games (2.55 ERA) at three levels of the low minors. P.S. Big leaguers Lance Lynn (Ole Miss), Kendall Graveman (MSU), Adam Frazier (MSU) and Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central High) hit the free agent market on Thursday. Ex-State stars Hunter Renfroe and Chris Stratton exercised contract options to remain with Kansas City, at least for the time being.

31 Oct

a memory evoked

Los Angeles rallied from a five-run deficit Wednesday night to win Game 5 — and the World Series — evoking a painful memory for Atlanta fans but no doubt a thrilling one for Hattiesburg native Charlie Hayes. According to baseballreference.com, the only other time a team has squandered a lead of five runs or more after five innings and lost a Series game was in Game 4 in 1996. The Braves, up 2-1 in the Series, led 6-0 after five innings but fell to the New York Yankees 8-6 in 10 at old Fulton County Stadium. Hayes played a role in the rally. He had an RBI hit in the three-run sixth and another knock in the eighth, when Jim Leyritz’s three-run homer off Mark Wohlers crushed the soul of Braves fans and tied the score 6-6. Hayes also reached on an error that scored the final run in New York’s two-run 10th. The former Forrest County AHS star went 3-for-5 in Game 4 — his only hits in the six-game Series — and three days later at Yankee Stadium caught the foul pop that closed out the Yankees’ championship. A midseason pick-up by the Yankees in ’96, Hayes played 14 years all told in the big leagues (1998-2001), batting .262 with 144 homers and winning the one ring. P.S. Dodgers first baseman and Mississippi Braves alum Freddie Freeman, 6-for-20 with four homers and 12 RBIs against the Yankees, was named the MVP of the 2024 Fall Classic, becoming the first Mississippi-connected player to win that award. No native or college alum has done so. … In the Arizona Fall League on Wednesday, Ole Miss product Tim Elko went 3-for-5 with a double, a homer (his fourth), four RBIs and three runs for Glendale. The Chicago White Sox prospect is hitting .267 in the AFL.

29 Oct

riding the wave

David Mershon was the 532nd pick in the MLB draft back in July. So far, that looks like a steal for the Los Angeles Angels. Mershon, an All-SEC shortstop at Mississippi State this year, is excelling in the Arizona Fall League after a productive start to his pro career this summer at the Double-A level. The 5-foot-7, 175-pound Mershon went 2-for-3 with two walks, a triple, an RBI and two runs for Mesa on Monday. The 21-year-old South Carolina native is batting .250 with a .451 on-base percentage, ranking second in walks (13) in the star-studded AFL. He has two triples, seven RBIs, 10 runs and four stolen bases in 13 games as one of just two 2024 draftees originally assigned to the AFL. Mershon hit .347 at State this season with six homers and 27 steals. The Angels nabbed him as a sophomore-eligible and promptly sent him to Double-A Rocket City, where he answered the challenge with a hit in his first pro game. He batted .254 (.326 OBP) with five bags in 29 games overall in the Southern League. … Ex-Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman (a Miami prospect) is batting .306 with six homers in nine games for Peoria in the AFL, and UM alum Tim Elko (Chicago White Sox) has three homers and a .225 average in 10 games for Glendale. P.S. Postseason flashback: Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe’s 94.9 mph outfield assist in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series remains the hardest throw for an outfield assist in the Fall Classic since such stat-tracking began in 2015. Los Angeles’ Teoscar Hernandez made a 93.9 mph throw — third on the list — to nab New York’s Giancarlo Stanton at the plate on Monday night. Renfroe, playing for Tampa Bay in 2020, registered two assists in Game 4 of the 2020 Series against the Dodgers, cutting down runners at second and third base. He also homered in that game, which the Rays won before ultimately dropping the series.

28 Oct

save the date

Mississippi’s new pro team has announced a schedule for 2025, with opening day set for May 8 at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The Mud Monsters, yet to announce a manager or a roster, will play a 96-game schedule — 48 home dates spread over nine homestands — in the independent Frontier League, an 18-team league comprised mainly of teams in the Midwest and East Coast (plus three in Canada). The Mud Monsters’ inaugural game will be against the Florence (Ky.) Y’alls. The Mud Monsters are moving into the 5,500-seat stadium vacated by the Mississippi Braves, the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Diamond Baseball Holdings, the franchise owner, has moved the club to Columbus, Ga., presumably because of flagging attendance. (Baseball America noted that the 20-year-old Pearl ballpark needed some upgrades to meet MLB’s minor league standards.) … The Mud Monsters will be the seventh pro team to play in central Mississippi going back to 1953, when the original Jackson Senators pulled up stakes after their downtown stadium was destroyed by a tornado. Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium hosted the Mets, Generals, DiamondKats and Senators before the M-Braves arrived in Pearl in 2005. The Mud Monsters franchise is owned by Joseph Eng, an executive with Billtrust who also owns a franchise in the indy American Association. TBH Sports and Entertainment has been managing the ballpark, which is owned by Bloomfield Equities, a subsidiary of Yates Construction, which built the stadium.

26 Oct

celebrate, celebrate …

There were two wild celebrations in baseball on Friday, the one at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and another at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan, where Kirk McCarty and his CTBC Brothers teammates celebrated a Chinese Professional Baseball League title. McCarty, the former Southern Miss standout from Hattiesburg, won Game 3 for the Brothers, working 5 1/3 shutout innings in a 10-0 win over Uni-President that put the club up 2-1 in the best-of-7 Taiwan Series. CTBC won the clincher 12-6 on Friday for the franchise’s 10th CPBL crown. McCarty went 5-3 with a 2.76 ERA for CTBC in his first season in Taiwan after a year in the Korean Baseball Organization, where the little lefty won nine games in 2023. Drafted by Cleveland out of USM in 2017, McCarty made the big leagues in 2022 and posted a 4-3, 4.54, ledger for the Guardians. He won two C-USA titles with the Golden Eagles. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves pitcher Evan Phillips was a late scratch from Los Angeles’ World Series roster, reportedly because of minor arm soreness. The Dodgers added pitchers Alex Vesia and Brusdar Graterol to the 26-man squad, and both worked effectively in the 6-3 win capped by M-Braves alum Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning. … Brennon McNair, Magee High product, had a disappointing fourth year in pro ball, batting .193 for Low-Class A Columbia in the Kansas City system. The 22-year-old outfielder, who can also play third base and shortstop, will get a chance to redeem himself in the Australian Baseball League, where he’ll play for Brisbane starting next month. McNair did have some highlights in 2024, hitting eight homers, 15 doubles and two triples and swiping nine bases in 87 games. His career average is .207 with 18 bombs.

25 Oct

names to know

There are no Magnolia State natives or school alums on the active rosters for this year’s World Series, though there are some significant state connections. Former Mississippi Braves star Freddie Freeman plays first base and Evan Phillips, another M-Braves alum, pitches for Los Angeles. Trent Grisham, who played for the Biloxi Shuckers, is a reserve outfielder for New York. Ex-Mississippi State star Travis Chapman also suits up for the Yankees and enjoys the privilege of slapping hands with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, et al., as they start their home run trek. Chapman, the Yankees’ first-base coach, was an outstanding third baseman who played on two College World Series teams at State before enjoying a nice pro career (.286 average) that included one at-bat in The Show in 2003. He played his last game in 2006 and then became a manager and coach in the Yankees’ minor league chain. He joined the big club in 2022. Grisham belted 20 homers in 79 games for Biloxi in 2017-18 and hit nine this year for the Yankees, but the lefty hitter has yet to appear in this postseason. Freeman, who has pronounced himself a “100 percent go” for tonight’s Game 1 despite an ankle injury, played for the M-Braves in 2009; he hit .248 with two homers and 24 RBIs in 41 games. He made the big leagues in 2010 and is an eight-time All-Star and former MVP. Phillips did two stints in Pearl (2016 and ’17), appearing in 37 games as a reliever. He reached Atlanta in 2018 and was traded to Baltimore during that season. The right-hander has yet to allow a run in 12 postseason appearances over four years with the Dodgers. … Andy Fletcher, an Ole Miss alum and Olive Branch resident, is on the umpiring crew for the Series and will be behind home plate for Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. A 25-year vet in MLB, Fletcher was behind the plate in Korea for Game 2 of the 2024 season when the Dodgers played San Diego. … Brent Rooker, MSU alum now with Oakland, will serve as a correspondent for MLB Network in Game 3 of the Series at Yankee Stadium, doing pre- and postgame interviews. P.S. In the previous 11 World Series matchups featuring the Dodgers and Yankees, the only one in which a Mississippian played any type of role was the 1941 meeting. Morton native Atley Donald, nicknamed Swampy, started Game 4 for the Yankees and stood to get the loss before Mickey Owen’s infamous ninth-inning passed ball allowed the Yankees to mount a winning rally en route to taking the Series 4-1. Right-hander Donald pitched eight years with the Yankees from 1938-45 and compiled a 65-33 record with a 3.52 ERA. He was a three-time world champion with the Bronx Bombers.

24 Oct

classic anniversaries

Looking back while we count down to the first pitch of the 2024 World Series: Forty years ago this month, a pair of Mississippi natives stood tall on the game’s biggest stage. Jackson native Chet Lemon and Sunflower’s Larry Herndon, playing center and left field, respectively, helped Detroit beat San Diego in five games to win the 1984 World Series. Lemon batted .299 and Herndon .335 with a homer for the Tigers, who have not won the Fall Classic since. … Drift back to 1934: Adopted Mississippian Dizzy Dean won Games 1 and 7 for St. Louis — the Gas House Gang — in a classic Series against Detroit. Gulfport native Gerald “Gee” Walker, 1-for-3 in the Series for Detroit, delivered a game-tying pinch single in the ninth inning of Game 2 and the Tigers went on to win in 12. … Fifty years ago, Belzoni’s Herb Washington — the so-called designated runner who stole 29 bases in 1974 — made three Series appearances for Oakland, getting no bags and scoring no runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was picked off in the ninth inning of Game 2, the only game the Dodgers won. He was released in 1975. … Twenty-five years ago, there was the curious case of Howard Battle, the Ocean Springs product who surprisingly made Atlanta’s postseason roster after playing very little in the regular season. In Game 1 against the New York Yankees — who swept the Braves in four — Battle was announced as a pinch hitter, then replaced when the Yankees changed pitchers. It was his last appearance in an MLB box score. … In 2004, Boston famously ended the Curse of the Bambino by sweeping St. Louis. There were no Mississippians on the Red Sox’s postseason roster, but two played for them that season and got rings: Vicksburg native Ellis Burks and Meridian’s Jamie Brown. The 40-year-old Burks, drafted by Boston in 1983, got the honor of carrying the championship trophy off the plane when the team arrived back in Boston after clinching the Series in St. Louis. … Ten years ago, San Francisco beat Kansas City — and McComb native Jarrod Dyson — in a dramatic 7-game Series. Dyson was a quiet 2-for-10 with no runs or RBIs. The next year, he got a second chance at a ring — and got a key steal in Game 5 as the Royals eliminated the New York Mets. P.S. In the 1944 Negro League World Series, Starkville’s Cool Papa Bell, at age 41, and Greenwood’s Dave Hoskins — who pitched and played the outfield that season — helped the Homestead Grays win the title in five games over Birmingham. Hoskins, who would go on to play in MLB, went 6-for-22 with a homer, five RBIs and three runs. Bell was 6-for-24 with a triple, three RBIs, a run and two steals.

24 Oct

running on

Like the mechanical rabbit in those Energizer battery commercials, Billy Hamilton keeps on going and going … . The former Taylorsville High standout, now 33, is playing for Jalisco in the Mexican Pacific League — a winter league — and at last look was batting .342 with six steals and eight runs in 10 games. He now has 806 stolen bases in a pro career that dates to 2013. Hamilton played the last of his 951 MLB games with the Chicago White Sox in 2023, making just three appearances. He did not get an opportunity in the big leagues in 2024 but played in the regular Mexican League, stealing 37 bases while batting .256 in 63 games with Jalisco and Tabasco. With 326 steals (while playing for eight different teams) in MLB, Hamilton is the all-time leader among Mississippi natives. His 155 bags in 2012 remains a minor league record. … Also playing in the MPL are ex-Harrison Central star Bobby Bradley and Petal High product Anthony Alford, both ex-big leaguers who also played in the country’s summer league in 2024. Bradley is batting .167 for Monterrey, Alford .115 (with a homer) for Obregon.

23 Oct

‘fernandomania’

Fernando Valenzuela, who died on Tuesday, will always be remembered for the “Fernandomania” the Mexican left-hander generated in his 1981 rookie season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the World Series that year. A strain of “Fernandomania” also reached Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium on May 27, 1991, when Valenzuela made an appearance for the Midland Angels against the Jackson Generals in a Double-A Texas League game. A stadium-record, standing room-only crowd of 6,252 turned out; a section of the outfield was roped off to accommodate the spillover. Valenzeula, who had been released by the Dodgers in spring training that year, was making a comeback attempt with the California Angels. He pitched six innings and got the win on that crazy night. If you were there, you can’t forget it. Valenzuela didn’t last long with the Angels but bounced back to win 32 games with four other MLB clubs from 1993-97, running his career win total to 173, 141 of those with the Dodgers. He was the Cy Young Award winner and rookie of the year in 1981 and won the pivotal Game 3 of the World Series against the New York Yankees with a gutsy effort. Forty-three years after that remarkable season, Valenzuela remains one of baseball’s true icons. P.S. A few details from Valenzuela’s Smith-Wills outing, his second minor league start for Midland: He wore a major league uniform — not a Midland unie — with his name on the back. … He threw 53 strikes among his 90 pitches, allowing no runs on five hits and three walks (all in the first inning) with seven strikeouts in a 7-1 victory. … He said he was especially happy with his signature screwball. … “He made great pitches at the right times,” Gens second baseman and future big leaguer Trent (Trenidad) Hubbard said after the game. … Bill Blackwell, the Jackson GM at the time and now executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, said not only did he sell a lot of tickets for that Monday night game, he also sold a lot of beer, especially to the fans standing in the outfield. … The Gens averaged about 1,700 fans per game in 1991, the franchise’s first season as a Houston affiliate. … Blackwell also noted that Valenzuela sat in the Midland bullpen the next night and rode the team bus to Arkansas for the next series.