Tag Archives: Alcorn State

11 Nov

one of these years

Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, who once appeared to be a lock for the National League Rookie of the Year award, came up short in the end. Hamilton, Cincinnati’s center fielder, lost out to New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, who got 26 of the 30 first-place votes from media members. No Mississippi native has won the rookie award in either league since it was first instituted in 1947 to honor Jackie Robinson. (Ex-Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan, who is from Florida, won the NL award in 2009.) Hamilton, who faded in the latter part of the season, hit .250 with 56 steals and 72 runs in 152 games. P.S. On the list of minor league free agents with Mississippi ties is Matt Tolbert, the former Ole Miss standout from McComb. Tolbert, who broke into pro ball in 2004 and has 247 MLB games on his ledger, batted .172 in 21 games in Double-A with Philadelphia this season. He might be done. Also out there are Alcorn State alumnus Corey Wimberly (in Minnesota’s system in 2014), UM product Cody Overbeck (San Diego), Jackson native Donnie Veal (Chicago White Sox) and former Ole Miss star Justin Henry (Boston).

01 Nov

familiar names

While perusing box scores from the various winter circuits, ran across a couple of names of note in the Puerto Rican (a.k.a. Robert Clemente) League: Angel Rosa and Ramon Castro. Rosa, an Alcorn State alumnus and Puerto Rico native, just finished his second season in the Los Angeles Angels’ system and looks to be making progress. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound shortstop hit .246 with seven home runs, 46 RBIs, 23 doubles and 15 steals in the Class A Midwest League, then batted .348 in 28 games in the high-A California League. Rosa doesn’t show up on the prospect charts, but he certainly is worth keeping an eye on. Castro is on the other side of the hill. The former Jackson Generals catcher, a first-round pick by Houston in 1994, is 38 years old and hasn’t been in an MLB game since 2011. But he is playing winter ball in his home country, showing an admirable love for the game. P.S. The Arizona Fall League’s Fall Stars Game will air tonight at 7 on MLB Network. Daniel Castro, a 2014 Mississippi Braves star, is in the starting lineup for the West, and ex-Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe (San Diego Padres) will come off the West’s bench.

23 Oct

whatever happened to …

Corey Wimberly, the former Alcorn State standout, is still chasing the dream of making it to the big leagues — and the trail has led him to the Mexican Pacific League. Wimberly, 31, a sixth-round draft pick by Colorado in 2005, is batting .308 with three runs and a steal in six games for Obregon. The 5-foot-8, switch-hitting outfielder played at Double-A New Britain in the Minnesota organization in 2014, batting .252 with 32 runs and 17 bags in 72 games. Wimberly has been with seven different organizations, including some time with Atlanta’s Triple-A Gwinnett club in 2013. Wimberly’s best pro year might have been his first, 2005, when he led the rookie Pioneer League with a .381 average. He has stolen as many as 59 bases in a season (2008 in Double-A). P.S. Props to Mississippi Braves alum Gregor Blanco for becoming just the 19th player to hit a lead-off home run in a World Series game. Blanco’s Wednesday night blast didn’t hold up for San Francisco, which lost Game 2 to Kansas City 7-2.

21 Mar

two teams, one win

Coming this weekend: the battle at the bottom in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Mississippi Valley State, 0-18 and 0-7 in the league, visits Alcorn State, 1-19 and 1-5, for a pair of games Saturday and a solo Sunday at Rat McGowan Stadium in Lorman. Who knows what might happen? Valley coach Doug Shanks and Alcorn’s Barret Rey have had success with their programs in the recent past, but things have gone off the rails in 2014. Valley is hitting .197 (last in the league) and has an 8.24 ERA (ninth of 10) and a .938 fielding percentage (also ninth) with 41 errors. Alcorn is hitting .242 (tied for seventh) but is averaging just three runs a game with an ERA of 8.98 (last) and a fielding percentage of .932 (last) with 50 errors. The winner of this series will feel a little better about itself. Not sure what the loser might feel … . P.S. Also scuffling this year is Blue Mountain, 2-18 and 1-14 in its first year in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Last weekend, the Toppers lost a home series to William Carey by the scores of 12-2, 7-1 and 11-1.

10 Jan

three weeks notice

Brace yourself. The baseball season in Mississippi begins on Jan. 31 when Belhaven University hosts LSU-Alexandria at Smith-Wills Stadium. The NAIA teams will play a doubleheader the next day. This will be the 40th year that baseball in some form or another has been played at Smith-Wills, which opened in 1975 as the home of the Double-A Jackson Mets. A celebration of some form or another ought to be in order. P.S. Baseball America reports on its minor league transactions page the re-signing of Ole Miss product Justin Henry by Boston and ex-Rebels star Matt Tolbert by Philadelphia and the signing of Alcorn State alumnus Corey Wimberly by Minnesota. Henry batted just .210 in Triple-A for the Red Sox in 2013. Tolbert, a one-time big leaguer, hit .327 in 46 games in the lower minors last year as he battled back from injury. Wimberly, who spent some time in Atlanta’s system in 2013, will be entering his 10th pro season with his seventh different organization.