Tag Archives: All-Star Game

28 Jun

luminosity

Mississippi State product Hunter Renfroe, Dansby Swanson of the Mississippi Braves and recently promoted Biloxi Shuckers standout Josh Hader have been named to the All-Star Futures Game, set for July 10 at Petco Park in San Diego. MLB Network will televise the game (at 6 p.m. CDT) as part of All-Star Weekend. … Fan voting for the July 12 MLB All-Star Game ends on Thursday; the teams will be announced next Tuesday (on ESPN). Ole Miss alumni Zack Cozart (Cincinnati) and Drew Pomeranz (San Diego) have outside chances at being selected to the National League squad, though both face very strong competition at their spots, shortstop and starting pitcher. Former M-Braves Julio Teheran, Freddie Freeman and Arodys Vizcaino are also regarded as viable candidates. … Former Jackson State coach Bob Braddy formally enters the National College Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday when the organization holds its Night of Champions in Lubbock, Texas. Braddy, one of the nicest people you could hope to meet, won a SWAC record 824 games at JSU and claimed 12 conference titles in 24 years with the Tigers. He steered more than 50 players into pro baseball, several reaching the big leagues, including Dave Clark, Oil Can Boyd, Wes Chamberlain and Marvin Freeman. JSU’s field is named in Braddy’s honor. He is still involved in youth baseball in Jackson. … In Omaha on Sunday, Ole Miss’ Colby Bortles and State’s Brent Rooker will take part in the TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby. The event will be aired on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m.

15 Jul

exclusive company

The first list is fairly long and includes the likes of Johnny Bench, David Ortiz, David Wright, Bo Jackson, former Atlanta Braves star Javy Lopez and ex-Jackson Mets standout Lee Mazzilli. The second is shorter but no less impressive: Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew. Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier put his name on both lists on Tuesday night when he homered, in his first at-bat, in the All-Star Game. Dozier went deep against Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon in the eighth inning, helping the American League take a 6-3 victory at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark. It was the 16th time a player has homered in his first career All-Star at-bat; the last player to do it was J.D. Drew in 2008. Dozier became the third Minnesota player to homer in the Midsummer Classic, joining Hall of Famers Puckett and Killebrew. “I might say I don’t deserve to be in that company, I can tell you that,” the ever humble Dozier told mlb.com. For the record, Dozier has 19 homers this season and 42 over the last two. … The idea of having the All-Star Game “count” seemed silly to a lot of people when it first started in 2003. But that’s changing. Listening to Ned Yost, the former Jackson Mets catcher who managed the AL squad, talk about preparing his lineup and game plan, you get a different perspective. He took this thing very seriously. “We tried to punch holes in (the game plan) every which way we could, and we worked it to perfection,” he told mlb.com after the game. Yost’s Kansas City team had home-field advantage in the 2014 World Series, and even though the Royals lost in seven games to San Francisco, he wanted to have that edge again should his team, which currently has the best record in the AL, get there this year. A change is still needed, however. If the game is going to count, fans should not be voting in the starting lineups.

13 Jul

star gazing

Mississippi native Dave Parker won the very first MLB Home Run Derby, held in 1985 at the Metrodome in Minnesota in conjunction with the All-Star Game. Parker was with Cincinnati at the time and in the 13th of his 19 big league seasons, during which he belted 339 home runs, second all-time to Vicksburg’s Ellis Burks (352) among Mississippi natives. In the ’85 derby, Parker hit six bombs in his two, five-out “innings,” beating a field that included Eddie Murray, Jim Rice and Dale Murphy. The revamped (yet again) derby is slated for tonight at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. … Brian Dozier is the first Mississippi native to make the All-Star Game since Roy Oswalt was picked for the National League squad in 2007. Dozier, who was born in Tupelo and went to Itawamba AHS in Fulton before starring at Southern Miss, is in Cincinnati as an injury replacement pick, but the Minnesota second baseman certainly is having an All-Star-worthy season. He has 19 homers, 50 RBIs and 67 runs for the second-best team in the American League. Oswalt, from Weir, made three straight Midsummer Classics for Houston starting in 2005. … Ex-Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon, who has made six All-Star Games, was the winning pitcher in the 2009 game at St. Louis. Then with Boston, Papelbon pitched a clean seventh inning with the score tied 3-3. Adam Jones’ sac fly in the eighth put the AL stars ahead, and they won 4-3. Papelbon is now with Philadelphia and on the NL roster. … The most memorable of the four previous All-Star Games to be held in Cincinnati would have to be the 1970 contest, which ended when Reds star Pete Rose crushed Ray Fosse at home plate with two outs in the 12th inning and scored the winning run for the National League. Yazoo City native Jerry Moses was on the AL team but didn’t play in his only trip to the Midsummer Classic. However, had Rose been out at the plate – the throw actually beat him, but Fosse couldn’t hold the ball after the collision — and the game extended, Moses likely would have replaced the injured Fosse at catcher. The AL’s only other catcher was Bill Freehan, who had started and departed the game. Moses hit .263 with six homers for Boston in 1970, the only season of his nine in MLB in which he got more than 200 at-bats. The Red Sox were one of seven teams Moses played for.

12 Jul

on a good track

While the Texas Rangers’ season might be in danger of running off the rails, Mitch Moreland remains on track for the best year of his career. The Mississippi State product from Amory hit two homers on Saturday, running his season total to 16. He has had three two-homer games in the last 13 days. He is batting .289, 32 points above his career average. He has 46 RBIs, 14 shy of his career-high from 2013, when he hit 23 homers. This is good timing for Moreland, 24, in his sixth MLB season. He is eligible for salary arbitration next year. Moreland’s bombs on Saturday couldn’t lift the host Rangers past San Diego, which won 6-5. Texas has lost 14 of 19 to fall to 42-45, third place and 5.5 games off the pace in the American League West. P.S. Nice moment at Target Field in Minnesota on Saturday when it was announced between innings that Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier would be going to the All-Star Game as a replacement for the injured Jose Bautista of Toronto. Dozier, who got a much-deserved standing O, will be USM’s first All-Star representative since Jim Davenport in 1962. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton swiped two bases on Saturday – including third base on a throw from the catcher back to the pitcher — to push his MLB-leading total to 44. But his Cincinnati team got pounded by Miami 14-3 and fell to 39-46 in what has been a lost season for the All-Star Game host.

11 Jul

he’s the man

Forget the All-Star Game “snub.” There may be something bigger and better in Brian Dozier’s future. How ’bout an American League MVP award? If he keeps doing stuff like he did on Friday night, such a thing is well within the realm of possibility for the former Southern Miss standout. Dozier hit a three-run, game-winning homer for Minnesota, capping a seven-run ninth inning that took down Detroit 8-6. The Twins, who haven’t sniffed a winning season since 2010, are 47-40 and very much in the AL postseason picture as the season approaches the All-Star break. Dozier, who packs a lot of wallop in a 5-foot-11, 190-pound (maybe) frame, is the primary reason for this resurgence. Friday’s homer, his second walk-off of the week, was his 19th of the season. (He hit 23 all of last year.) He leads the league in runs and the team in RBIs with a combined total of 115 in 86 games. That’s MVP stuff. And he plays a good second base, too. It would have been great to see Dozier in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. But what happens in baseball in July pales in comparison to what happens in October. No doubt that’s where Dozier’s sights are set.

10 Jul

news and notes

Even a social media boost from fellow Southern Miss alum Brett Favre couldn’t propel Brian Dozier into the MLB All-Star Game. The American League Final Vote winner was Kansas City’s Mike Moustakas, MLB announced a short time ago. Minnesota’s Dozier, second in the Final Vote among fans, fell short despite being tied for the AL lead in runs (65) and topping AL second basemen in homers (18) and RBIs (45). Jose Altuve of Houston was voted in as the starter at second base by the fans, and Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis was selected as a reserve on Monday. … Jim Davenport is the only USM product to make an MLB All-Star team. He did so in 1962 when he was with the San Francisco Giants, going 1-for-1 as a sub at third base in the first of the two games played that year. … Ex-Ole Miss pitcher Aaron Barrett has been activated from the disabled list by Washington (see previous post) and will be in the Nationals’ bullpen for tonight’s game at Baltimore. … Belhaven University officially began its membership in the American Southwest Conference on July 1 and will begin transition to NCAA Division III (non-scholarship) status on Sept. 1, according to a school release. The ASC, of which Mississippi College used to be a member, is comprised mostly of Texas schools, including UT-Tyler, UT-Dallas, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons. The Blazers, previously an NAIA member, played baseball in the Southern States Athletic Conference from 2010-15 and in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference for many years before that. Hopefully, the Blazers will continue their long-standing rivalry with William Carey, still an NAIA member. BU’s 2016 schedule hasn’t been posted. … The Laurel Black Cats semi-pro team will host the Magnolia State Tournament on Saturday and Sunday at Boston Park in Laurel. The Black Cats are 16-3 against a schedule that includes teams from Meridian, Jackson, Tougaloo, Perry County and the Gulf Coast. The Black Cats, owned and managed by Jody P. Babineaux, are carrying on the tradition of the independent Negro Leagues team of the same name that barnstormed the South beginning in the 1930s. … The Hattiesburg Black Sox, one of the state’s iconic semi-pro clubs, did not field a team this year for the first time since 1941.

07 Jul

going places?

Jonathan Papelbon is going to Cincinnati next week to represent the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB All-Star Game on July 14. The ex-Mississippi State standout hopes to be going somewhere else and representing a different team soon thereafter. On the occasion of his selection to a sixth Midsummer Classic, Papelbon reiterated his desire to be traded from the lowly Phils to a contender. “Any team that wants me, I’m willing to go to,” he told mlb.com on Monday. Papelbon, who has a big contract and a combustible nature, has 14 saves and a 1.65 ERA this season. The trade deadline is July 31. … Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier launched his campaign to be a Final Vote All-Star selection by launching a walk-off home run against Baltimore on Monday. It was the 17th homer of the year and first career walk-off blast for the Minnesota second baseman. Passed over in Monday’s selection process, Dozier is one of five players on the American League Final Vote ballot. Fans will pick one; voting runs through Friday at 4 p.m. CDT. Dozier, batting .260 with a league-leading 63 runs and 42 RBIs, is seeking his first All-Star Game appearance. He says he won’t be disappointed if he doesn’t make it. “If it happens, it happens,” he told twincities.com.

06 Jul

star charts

While we wait to see if Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier is picked for his first All-Star Game and if ex-Mississippi Braves star Brian McCann gets to make an eighth appearance, here’s what we do know about the upcoming All-Star buffet: Biloxi’s Orlando Arcia, one of Milwaukee’s top prospects, is headed to the All-Star Futures Game, set for July 12 in Cincinnati. Arcia, a shortstop from Venezuela, is batting .313 with four homers, 42 RBIs and 10 steals for the Double-A Shuckers. And Louis Coleman, the former Pillow Academy star and Greenwood native, is on the Pacific Coast League roster for the Triple-A All-Star Game, which is July 15 in Omaha. Coleman, 29, is 4-1 with a 1.58 ERA and six saves for Omaha in the Kansas City system. He has a 3.25 ERA over 148 major league games with the Royals, though he is no longer on the 40-man roster. … The MLB Home Run Derby contestants have not been finalized, but former Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland would be a good choice. He has 14 homers for Texas this season and has hit some mammoth blasts in his career. The revamped derby is slated July 13 at Cincy’s Great American Ballpark, a great hitter’s park. P.S. Seth Smith, the ex-Ole Miss standout, delivered in the clutch for Seattle on Sunday, stroking a two-out, two-run single on a 3-2 pitch and propelling the Mariners to a 2-1 win at Oakland. “I loved playing (at O.Co Coliseum) when I was with the A’s and especially day games have a good buzz,” Smith told mlb.com. Smith is 9-for-27 with a homer and five RBIs this year against the A’s, one of the four teams he has played for the last five years. He is batting .257 on the season with seven homers.

20 Jun

starry, starry nights

The stars are coming out in the minor leagues. JaCoby Jones, the former Mr. Baseball from Richton, is slated to play in the Florida State League All-Star Game today in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Jones, a shortstop at high Class A Bradenton in the Pittsburgh system, is batting .259 (despite a recent slump) with eight homers and 40 RBIs. Selected in the third round of the 2013 draft out of LSU, Jones is rated by Baseball America as the Pirates’ 13th best prospect. He was a South Atlantic League postseason All-Star in 2014 after batting .288 with 23 homers for West Virginia. … Ex-Mississippi State star Jonathan Holder, a New York Yankees farmhand pitching for Tampa, is also in the FSL game. … East Central Community College product Tim Anderson is on the North Division roster for the Double-A Southern League All-Star Game on Tuesday in Montgomery, Ala. Anderson, a top-rated prospect for the Chicago White Sox, is hitting .298 with 27 RBIs and 22 steals for Birmingham. A host of Biloxi players and several Mississippi Braves are on the South roster. … Left-hander Cody Reed, ex-Northwest Mississippi Community College standout from Horn Lake, is on the Carolina League All-Star team for the game against the California League All-Stars, also on the docket for Tuesday. Reed is 5-5 with a 2.14 ERA for Class A Wilmington in the Kansas City system. … Anthony Alford, another former Mr. Baseball from Petal, is in the Class A Midwest League All-Star Game, also set for Tuesday. Alford plays for Lansing in the Toronto system and is hitting .284 with 11 bags in his first full pro campaign. … Delta State product Carlos Leal, a catcher with Wisconsin (Milwaukee system), and ex-Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull, a pitcher for West Michigan (Detroit), are also ticketed for the MWL classic. P.S. Brian Dozier isn’t in the top five at second base in the fan voting for next month’s MLB All-Star Game. What a shame. The former Southern Miss standout is batting .264 (.346 on-base) with 13 homers, 32 RBIs, 22 doubles, three triples and 54 runs for Minnesota. As a USA Today columnist writes, Dozier “is becoming a star before our eyes.” Surely he’ll get All-Star consideration from fellow players and American League manager Ned Yost.

14 Jul

update

Brian Dozier tuned up for Monday night’s Home Run Derby with a pair of bombs at Coors Field today. The former Southern Miss standout hit homers No. 17 and 18 in Minnesota’s 13-5 win over Colorado. … Both Mississippi State alum Hunter Renfroe and current Mississippi Braves star Jose Peraza got hits in today’s All-Star Futures Game, which kicked off the MLB All-Star festivities at Target Field in Minnesota. … Former M-Braves ace Julio Teheran, who pitched and beat the Cubs in Chicago today, won’t be participating in the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday and has been replaced on the National League roster. … It’s unclear whether former M-Braves star Phil Gosselin, who was summoned to the big leagues today when Dan Uggla was suspended by Atlanta for one game, will play in the Triple-A All-Star Game slated for Wednesday at Durham, N.C. Gosselin is hitting .345 with five homers and 30 RBIs for Gwinnett. Juan Jaime, a former M-Braves pitcher who has been up and down twice with the big club this year, is also on the International League roster for the Triple-A showcase.