Tag Archives: Cardinals

04 Nov

personnel matters

In announcing the trade of Cameron Maybin on Thursday, Detroit officials said there would be “a wide-open competition” for the center field job in spring training. Former Richton High star JaCoby Jones will be in the mix. Jones, who can also play the infield, is playing center field in the Arizona Fall League and batting .318 with a homer, eight RBIs and five steals in 13 games for Salt River. He went 6-for-28 in a big league trial this summer. In four minor league seasons, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Jones is hitting .269 with 47 homers and 58 bags. The Tigers acquired him in 2015 from Pittsburgh, which drafted Jones in the third round in 2013 out of LSU. … Seattle picked up the 2017 option on Seth Smith’s contract. The Jackson native and Ole Miss alum, a lefty-hitting outfielder, batted .249 with 16 homers for the Mariners in 2016, his second year with the club and 10th in the majors. … Chris Maloney, a Jackson native and ex-Mississippi State standout, will be back for a sixth year on the St. Louis coaching staff in 2017. Maloney coached third base for manager Mike Matheny this past season.

15 Oct

dash away

You’ll find it on most any list of the best World Series moments: Enos Slaughter’s “mad dash” for the St. Louis Cardinals. It happened on this date 70 years ago in Sportsman’s Park in the eighth inning of Game 7 against Boston, and it produced the winning run in a 4-3 victory. Let’s not forget who delivered the hit that sent Slaughter dashing for home: Pascagoula native Harry Walker. Facing Boston’s Bob Klingler with Slaughter at first base and two outs, Walker ripped a shot into left-center field that was chased down by Leon Culberson (grandfather of current Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Charlie Culberson). As Slaughter tore around the bases, Culberson threw to shortstop Johnny Pesky, who appeared to hesitate before he threw home. Slaughter slid in safely. It was the seventh hit and sixth RBI in the 1946 World Series for Walker, the man known as “The Hat,” a .296 career hitter and two-time All-Star who would have turned 100 on Oct. 22. He passed in 1999. It’s worth noting that Boo Ferriss, the legend from Shaw, started that game for Boston, looking for his second win in the Series. He was lifted in the fifth. The final out was made by Tom McBride, who played for the Jackson Senators in the late 1930s and early ’40s. He bounced into a force out with two runners on in the ninth, and St. Louis celebrated its sixth world championship.

29 Sep

missing pieces

After stumbling on Wednesday night against lowly Cincinnati, the St. Louis Cardinals need a bounce-back game tonight against the Reds at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals (82-76) are third in the National League wild card standings, trailing second-place San Francisco by a game with four to play. St. Louis is trying to keep its streak of five straight postseason appearances alive. From a Mississippi perspective, this game is significant for the people who aren’t playing. The Reds, winding down a tough season, are without Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart and Cody Reed – all on the disabled list. Jeff Brantley is healthy, but the ex-Mississippi State star – who pitched for both the Reds and Cards in his MLB career – will be in the Cincinnati broadcast booth. Chris Maloney, another MSU alum, will suit up for St. Louis – but he’ll be in the third-base coach’s box. The Cardinals don’t have ex-Ole Miss standout Lance Lynn, who had been a horse in their rotation for the last several years before Tommy John surgery put him out for 2016. The Cardinals do have another UM product, Mike Mayers, but the rookie reliever hasn’t been very effective in his four appearances (27.00 ERA). Perhaps he’s due for a shining moment.

07 Sep

homer happy

Chris Maloney has shook a lot of hands this season. The Jackson native and former Mississippi State player is the third-base coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, so virtually every time one of them hits a home run, Maloney greets them as they make the turn for the plate. And, boy, has that happened a lot this season. The Cardinals have hit 201 bombs, most in the National League. They hit five on Tuesday night, three in the ninth inning en route to a stunning, 9-7 victory at Pittsburgh. St. Louis is in the thick of the NL wild card scrap. The Pirates are fading from view. A beneficiary of the Cardinals’ rally was Mike Mayers, the former Ole Miss standout who had such a rough big league debut (nine runs in less than two innings) back in July. Mayers worked a 1-2-3 eighth on Tuesday and got the win, lowering his ERA to 34.71. … In another meaningful game, ex-UM star Seth Smith hit a pinch homer – his 12th of the year and first in two months – for Seattle, but the wild card-hopeful Mariners fell short, 10-7, against American League West leader Texas. … The amazing Brian Dozier (see previous post), the former Southern Miss standout, tied the AL record for homers by a second baseman with his 39th in Minnesota’s loss to Kansas City. … And Mississippi Braves alum Dansby Swanson hustled his way to his first MLB homer, circling the bases on a ball off the center-field wall at Washington. The last Atlanta player to hit an inside-the-parker for his first homer was Paul Runge in 1985. Swanson also hit an inside-the-park home run for the M-Braves.

09 Aug

cruel world

Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland had a game-winning hit, and fellow ex-Bulldogs star Kendall Graveman threw seven strong innings to notch his eighth victory. But the big story – the best story – involving a Mississippian in the majors on Monday night was Cody Reed earning his long-awaited first … uh, well, no, it didn’t happen. Should have, but didn’t. The Northwest Mississippi Community College alum from Horn Lake, who entered Monday’s game at St. Louis with an 0-6 record (7.30 ERA) in eight starts, pitched six shutout innings, his first scoreless outing in the bigs. Thanks in large part to a triple by former Ole Miss star Zack Cozart, Cincinnati took a 4-0 lead into the ninth. Then, disaster. The Cardinals scored five times against the Reds’ bullpen, the game-winner crossing courtesy of a hit batsman with the bases loaded. Reed, a highly rated prospect, was 6-3 with a 3.20 ERA in Triple-A this year. He was 6-2, 2.17 for Pensacola in the Double-A Southern League in 2015. He was sharp on Monday night: four hits, one walk, four strikeouts. He should have been celebrating that first win, but nothing comes easy in the big leagues. The tall left-hander tried to put a good spin on it post-game. “It helps the confidence going into the next one,” he told The Associated Press. Does it?

25 Jul

strong stuff

Under the category of Gutsiest Performance of the Year, enter the name of Brandon Woodruff. Having buried his older brother just six days before, Woodruff, a former Mississippi State standout, threw six near-perfect innings and hit a home run for Biloxi in a 1-0 win over Pensacola on Sunday in the Southern League. Blake Woodruff died July 15 from injuries sustained in a four-wheeler accident near Wheeler, where both he and Brandon played high school ball. Brandon Woodruff was on leave from the Shuckers for eight days before taking the mound at Pensacola. Hard to imagine how difficult that must have been. A Pensacola player on Twitter called it “the most gutsy thing I’ve ever seen on a baseball field.” The 23-year-old right-hander is 5-6 with a 3.65 ERA for the Shuckers, Milwaukee’s Double-A club. P.S. Here’s hoping Ole Miss alum Mike Mayers, who has a 60.75 ERA attached to his name, gets another opportunity in the big leagues. In his debut with St. Louis on Sunday, Mayers was rocked for nine runs in 1 1/3 innings by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has been sent back to Triple-A Memphis, where he had pitched well. … Former Southern Miss star Scott Copeland has re-signed with Toronto and is now at Triple-A Buffalo. He had been pitching in Korea, where he was 2-3 with a 5.54 ERA.

24 Jul

debut alert

Ole Miss alum Mike Mayers is slated to make his major league debut for St. Louis tonight at Busch Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yes, it’s the ESPN game. Mayers, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, was 3-3 with a 2.94 ERA at Triple-A Memphis. A third-round pick in 2013, he started this season at Double-A Springfield, going 5-2, 2.30. Mayers, who is not ranked among the Cardinals’ top 30 prospects by mlb.com, had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in 2015.

06 Jul

tip your cap

Having been released by Pittsburgh, Ed Easley may have seen his playing career reach the end of the line. The Mississippi State product was batting .174 as a 30-year-old catcher getting limited playing time at Triple-A Indianapolis. Easley has played 10 years in pro ball and appeared in four MLB games, all last year with St. Louis, going 0-for-6. But don’t get the wrong idea. If indeed it is over, Easley’s career is one worth celebrating. After his senior season at Olive Branch High in 2004, he was the state’s Mr. Baseball, Gatorade player of the year and a Louisville Slugger All-America pick. At MSU, he was All-SEC and won the Ferriss Trophy and the Johnny Bench Award that goes to the nation’s best catcher in 2007. Arizona drafted Easley 61st overall in ’07, and he has batted .260 with 43 home runs in 770 minor league games. He has 683 minor league hits, including a single in what may have been his last game, on June 29.

25 Jun

random numbers

1 – Big league hits for Adam Frazier, the former Mississippi State standout who got his first knock in his first at-bat for Pittsburgh on Friday night.
1 – Professional hits for Walker Robbins, the ex-George County High star who singled in his first game with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals.
4 – Hits in eight at-bats for Joey Meneses in his first two games with the Mississippi Braves. The native of Mexico was hitting .342 at Class A Carolina.
1,000 – Career wins in MLB for Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle, the former Jackson Mets manager who won 73 games with the Double-A club back in 1990.
3,315 – Attendance on Friday at Biloxi’s MGM Park, where former Jackson Mets star Darryl Strawberry threw out the first pitch. He was in town for a speaking engagement.
12 – Combined runs scored by Montgomery and Biloxi in the first inning of the Southern League game, won by the Biscuits 10-9.
13 – Home runs by Corey Dickerson, the Meridian Community College product who went deep for Tampa Bay on Friday. He leads all Mississippians in the majors in homers; Zack Cozart and Mitch Moreland have 11 each.
3 – Home runs allowed in two MLB starts by Cody Reed, the Northwest Mississippi CC alum now with Cincinnati.
15 – Strikeouts by Cody Reed in his 12 innings in the big leagues.
3.56 – ERA of Cleveland’s pitching staff, which leads the American League. Former Ole Miss standout Mickey Callaway is the pitching coach for the Indians, who have won seven straight and lead the AL Central.

19 Jun

birthday treats

Former Vancleave High star Colin Bray, a birthday boy on Saturday, celebrated with a pair of home runs for Class A Visalia in the Arizona organization. Bray, a 23-year-old center fielder, has scuffled a bit this year at the high-A level. He told milb.com it has been a good test and he’ll be better for it. Considered a rising prospect, Bray now has a four-game hit streak that has lifted his average to .241, with three homers, 26 RBIs and 34 runs in 64 games. He is a .283 hitter over his four-year pro career. Arizona picked Bray in the sixth round out of an Alabama junior college in 2013. P.S. St. Louis has signed all three of its picks from Mississippi in this year’s draft. Mississippi State’s Dakota Hudson, drafted 34th overall as the first Magnolia State player to be called, signed for a cool $2 million, it was announced on Saturday. The Cardinals also signed Hudson’s teammate Austin Sexton (18th round) on Saturday and earlier in the week inked Walker Robbins (fifth round) from George County High. All three figure to debut in the rookie Gulf Coast League. … Last year’s top pick from the state, DeSoto Central product Austin Riley, is batting .256 with three homers at 26 RBIs for Rome, Atlanta’s low Class A club. The top pick from 2014, Blake Anderson out of West Lauderdale, made his 2016 debut on Saturday, going 0-for-4 for Batavia, a short-season Class A team in Miami’s system. Anderson batted .220 with two homers at Batavia in 2015.