Tag Archives: Cubs

25 Oct

the right stuff

There are players you find yourself rooting against, for whatever reason. It’s hard to find a reason to root against Jason Heyward. He plays hard, and he plays smart. He conducts himself like a professional, which is easy to do when you’re going good, which hasn’t been the case for Heyward here lately. It’s been tough to watch the former Mississippi Braves star scuffle at the plate this postseason. He is 2-for-28 during Chicago’s historic run to the World Series. In the first year of a $184 million contract, Heyward batted .230 with seven homers, 49 RBIs and 11 steals. (His career-highs: .293, 27, 82 and 23.) Yes, he plays a Gold Glove-quality right field, but for the money he’s making, he is expected to hit, too. And he can hit. If you saw him at Trustmark Park back in 2009, you know this first-hand. Arriving on July 4 of that season, as Atlanta’s top-ranked prospect, Heyward batted .352 with seven homers in 47 games for the M-Braves. He was 6 feet 5, cut like an elite athlete and just scary good. He won the right field job in Atlanta the next spring and homered in his first at-bat. A great career surely lay ahead. Yet there was always something odd about Heyward’s swing, and it seems that major league pitchers have gradually learned to exploit the flaws. There have been reports that the Cubs will address those in the off-season. Heyward isn’t in the lineup tonight for Game 1 against Cleveland; ex-Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan, another left-handed hitter, will start in right field. But Heyward will play at some point, and when he does, Cubs fans can rest assured that his head and his heart will be in the right place. “It’s about this team,” Heyward said in a recent interview with CBSChicago.com. “It’s about the team.”

25 Oct

also starring

While so much of the attention was on Kyle Schwarber, former Petal High standout Anthony Alford tried to steal a little thunder in the Arizona Fall League on Monday. Alford — in the Mesa lineup with the World Series-bound Schwarber – went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs in a 7-2 win against Surprise. It was the second homer of the fall for Alford, one of Toronto’s top prospects. “I have some power and I’m starting to tap into that power,” the 6-foot-1, 215-pound outfielder told mlb.com. He has just 16 homers in 224 minor league games but is still developing as a hitter. Alford is batting .290 in eight games in the AFL. … Former Richton High star JaCoby Jones, another Mr. Baseball, boosted his AFL average to .429 with a pair of hits for Salt River on Monday. The Detroit prospect has a homer, seven RBIs and four steals for the Mississippi-flavored Rafters. Dylan Moore, who made a splash with the Mississippi Braves in the Southern League playoffs this season, is batting .467 with two homers in four games for Salt River. Shortstop Moore, acquired in August from Texas, went 4-for-9 in the playoffs for the M-Braves after batting .343 with Class A Carolina. He looks like a strong candidate for the M-Braves’ 2017 roster. Also shining for Salt River are M-Braves alums Dustin Peterson (.364) and Kade Scivicque (.273), Biloxi Shuckers star Jacob Nottingham (.258) and Ole Miss alum Chris Ellis (1-0, 3.00 ERA). Former Southern Miss standout Bradley Roney is on the Rafters’ roster but has yet to pitch. … Ex-Mississippi State star Chris Stratton is 1-0, 1.00 in two starts for Scottsdale; he is expected to work again on Wednesday. P.S. Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan (0-for-4 in the postseason) kept his spot today when Schwarber, coming back from a knee injury suffered in April, was added to the Chicago Cubs’ active roster; pitcher Rob Zastryzny was removed. UM fans also have a rooting interest on the other side in the World Series: Former Rebels pitcher Mickey Callaway is Cleveland’s pitching coach.

24 Oct

cubs nation

Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan, a Chicago Cubs outfielder these last three years, took part in the madness at Wrigley Field on Saturday night, a joyous celebration that reverberates in the Magnolia State. If Cubs Nation embraces everyone who ever played for the team, then the upcoming World Series means – or would have meant – a lot to a long list of Mississippians. Aberdeen native Guy Bush and Waynesboro’s Claude Passeau, both deceased, actually pitched in World Series games for Chicago but never celebrated a championship. Of course, no Cub has since 1908. Former Ole Miss star Donnie Kessinger was a fixture at shortstop for the Cubs for 12 years in the 1960s and ’70s but never even played in a postseason game for the team. Rafael Palmeiro, the ex-Mississippi State slugger, came up with the Cubbies in 1986 but didn’t make the playoffs in three years with them. John Stephenson (William Carey), Steve Dillard (UM), Jeff Fassero (UM) and Greg Hibbard (Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College) also wore the C during the 71-year World Series drought. Adopted Mississippian Dizzy Dean pitched for the Cubs and made it to the Series in 1938 only to leave empty-handed, swept by those damn New York Yankees. Mississippi natives who’ve passed through Wrigleyville during the protracted period of woe include Harry Walker, Billy Cowan, Cleo James, Matt Lawton, Laddie Renfroe, Joey Gathright, Roosevelt Brown, Eli Whiteside and Paul Maholm. And then there’s Dave Clark, the former Shannon High and Jackson State star who is now a coach for Detroit. He spent a couple of seasons with the Cubs — but he came up with Cleveland and played four years for the Indians. He can’t lose.

23 Oct

a long, long time ago

As Chicago Cubs fans eagerly look forward to the club’s first World Series appearance in 71 years, let’s take a quick look back at that 1945 Series, the last of the four played during World War II. Yes, the Cubs lost in seven games to Detroit, but don’t fault the efforts of Claude Passeau, the big right-hander from Waynesboro. Passeau, who won 162 games and made five All-Star teams, might never have been better than he was in Game 3 of that Series, throwing a one-hitter in a 3-0 victory that put the Cubs up 2 games to 1. The only hit was a second-inning single by Rudy York. Meridian native Skeeter Webb, the Tigers’ leadoff batter, took an 0-for-3, as did Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg. Passeau walked only one and struck out only one – and even drove in a run. “I felt so good I began to tease the Detroit hitters,” Passeau, known for his fidgeting on the mound, told The Sporting News after that game. Passeau also started Game 6, with the Cubs down 3-2 in the series, and he worked into the seventh inning, departing with the lead. The Cubs’ bullpen let it get away, but Chicago rallied to win 8-7 in 12 innings. Passeau also pitched in Game 7, two days later, and yielded two runs in the eighth inning of a game that was already out of hand. The Tigers won 9-3. Surely, some Cubs fans at Wrigley Field that day – and maybe even Claude Passeau himself — shrugged and said, “We’ll get ’em next time.” Well, 71 years later, next time is here. P.S. The Cleveland Indians also lost the last time they were in the Series. In 1997, former Mississippi State star Jay Powell from Meridian got the win in Game 7 for the Florida Marlins. Powell worked a scoreless top of the 11th and then celebrated a championship when Edgar Renteria knocked in the game-winner in the bottom half.

19 Oct

mettle test

Game 4. However it plays out, Game 4 of the 2016 National League Championship Series is one Chicago Cubs fans will remember. “Teams that win the whole thing always have games that define them,” Cubs outfielder and ex-Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan told ESPN’s Jayson Stark. Game 4 at Dodger Stadium tonight will be such a game. Win it, and the series is even, guaranteed to go back to Wrigley Field. Lose it, and the Cubs are down 3-1 with Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw looming either in Game 5 or 6. The Cubs, shut out in Games 2 and 3, haven’t been hitting. Coghlan, a .252 hitter in 48 regular season games, hasn’t had much opportunity off the bench, going 0-for-2 with a walk in the NLCS. He doesn’t face lefties often, so he isn’t likely to start Game 4 against Julio Urias. But he could get an at-bat late, in a crucial spot, a “defining” moment perhaps. An anxious Cubs Nation – and every other true fan – will be watching.

12 Oct

shades of ’86

Anything that happens in the MLB playoffs that rekindles memories of the 1986 postseason has got to be pretty special. And it happened on Tuesday night. The Chicago Cubs’ comeback victory at San Francisco was the biggest in postseason-series clinching history, according to mlb.com. Down 5-2 in the ninth, the Cubs scored four times against the Giants’ tattered bullpen, surpassing what the New York Mets – a team loaded with former Jackson Mets – accomplished against Houston in the National League Championship Series 30 years ago. Davey Johnson’s Mets scored three runs in the top of the ninth to tie the Astros, then won the game and the series 7-6 in 16 innings. Ten former JaxMets played in that epic Game 6. Lenny Dykstra ignited the ninth inning rally with a leadoff triple, and Mookie Wilson knocked him in and later scored himself. Rick Aguilera and Roger McDowell combined for eight innings of scoreless relief, and Jesse Orosco, despite blowing a save in the 14th and yielding two runs in the 16th, nailed down the win by fanning Kevin Bass with two runners on. Ole Miss alum Jeff Calhoun came on in relief for the Astros in the 16th and yielded a hit, a walk and a run and threw two wild pitches during the three-run inning. That NLCS was a thrill ride from start to finish, and the World Series that followed was pretty interesting, too. P.S. Spotted in the Giants’ dugout on Tuesday: former Delta State standout Eli Whiteside, now a bullpen catcher for the club. Whiteside played for the Giants during their 2010 and 2012 championship runs and last played in the majors with the Cubs in 2014.

11 Oct

gotta love october

Time to take stock on the MLB postseason. We’ve seen Baltimore go down in flames as Orioles manager Buck Showalter, the ex-Mississippi State standout, kept the best closer in the league in the bullpen with the American League Wild Card Game on the line. MSU product Mitch Moreland was in the middle of the play that ended the season for Texas, the team that had the best record in the AL. First baseman Moreland knocked down the errant throw by Rougned Odor, then threw home too late to stop the winning run from scoring as Toronto completed a stunning sweep. Moreland went 2-for-8 with two RBIs in what may have been his Texas swansong. Ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz surrendered the pivotal home run (to Coco Crisp) on Monday in the other ALDS as Cleveland ended Boston’s season and David Ortiz’s career with a sweep. UM alum Mickey Callaway, the Indians’ pitching coach, saw his bullpen limit the Red Sox to two runs while fanning 14 in 10 1/3 innings over the three games. Former Rebels standout Chris Coghlan (0-for-2) has had a quiet National League Division Series for the Chicago Cubs, who saw their ace closer, Aroldis Chapman, cough up a lead Monday against San Francisco, which dodged a sweep by winning in 13 innings. Conor Gillaspie – the son of former MSU star Mark Gillaspie and the Giants’ Wild Card Game hero – delivered the big blow against Chapman, a two-run triple in the eighth inning. “He’s been fun to watch,” Giants ace Madison Bumgarner told the Chicago Tribune. It ain’t been fun for everyone, but that’s what makes October baseball so compelling.

07 Oct

it’s been too long

The last time San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs played in the postseason, a former Mississippi State star stole the show. The year was 1989 and the player was Will Clark, who went 13-for-20 with two homers, eight RBIs and eight runs as the Giants won the National League Championship Series in five games. Clark, on the recently announced “Today’s Game Era” Hall of Fame ballot for 2017, hit .333 with 23 homers for San Francisco in 1989, his fourth year in the big leagues, and .303 with 284 for his career. The Giants and Cubs meet again today in the NLDS, and there’s a Mississippi college alum in uniform. Former Ole Miss standout Chris Coghlan isn’t a steal-the-show kind of player – though he was the NL rookie of the year in 2009 — but he could still have an impact for the Cubs. Coghlan, a veteran of eight MLB campaigns, was a hot hitter down the stretch, batting .280 over his last 14 games. He finished the year at .252 in 48 games for the Cubs. He’s got some pop from the left side – six homers in 2016, five while with Oakland – and he has played six different positions in his career. Cubs manager Joe Maddon will find a use for him. The Giants don’t have an MSU alum to turn to, but they do have Wild Card Game hero Conor Gillaspie, the son of former Bulldogs star Mark Gillaspie. Conor was born in Nebraska and went to Wichita State. P.S. Louis Coleman, the ex-Pillow Academy star from Greenwood, did not make the Los Angeles Dodgers’ NLDS roster. Coleman, a right-handed reliever, posted a 4.69 ERA in 61 games this year and had some rough outings down the stretch. He has a career 3.51 ERA over six seasons.

21 Sep

he’s got name

There is something about the name that gets your attention: Delvin Zinn. Some clever headlines in that name. Of course, he’s got game, too. The Chicago Cubs certainly seem to think so, having drafted Pontotoc native Zinn twice. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound shortstop, who made his pro debut on July 28 for the Arizona League Cubs, is still in Arizona for the Instructional League season. His numbers in the AZL weren’t much to shout about. In just 11 games, he batted .182 with one extra-base hit. Zinn was chosen in the 23rd round in June out of Itawamba Community College, where he batted .411 as a freshman this past season with 34 RBIs, 41 runs and seven steals. Scouting reports rave about his defense. Drafted by the Cubs in the 28th round in 2015 out of Pontotoc High, Zinn opted to go to Mississippi State, where he took part in fall ball before transferring to ICC, where he was eligible to be drafted again after his freshman season. Zinn, just 19, isn’t yet among the Cubs’ rated prospects, but he is one to watch in an organization that appears to be set up for long-term success. … Also on the Cubs’ IL roster are left-handers Wyatt Short, drafted out of Ole Miss this year, and Justin Steele, a 2014 fifth-rounder from George County. Southaven native Short (see previous post) had a very good debut in the Northwest League. Steele, the highest-drafted prep pitcher from Mississippi since Matt Butler in 1999, went 5-7 with a 5.00 ERA in the Class A Midwest League this season. Scouting reports say the Cubs’ No. 23 prospect is still harnessing command of his three pitches. P.S. Former DeSoto Central All-Stater Austin Riley is on Atlanta’s IL roster; the third baseman is coming off a 20-homer year at low Class A Rome. Outfield prospect Braxton Davidson, who could be with the Mississippi Braves in 2017, also is in Florida, along with pitchers Carlos Salazar and Chad Sobotka, two other likely candidates for Pearl next year.

19 Sep

junk and stuff

Joe Gray, the highly touted junior at Hattiesburg High, is featured in a story currently posted on Baseball America’s website. Gray is playing on an elite travel team, the EvoShield Canes, with a group of seniors. Gray, a 6-foot-2, 194-pound outfielder, hit .474 with seven homers, 45 RBIs, 11 steals and 12 assists as a sophomore last year for Hattiesburg, helping the Tigers reach the Class 5A finals. He hit .380 as a freshman. Gray, who has not committed to a college, figures to be a high MLB draft pick in 2018. … Fall ball is in the air in Oxford, where the Rebels scrimmaged last Friday. Ole Miss, 43-19 and an NCAA Regional participant in 2016, returns infielders Tate Blackman, Colby Bortles and Will Golsan and reliever Will Stokes. Among the newcomers are freshmen Grae Kessinger, Jason Barber, Thomas Dillard and Houston Roth from powerhouse Oxford High. … Wyatt Short and Trent Giambrone – 2016 draftees out of Mississippi colleges by the Chicago Cubs – helped short-season Class A Eugene win the Northwest League pennant. Left-hander Short, a 13th-round pick from Ole Miss, where he was a standout closer, had a 0.00 ERA and seven saves in 15 games; he got the save in the final game of the title series. Second baseman Giambrone, a 25th-rounder out of Delta State, batted .292 with four homers and 22 RBIs for the Emeralds. … Blake Anderson, a supplemental first-round pick in 2014 out of West Lauderdale High, is on Miami’s Instructional League roster as a rehabbing player. The catcher played only one game this season, going on the disabled list with a shoulder injury on July 7. He has played only 58 games over three seasons. … Bryant Nelson, at age 42, is having a nice season in the independent Atlantic League. The switch-hitting second baseman/outfielder is batting .279 with 49 RBIs and 13 stolen bases for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. For fans of the old Jackson Generals — the ones who played at Smith-Wills Stadium from 1991-99 — the name might ring a bell. Nelson is the last link to a bygone era — the only former General still playing. (Freddy Garcia pitched briefly for Monterrey in the Mexican League this season but is not currently on the roster.) Nelson’s pro baseball odyssey began when Houston drafted him in the 44th round in 1993. He made the Generals’ roster in the 1996 postseason as an injury replacement and helped the Gens win the Texas League championship. Nelson has played in 2,463 pro games, according to baseball-reference.com, and gotten 2,632 hits. He has played in Mexico, Japan and Italy and even made it to the big leagues for 25 games with Boston in 2002.