Tag Archives: George Scott

29 Jul

worth noting

Seven of the nine players picked out of the Magnolia State in the first two days of the MLB draft reportedly have signed. The exceptions are Jackson Prep product Konnor Griffin (ninth overall by Pittsburgh) and Mississippi State alum Dakota Jordan (fourth round, 116th overall, San Francisco). The slot value of those picks, per mlb.com’s Draft Tracker, are $6.22 million for the ninth pick and $624,800 for No. 116. The signing deadline is Thursday. Griffin has a college commitment to LSU in hand, and Jordan has two years of college eligibility remaining. Former Madison Central High standout Braden Montgomery, the 12th overall pick out of Texas A&M by Boston, also has not signed. All told, 15 of the 21 players picked from Mississippi schools have signed; Hunter Elliott (20th round, Los Angeles Dodgers) reportedly is returning to Ole Miss. … Ex-Southern Miss standout Tyler Stuart, formerly the New York Mets’ No. 17 prospect, was traded to Washington for big league outfielder Jesse Winker. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander, was 3-7 with a 3.96 ERA in Double-A for the Mets; he has a 3.09 career ERA in pro ball. … Justin Dean stole four bases on Sunday, setting a Mississippi Braves single-season record with 44 bags. Dean, who has spent parts of the last four years with the Double-A M-Braves, has 195 career steals, 114 with the M-Braves. … Former Magee High star Brennon McNair delivered a walk-off hit for Low-A Columbia on Sunday. The Kansas City Royals farmhand, 21, is 5-for-15 in his last four games, lifting his average to .209 with six homers and 24 RBIs. … Right-hander Michael Rucker, a Columbus native, recently was added to Philadelphia’s active roster from the injured list. Rucker, who has a career 4.96 ERA, grew up in Washington state and was drafted out of BYU by the Chicago Cubs. … Fun fact: Greenville native George Scott hit 271 home runs in the big leagues but only one inside-the-park job. It happened on this date in 1967, for Boston, at Fenway Park, against Minnesota’s Jim Perry. Scott, a two-time All-Star, was a big dude but could run a little: 69 steals, 60 triples in 14 MLB campaigns.

12 Oct

dream denied

The image is one that diehard fans of a certain age remember well, one that lives on in World Series highlight reels. Bob Gibson rocks and fires, the batter swings and misses, and the St. Louis Cardinals rush the infield to celebrate the 1967 World Series championship. The game was played on Oct. 12, 1967. The Game 7 defeat at Fenway Park crushed the Boston Red Sox’s “Impossible Dream” season during which they won a thrilling race to the American League pennant. The batter who made the final out was Greenville native George Scott. The ’67 Series was Scott’s only postseason appearance over a 14-year career. In Game 7, he had one of the three hits – a triple – and scored one of the two runs the magnificent Gibson yielded in a 7-2 win, Gibson’s third W of the Series. Scott was 6-for-26 without an RBI in the Series after batting .303 with 19 homers and 82 RBIs during the season, his second in the majors. Despite that grand disappointment – immortalized in the clip of Gibson’s final punchout — “Boomer” produced a lot of highlights in his big league career. He blasted 271 home runs, drove in over 1,000 runs, won eight Gold Gloves and made three All-Star teams. It’s a shame he never got another moment in the Fall Classic.

03 Apr

happy anniversary

Fifty years ago this month, on April 12 to be exact, George Scott made his debut for the Boston Red Sox. The Greenville native, nicknamed Boomer, did not go deep against Baltimore that day, but he did get the first of his 1,992 hits in a career that rates among the best among Mississippians who’ve played major league baseball. Scott, who died in 2013, hit 271 home runs over his 14 MLB seasons, batted .268 and played in three All-Star Games. More than just a slugger, the big first baseman, who also played some third, won eight Gold Gloves. Other anniversaries of note: Eighty years ago, two players from the Coast broke into the big leagues, both in Philadelphia. Biloxi native Red Bullock played 12 games for the A’s in 1936, and Leo Norris, the pride of Bay St. Louis, started a two-year stint with the Phillies. Norris hit 20 homers in his brief time in the majors. In 1946, Jackie Price of Winborn debuted with Cleveland. Flash forward to 1976 for the debut of Hattiesburg native Bobby Myrick, one of the original Jackson Mets of 1975 who pitched parts of three seasons for the New York club. In 1986, Ricky Jones, a Tupelo native, got into 16 games with Baltimore. Vicksburg’s Dmitri Young made the big leagues with St. Louis in 1996 and went on to belt 171 home runs in a 13-year career. And 10 years ago, another Vicksburg product, left-hander Taylor Tankersley, debuted with the Florida Marlins.