Tag Archives: Holmes Community College

29 Jul

busy schedule

Roy Oswalt, who won 163 games in the big leagues, second-most by a Mississippi native, is being inducted into the Round Rock Express Hall of Fame on Saturday in Texas. Next week, the 38-year-old former Weir High and Holmes Community College star is going to play again. Oswalt, who last pitched competitively in 2013, was recruited to play for the Kansas Stars, a collection of ex-big leaguers, in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan. Others on the squad include 53-year-old Roger Clemens, Tim Hudson, Josh Beckett, Adam LaRoche, J.D. Drew and Dan Uggla. The field for the NBC is made up mostly of semi-pro teams and college summer league squads. “If you took 10 years off our ages, I guarantee we’d be pretty hard to beat,” Oswalt told the Austin American-Statesman. There is a distinct Mississippi flavor in the NBC event. The semi-pro Laurel Black Cats, champions of the Magnolia State Tournament, are slated to start play tonight. Mason Irby, former Jones County Junior College star who’ll suit up for Southern Miss in 2017, is on the roster of the NJCAA National Team, which opens next week. Oswalt, drafted by Houston out of Holmes CC in 1996, spent the 2000 season in Round Rock. That was the new home of the Texas League franchise that had been in Jackson from 1975-99. Oswalt went 11-4 with a 1.94 ERA for the Express, helping the team win the TL championship. Five years later, he helped the Astros reach the World Series.

02 Oct

a shining moment

While the Houston Astros are keenly focused on the present, and their pursuit of a playoff berth, the rest of us can sneak a peek back at a big day in the club’s history. On Oct. 2, 2005, the last day of the regular season, Weir’s Roy Oswalt outpitched Greg Maddux as the Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 and claimed the National League wild card. Philadelphia, which also won that day, finished a game back. The win was the 20th of the year for Oswalt, the Holmes Community College alum who won 163 over his 13-year career. The ’05 Astros, with a few former Jackson Generals still around (Lance Berkman, Raul Chavez, pitching coach Jim Hickey, bullpen coach Mark Bailey), went on to beat Atlanta in the division series and St. Louis in the NLCS – Oswalt was the MVP – to reach the franchise’s first and only World Series. They lost to the Chicago White Sox in four (with ex-Generals ace Freddy Garcia winning the clincher, oddly enough). P.S. Though he hasn’t officially retired, Cliff Lee doesn’t have a team for 2016 after the Phillies declined to pick up an option on the ex-Meridian CC star’s contract. Lee, 37, didn’t pitch at all this year because of an elbow problem. His career numbers: 143-91, 3.52 ERA in the regular season and 7-3, 2.52 postseason.

16 Aug

celebrate, celebrate …

The party was at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Before a packed house and a national TV audience on Saturday, the first-place Royals celebrated win No. 70 on the season, win No. 900 of Ned Yost’s managerial career and birthday No. 31 for Jarrod Dyson. Dyson, the McComb native and ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star, partied hard during the game, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, two runs, two steals and an outfield assist to fuel the Royals’ 9-4 victory against the Los Angeles Angels. KC broke the game open with a six-run second inning during which Dyson slapped a two-run single and scored a run. “Any time you get the win, that’s a great day for us,” Dyson, who usually offers something much more colorful, told the Kansas City Star after the game. It was also a great day for Yost, the former Jackson Mets catcher who hushed a lot of doubters by steering this club to the World Series last year. The current Royals have won seven of nine and are running away with the American League Central. P.S. The Houston Astros celebrated their 2005 World Series team on Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Among the stars of that club were Holmes Community College product Roy Oswalt, a 20-game winner, and Jackson Generals alum Lance Berkman, who hit .293 with 24 home runs.

12 Feb

wizard of os

Roy Oswalt, the pride of Weir and Holmes Community College, retired today with 163 career wins and a 3.36 ERA. Forget his struggles the last two seasons. Remember that he made three All-Star Games, twice won 20 games in a year and claimed the National League ERA crown in 2006. Oswalt was drafted by the Houston Astros in 1996 (23rd round), when the team still had its Double-A club in Jackson. Alas, when he reached that level, in 2000, the franchise was in its first year in Round Rock, Texas. Oswalt spent 10 years with the Astros and might’ve enjoyed his finest moments in 2005, when he led the club to its only World Series appearance. Oswalt won three games in four starts in the ’05 postseason. He made one start in the Series and got a no-decision against the Chicago White Sox, who won in four. Oswalt’s MLB win total ranks second among Mississippi-born pitchers, behind only Aberdeen’s Guy Bush, who won 176. Simply put, Oswalt is one the state’s all-time best.