Tag Archives: home run record

11 Jun

it’s a record

Jarrod Dyson, the former McComb High and Southwest Mississippi Community College star, got it started. Dyson, not a renowned slugger, led off Monday’s Arizona-Philadelphia game with a home run. Twelve more bombs would be hit before the night ended, setting a major league record for a single game. The Diamondbacks hit a franchise-record eight of the 13 and, by the way, won the game 13-8. After Dyson’s leadoff shot, the next two D’backs hitters, Ketel Marte and David Peralta, also went deep. “Leading off with a homer set the tone and guys came behind me and did the same thing,” Dyson told mlb.com. Dyson is having an outstanding season at age 34. The 10-year vet, a former 50th-round draft pick, is batting .268 (.352 on-base percentage) with four homers, 14 RBIs, 31 runs and 14 stolen bases in 52 games. He is a .252 career hitter, and his career-high for homers is five. It’s pretty cool, too, to have had a hand in an all-time home run record, though the way things are going, it might not survive the season. P.S. Just throwing this out there: Dallas Keuchel’s next minor league start for Atlanta likely will be on Saturday. Triple-A Gwinnett is playing on the road, as is low Class A Rome, for whom Keuchel pitched Monday. High-A Florida doesn’t play. The Double-A Mississippi Braves are home on Saturday.

23 May

green machine

The scorebook has closed on Zack Shannon’s career at Delta State, which saw its season end with a loss to Mississippi College in the NCAA Division II regionals on Tuesday. In his two years with the green-and-white, the big man from Cincinnati stuffed that scorebook with some jaw-dropping numbers. Start with his home run totals – and take a deep breath. He hit his 31st of the season in the final game (Game No. 53); that’s not only a school record but also the most all-time by any player in any division in the state. That number also leads the nation, all divisions included. Shannon’s total of 50 career homers at DSU ranks second to Dee Haynes, who hit 69 over three seasons (1998-2000) in Cleveland. For the year, Shannon hit .406 with 93 RBIs (best in the nation) and a .955 slugging percentage (also No. 1). Also noteworthy, he struck out just 27 times and walked 35 times in 202 at-bats. Though he didn’t win a Ferriss Trophy, plenty of awards and accolades have poured in the last two years and more may be coming. Earlier this week, Shannon was named one of 25 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, which goes to the nation’s best player. He is the first D-II player to be named a semifinalist. He won Gulf South Conference player of the year both this year and last and received several D-II national player of the year awards in 2017. Surely he’ll get picked in the MLB draft. Regardless, he won’t soon be forgotten in the Magnolia State. P.S. Before Shannon broke it, the state’s college homer record was shared by former Mississippi State stars Rafael Palmeiro and Bruce Castoria, according to John W. Smillie’s Mississippi Baseball Record Book. Castoria hit 29 in 1981, Palmeiro in 1984. Will Clark smacked 28 for MSU in 1984 (and got 25 the next year). DSU’s Haynes hit 26 in 1999. Four Southern Miss players cranked out 23: Fred Cooley (1989), Bill Selby (1992), Jeff Cook and Clint King (2003). The Ole Miss single-season mark is 21 by Brian Pettway in 2005. … MC’s remarkable season also ended on Tuesday with a loss to Tampa in the rain-soaked South Region tourney in Lakeland, Fla. The Choctaws, who made their first D-II regional appearance, finished 36-17.

20 Sep

here and there

Ole Miss product Alex Presley’s second home run of the season on Tuesday was the 5,693rd by a major league player in 2017, which tied the single season record set in 2000. Shortly after Presley went yard for Detroit, Kansas City’s Alex Gordon hit the record-breaker. Presley, playing for a 2018 job, went 4-for-6 in the Tigers’ loss to Oakland and boosted his average to .322 in 61 games. The journeyman outfielder is in his 12th pro season and with his fifth big league club. … Ex-UM star Drew Pomeranz threw 6 1/3 shutout innings but got a no-decision in Boston’s 1-0 win in 11 innings against Baltimore. Pomeranz, who is 16-5, lowered his ERA to 3.15. … Orioles manager Buck Showalter, the former Mississippi State standout, may be headed for his first losing campaign since 2011. The O’s have lost 11 of 13 to fall to 73-79. … Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart hit his 23rd homer for Cincinnati — and fourth in seven games – as the Reds lost to St. Louis in 10. Cozart, an All-Star this year and a pending free agent, is batting .303. … There is speculation that former Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton, on the disabled list with a broken thumb, might return as a pinch runner for the Reds before the year ends. He leads the majors with 58 steals, three ahead of Miami’s Dee Gordon. … Ex-State star Dakota Hudson started and worked three innings for Memphis in Tuesday’s Triple-A championship game, which the Redbirds lost to Durham. Hudson posted a 2.40 ERA in three postseason starts for St. Louis’ Triple-A club. He was 1-1, 4.42 in seven regular season starts after going 9-4, 2.53 in Double-A.

19 Sep

bombs away

The record for home runs by all teams in a major league season likely will be broken today. The current number is 5,677, 16 short of the mark that was set in 2000. Of those 5,677, a total of 175 were hit by Mississippians (natives or college alums). There are 108 players with 20 or more homers – that record should also fall this year – and four of those are Mississippians. Brian Dozier, the ex-Southern Miss standout, leads the All-Mississippi Home Run Derby with 31; he has 73 the last two years. (His ability to drive high fastballs was highlighted by Tom Verducci on MLB Network on Monday night.) Dozier is followed on the Mississippi chart by Corey Dickerson (career-high 26), Zack Cozart (career-high 22) and Hunter Renfroe (21 in his second year). Mitch Moreland is sitting on 19, and Tim Anderson, with 16, could also reach 20. Seth Smith is in double digits with 13, four shy of his career-best. Jarrod Dyson, who had seven career homers in seven previous seasons, hit five in 2017; he is out for the season with an injury. Adam Frazier also has five, one of them an inside-the-park job. (Still counts.) Rookies JaCoby Jones and Stuart Turner hit their first career homers this season. Jones has three all told and Turner two. There also have been a record number of strikeouts in 2017 – for the 10th straight year – and, of course, Mississippians have contributed their fair share of those, as well. Six already have topped the 100 mark, including speed demon Billy Hamilton, who has only four home runs. Indeed, the game has changed.