Tag Archives: home runs

27 Jun

great eight

Interesting story – with a Mississippi tie — on mlb.com today: An Atlantic League player named Dylan Rock has homered in eight straight games, tying the known professional record. Three major leaguers have gone deep in eight straight: Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr. One minor leaguer has done so: Former Mississippi State star Justin Foscue, who did it in July of 2021 in the Texas system. A first-round pick by the Rangers in 2020, Foscue started his homer streak while on a rehab assignment in the rookie Arizona Complex League. He hit one there and the next seven with Low-Class A Hickory. He finished that season with 17 homers and has hit 53 since, 10 in Triple-A this season before a recent call-up. He has yet to homer in the majors in 45 at-bats. … Rock, who plays for Lexington in the independent Atlantic League, is slated to play tonight against Southern Maryland, which is managed by Jackson native and ex-big leaguer Stan Cliburn.

05 Jun

charging rapidly …

After enduring a curious power outage in the month of May, Kemp Alderman is starting to light it up again at Double-A Pensacola. The former Ole Miss star from Decatur extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his sixth homer of the season on Wednesday night against Columbus. After going homerless in 26 games in May, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound slugger — the No. 10-rated prospect in Miami’s organization — has gone deep in two of three games this month. His average had dipped to .238 before his current hit streak began. He is up to .282 with 24 RBIs and 13 steals in 50 games all told. In a recent Baseball America article, Alderman said one of his goals this season was a 20-homer, 20-steal season. He might have a shot. He isn’t known for speed, really, but his raw power is unquestioned. In the 2024 Arizona Fall League, he hit a 119.5 mph home run, the hardest hit ball in that elite league last year. He smacked six homers in just nine games there after hitting eight in an injury-shortened (77 games) 2024 season spent at four levels of the minors. In 2023, Alderman put up one of the best seasons in Ole Miss history, batting .376 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs, winning the Ferriss Trophy and earning second-team All-America honors. Miami drafted him in the second round, 47th overall, that summer. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report hails Alderman’s power tool but notes that “he’s prone to chasing all types of pitches out of the zone.” Alderman told Baseball America that’s something he’s working to improve on in 2025. He has struck out 39 times (with 19 walks) in 181 at-bats with an on-base percentage of .348. P.S. DeSoto Central High product Blaze Jordan, also renowned for his power (see previous post), hit a homer Wednesday in his second game at Triple-A Worcester and now has 50 in his pro career in the Boston system. He’s not quite ready for The Show, but Red Sox fans should note: Jordan, 22, can play first base.

02 Jun

bombs away

On a chaotic Sunday in the NCAA Tournament — when regional 1-seeds Vanderbilt, Texas, Georgia, Clemson and Oregon all bit the dust — Ole Miss and Southern Miss are still standing. Weary, but still standing. In winning two elimination games each, they got some clutch pitching from some unsung players, but what carried them both into today’s championship showdowns were home runs. Ole Miss, which blasted six bombs in an elimination game on Saturday, hit eight more in its two Sunday wins. Isaac Humphrey’s three-run shot in the first inning was the first — and perhaps biggest — of three in the 11-6 victory over Georgia Tech. In the 19-8 bashing of Murray State, Will Furniss — in a 4-for-6, four-RBI effort — went yard twice and his teammates added three more homers. Humphrey homered again, tripled, doubled and walked twice. The Rebels get Murray State again tonight at Swayze Field. For USM, which got three huge bombs in a must-win game against Alabama on Saturday, Ben Higdon’s three-run eighth-inning homer was the key hit in Sunday’s 8-1 victory vs. Columbia. In the 17-6 mauling of Miami that followed, the Golden Eagles crushed four homers, two by Joey Urban, whose three-run shot highlighted a nine-run first inning. Kudos also to Eagles pitcher Camden Sunstrom, who pitched the last 4 2/3 and allowed a lone unearned run. USM gets a rematch with the Hurricanes tonight at Taylor Park. … Ole Miss has hit 121 home runs all told, with six players in double digits, topped by Judd Utermark’s 21 and Austin Fawley’s 20. USM has 102 homers on the season, 21 by Nick Monistere, 17 by Matthew Russo and 15 from Carson Paetow. Both schools rank in the national top 20 for bombs. P.S. It was a tough day for Mississippi State on the field in the Tallahassee Regional, where the Bulldogs beat Northeastern 3-2 behind the pitching of Evan Siary and Stone Simmons but then lost to Florida State 5-2 in a contentious elimination game. The Bulldogs, with 103 homers in 2025, hit two vs. FSU but that was all they got against sophomore Wes Mercedes, an Ole Miss transfer who worked eight strong for the victory, fanning nine. That hurts. MSU fans did get to cheer a bit on Sunday, however, when it was revealed that they have a new coach for 2026 — Brian O’Connor, a veteran who brings a great track record, including a national title, from Virginia.

12 Apr

on this date

Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia officially opened on this date in 2004, and Bobby Abreu, the former Jackson Generals standout playing for the Phillies that year, hit the first home run there. Abreu, who played in Jackson in 1994, had a flair for home runs. He hit 16 for the Gens in ’94 and 288 in an MLB career that has gained Hall of Fame attention. He put up nine 20-homer seasons, two of them 30-homer campaigns. He won the All-Star Game Home Run Derby in 2005 with a performance that fans and media still buzz about. The homer he belted on April 12, 2004, against Cincinnati’s Paul Wilson came in a year in which he would win a Silver Slugger award. Alas, the crowd at Citizens Bank, which has become one of the majors’ most raucous venues, didn’t have a lot to roar about that day. Abreu’s bomb was the only run the home team scored in a 4-1 loss.

08 Apr

long shots

This seems like an apropos note for 715 Day: They say records are meant to be broken, but there is one mark in the Magnolia State that will be especially tough to top. In 2018, Zack Shannon of Delta State blasted 31 home runs, breaking a single-season record for state college players that had stood for 34 years. (The previous record of 29 had been set by Mississippi State’s Bruce Castoria in 1982, then tied by the Bulldogs’ Rafael Palmeiro in 1984.) But there are some players producing big pop around the state this year — even without torpedo bats. The leader of the pack as of April 7 is Josh Alexander of William Carey University. The Louisiana native, who previously played at Louisiana-Lafayette, has 14 homers. Mississippi State’s Ace Reese and Mississippi College’s Bryce LaRocca are hot on Alexander’s heels with 11 homers each. There is a large contingent at 10: Ole Miss’ Judd Utermark; Southern Miss’ Carson Paetow; Mississippi College’s J.T. Vance and Korey Cooper; and Carey’s Preston Ratliff and Rigoberto Hernandez. The junior college leaders are Dom Jackson of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Holmes CC’s Hunter Azemar, both with 10. Delta State’s Dylan Coleman, who has nine bombs, has the distinction of hitting three in a game twice. MC’s Vance also has managed a three-homer game, along with Carey’s Jayden Mark, who has only four total. P.S. In keeping with the home run theme, on this date in 1986, Will Clark famously homered in his first career MLB at-bat — against Nolan Ryan, no less. After an All-America career at MSU, Clark was the No. 2 overall draft pick by San Francisco in 1985. His debut homer was one of six he would hit off Hall of Famer Ryan, and it helped the Giants beat Houston 8-3 at the Astrodome.

03 Apr

powering up

The chase is real for Hunter Hines, who has powered his way to within six home runs of Mississippi State’s exalted career record. Rafael Palmeiro — a member of MLB’s 500-homer club — hit 67 bombs at State from 1983-85, including a single-season record 29 (shared with Bruce Castoria) in 1984. Hines, a Madison Central High product now in his fourth year in Starkville, hit his 61st homer on Tuesday at Memphis, tying Will Clark for second on the career list. You’re in rare air when you’re being mentioned with the legendary Thunder and Lightning. Hines has seven homers this season. A lefty hitter who goes 6 feet 3, 210 pounds, Hines averaged 18 homers in his first three MSU seasons, and there’s a lot of 2025 left, assuming he stays healthy. His power seems legit; he led the Cape Cod League — a wood bat league — with 13 homers in 41 games in 2023. He was listed on some MLB draft prospect charts last year but didn’t get called. So he returned to Starkville, where he was a freshman All-America pick in 2022, All-SEC in 2023 and is now in hot pursuit of a record that will cement his legacy as one of the Bulldogs’ greats. Of note: Hines’ father, Richey, is the career homer leader at NCAA Division II Mississippi College with 57. The overall state homer record is believed to be 69, set by D-II Delta State’s Dee Haynes (1998-2000). P.S. MSU alum and Tampa Bay rookie Jake Mangum got another hit Wednesday, one of just three allowed by Paul Skeenes in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 victory. Mangum now has eight MLB hits, which puts him 900 behind fellow former Bulldogs hit king and good friend Adam Frazier, who had two knocks for the Pirates and drove in their first run. Of course, Mangum topped Frazier by a wide margin on MSU’s career hits list: 383 to 224. … Garrett Crochet, the ex-Ocean Springs High star who just a got a huge contract extension from Boston, threw a career-high eight innings with eight strikeouts as the Red Sox blanked Baltimore 3-0. Crochet, a converted reliever, said he last threw eight innings in the first game of his freshman year at Tennessee in 2018. … Former MC standout Blaine Crim hit a walk-off three-run homer for Triple-A Round Rock, completing a game in which he also had a triple, a single and a walk. Crim, 27, is in his sixth season in Texas’ system and carries a .296 average with 104 homers.

06 Dec

a melancholy note

Bill Melton, one of just two Mississippi natives to win a home run crown in the majors, has died at the age of 79. Melton was born in Gulfport in 1945 while his father, who was in the Navy, was stationed on the Coast. The family moved to California, and Melton was signed by the Chicago White Sox out of a rec league, per a SABR story. He made his big league debut in 1968. The right-handed hitting third baseman/outfielder slugged 33 homers for the White Sox in 1971 to lead the American League. (Greenville native George Scott tied for the AL homer title in 1975 when he hit 36 for Milwaukee.) Melton, a .253 career hitter, suffered a back injury in 1972 and wasn’t quite the same hitter thereafter. He left Chicago in 1976 as the franchise’s all-time home run leader with 154. He retired after the ’77 season with 160, which ranks ninth among Mississippi-born players on the career list. Melton was a popular broadcaster for the ChiSox for many years after his playing days. “Bill was a friend to many at the White Sox and around baseball, and his booming voice will be missed,” owner Jerry Reinsdorf said in a release by the club.

06 Sep

highlight refresh

The game-winning bomb he hit against Ole Miss back in May no doubt still occupies the top spot on Connor Hujsak’s career highlights page. But his performance on Thursday night in pro ball was pretty special, too. The Mississippi State alum hit three home runs for Low-Class A Charleston in the Tampa Bay system. A 13th-round draft pick in July, Hujsak is batting .297 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 19 games for Charleston this season. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound outfielder hit .325 with nine homers for MSU this season, his second in Starkville. His walk-off two-run shot against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament elimination game is one Bulldogs fans won’t soon forget. … Interestingly enough, the Rays have three other Mississippi college products in their minor league chain: Jake Mangum (MSU) in Triple-A, Matthew Etzel (Southern Miss) in Double-A and Colton Ledbetter (MSU) in High-A. Mangum leads the International League in hitting, while Etzel (No. 25) and Ledbetter (No. 22) are among Tampa Bay’s Top 30 prospects. P.S. In the big leagues, ex-State star Brent Rooker hit two homers for Oakland, his fourth multi-homer game of the season giving him 35 all told. The single-season homer record for Mississippians (native or school alum) in MLB is 47, which former Bulldogs star Rafael Palmeiro reached twice (1999 and 2001). … Tyreque Reed, the Houlka native who played at Itawamba Community College, led the independent Frontier League in hitting this year with a .341 average. The veteran pro hit 12 homers and drove in 52 runs for Washington, which finished with the best record in the league at 67-28. The playoffs began Thursday.

25 Jul

long and gone

Matt Wallner jolted Philadelphia ace Aaron Nola for a 441-foot home run on Wednesday, the first run in a game Minnesota would go on to win 5-4. Former Southern Miss star Wallner’s blast into right-center at Target Field was his fourth with the Twins and his longest in MLB this season. But 441 ranks just seventh on the list of long bombs by Mississippians in the majors in 2024. Ex-Mississippi State standout Brent Rooker owns the longest, a 452-foot shot for Oakland on July 14, according to data on onlyhomers.com. Rooker has the top two and six of the 10 longest homers by players from the state. Austin Riley, the DeSoto Central High alum now with Atlanta, is third on the list with a 449-footer, and he also hit one 446. Six different Mississippians have hit homers of 430 feet or more this season, with MSU alums Nathaniel Lowe, Hunter Renfroe and Jordan Westburg also in that club. The longest homer in the majors this season was a 478-footer struck by San Francisco’s Jorge Soler on Sunday at Colorado. It’s worth noting that Wallner hit a reported 481-foot blast for Triple-A St. Paul at Louisville in mid-June. P.S. Left-hander Ryan Och, a 2021 draftee out of USM, pitched two scoreless innings for San Antonio (San Diego affiliate) on Wednesday, notched his first Double-A victory and cut his ERA to 0.79 in six appearances. … Ex-USM star Tyler Stuart, a 6-foot-9 righty, worked six innings (one run) for his third win for Double-A Binghamton (New York Mets). He is 3-7 despite a 3.96 ERA. … MSU alum and ex-big leaguer Dakota Hudson got rocked in his first start for Triple-A Albuquerque: nine hits, two walks, six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. He was 2-12, 5.84, for Colorado this season.

21 Jul

family affair

On a three Dog night in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, only Jordan Westburg came away feeling any joy. Ex-Mississippi State star Westburg and the Baltimore Orioles celebrated an 8-4 win against Texas, handing former Bulldogs Nathaniel Lowe and Justin Foscue another hard loss. Westburg, a teammate of Foscue’s in Starkville, went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs as the Orioles, first in the American League East, won their 60th game. The Rangers, defending World Series champs, dropped their second straight to the O’s out of the All-Star break and fell to 46-52, 6 games back of surging Houston in the AL West. Lowe and rookie Foscue — recalled from the minors on Saturday — each had a hit and scored a run in the Rangers’ second inning, when they cut a 4-0 deficit to 4-2. It got no closer. Foscue was hitting .241 with three homers and 15 RBIs at Triple-A Round Rock; Saturday was his first MLB game since April 7, when he went on the injured list. Westburg, a 2024 All-Star, is batting .273 with 16 homers for a Baltimore club that leads the majors in bombs. For the record, Brent Rooker, another ex-State star, hit his 22nd homer Saturday for Oakland and leads all Mississippians (native or school alum) in homers this season. (Rooker reportedly is a hot trade candidate.) DeSoto Central High product Austin Riley belted his 13th homer for Atlanta. Of note: Former Southern Miss standout Chuckie Robinson went 1-for-3 in his 2024 big league debut for the Chicago White Sox.