Tag Archives: Jackson Generals

22 Oct

a bright spot

Considering the Chicago Cubs’ star-crossed relationship with the World Series – no titles since 1908, no appearances since 1945 – it’s more than a little ironic that one of the greatest single-game pitching performances in World Series history was delivered by a Cubs hurler. In Game 3 of the ’45 Series, Waynesboro native Claude Passeau threw a one-hit shutout against Detroit. Baseball Digest, in its September/October issue, rated it among the top 10 Series pitching feats of all-time, in the company of legendary games thrown by Don Larsen, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. Passeau, who played at Moss Point High and Millsaps, faced just 28 batters in the 3-0 win at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium that gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead in the series. The Tigers lineup Passeau shut down included Hank Greenberg, Rudy York (who had the lone hit, a second-inning single), Doc Cramer and Meridian native Skeeter Webb. Passeau, a 162-game winner in a big league career that ended in 1947, also pitched well in his other Series start that year, departing in the seventh inning of Game 6 with a 5-3 lead. The Cubs won 8-7 in 12 innings, then lost Game 7 9-3 at Wrigley, still the last World Series game played at the Friendly Confines. P.S. Ex-Ole Miss standout Chris Coghlan, who had a good year with the Cubs (.250, 16 homers, 41 RBIs), didn’t produce in the postseason, going 1-for-12 overall, 0-for-7 in the National League Championship Series. Coghlan got one start against the New York Mets, in Game 2 at Citi Field on Sunday, and was robbed of a home run by Curtis Granderson. … A Butera is going to the 2015 World Series. Sal Butera, who managed the Jackson Generals to a Texas League championship in 1993, is a scout for Toronto and is currently in uniform as a coach. Son Drew is Kansas City’s backup catcher. The Royals lead the Blue Jays 3-2 in the American League Championship Series. Sal won a ring as a backup catcher with Minnesota in 1987.

07 Oct

wild things

The Chicago Cubs’ lineup isn’t official yet, but speculation is that Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan won’t be in it and ex-Mississippi Braves standout Tommy La Stella will be. The Cubs take on Pittsburgh tonight in the National League Wild Card Game at PNC Park. Coghlan hit .250 with 16 homers and 41 RBIs while playing a variety of positions, but his playing time decreased down the stretch. And he is 2-for-13 against Pirates starter Gerrit Cole. Coghlan told ESPN he wants to be in there: “I feel like I’m one of the best eight guys out there.” La Stella, who batted .269 in just 33 games, could get the nod at third base, with Kris Bryant going to left and Kyle Schwarber to right, reports said. Both Coghlan and La Stella are left-handed hitters. … Wonder if the Pirates have forgotten that it was Coghlan’s take out slide that ended shortstop Jung Ho Kang’s season on Sept. 17? No one called it a dirty play, but still, it might be a motivating factor. Clint Hurdle’s Pirates may need all the cosmic help they can summon against Jake Arrieta. … Tony Sipp appeared to be amped up – perhaps too much — for his appearance in Tuesday’s American League Wild Card Game. The animated lefty out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College registered a scoreless seventh inning in Houston’s 3-0 win over New York at Yankee Stadium, but it took him 23 pitches to get four batters. He threw only 11 strikes. Facing the Nos. 5-8 hitters, starting with ex-M-Braves star Brian McCann, Sipp fanned one and walked one. But he got the hold. In 10 appearances in September and October, Sipp yield just one run. … Blast from the past: The Astros’ coaching staff includes former Jackson Generals hitting coach Dave Hudgens and ex-Jackson Mets catcher Alan Zinter. … Houston will face Kansas City – managed by another old JaxMets catcher, Ned Yost – in the AL Division Series. The Royals’ roster is expected to include former Southwest Mississippi CC star Jarrod Dyson but apparently not former Pillow Academy standout Louis Coleman. Coleman appeared in just four games at season’s end, posting a 0.00 ERA. M-Braves product Kris Medlen likely will be on the roster; he went 6-2 with a 4.01 ERA in 15 games coming off Tommy John surgery. He is 40-22, 3.06 career. Still wondering why Atlanta let him go.

06 Oct

back in the day

Houston makes its first appearance in the postseason in 10 years tonight when it plays New York at Yankee Stadium in the American League Wild Card Game. The Astros had been bad for so long that it seems hard to believe they were once a playoff regular. Between 1997 and 2005, they were in the playoffs six times. They won three straight National League Central championships from 1997-99 and another in 2001. And, yes, a bunch of former Jackson Generals – 26 at one time or another – played on those four teams. (For the record, ex-Jackson Mets Tim Bogar and Chuck Carr and Mississippians Dave Clark, Jay Powell and Charlie Hayes also made appearances in that period.) Houston’s Double-A club played at Smith-Wills Stadium from 1991-99, won Texas League pennants in 1993 and ’96 and produced some outstanding big league talent that aided in winning those NL Central titles. Jackson’s Houston connection included Bobby Abreu, Lance Berkman, Billy Wagner, Richard Hidalgo, Julio Lugo, Chris Holt, Shane Reynolds, Chris Truby, John Halama and Tony Eusebio, who was the first General to reach the big leagues in 1991. The Astros won only the one NL pennant during that run of success, in 2005, when they got in the playoffs as a wild card. There were only two ex-Gens left on the roster by then: Berkman and Raul Chavez. It was fun while it lasted.

05 Oct

nothing doing

There were seven no-hitters – two by Max Scherzer — in the big leagues this season, running to 294 the total number of official no-hitters since 1876. You won’t find Mississippi legends Guy Bush, Claude Passeau or Boo Ferriss on that list. Atley Donald, Joe Gibbon and Oil Can Boyd aren’t on there, either. In fact, no Mississippian (native or college alum) has thrown a complete game no-hitter in the majors. However, five players with Magnolia State connections have been involved in no-no’s. Vern Bickford, who pitched for the original Jackson Senators in the ’40s when they were a Boston Braves farm club, threw a no-hitter for Boston against Brooklyn on Aug. 11, 1950. On Sept. 25, 1986, former Jackson Mets pitcher Mike Scott tossed a no-no for Houston against San Francisco. On June 11, 2003, in one of the strangest no-hitters, Weir’s Roy Oswalt and ex-Jackson Generals star Billy Wagner pitched the first and last inning, respectively, of a six-man gem thrown by the Astros against the New York Yankees. And on Sept. 1 of last year, Mississippi State product Jonathan Papelbon got the last three outs for Philadelphia in a four-man no-hitter vs. Atlanta.

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.

12 Sep

puttin’ on the hits

While memories of Pete Rose’s record-setting hit are still fresh — the 30th anniversary of No. 4,192 was Friday — here’s a look at the all-time hits leaders among players with various Magnolia State connections. The leader among Mississippi college alumni to play in the major leagues is Rafael Palmeiro, who finished with 3,020 and is one of just four retired players (along with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray) to have both 3,000 hits and 500 homers. (He is also the only one not in the Hall of Fame, but that’s another story.) For the record, Will Clark, the other half of the Thunder and Lightning duo at Mississippi State, finished with 2,176 hits. Dave Parker leads Mississippi natives with 2,712 hits. Three others from the state are in the 2,000 hit club: Buddy Myer (2,131), Ellis Burks (2,107) and Frank White (2,006). George Scott, with 1,992, came up just short, as did Gee Walker (1,991). Interesting fact: Jeff Francoeur has more career hits (1,289) than fellow former Mississippi Braves star Brian McCann (1,281). Would never have guessed that. Who’s the all-time leader among former Jackson Mets? No, not Darryl Strawberry or Lenny Dykstra. It’s Hubie Brooks with 1,608. Gregg Jefferies is second on that list with 1,593. The highest ranking ex-Jackson Generals player is Bobby Abreu with 2,470. Lance Berkman had 1,905. P.S. Bobby Bradley, the former Harrison Central High star, made Baseball America’s All-Low Class A team as the first baseman. Bradley hit .269 with 27 home runs and 92 RBIs for Lake County in the Cleveland system.

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.

03 Aug

here and there

The list of Mississippians to play for the Mississippi Braves will grow tonight when Jackson native Zack Bird makes his Double-A debut at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Former Murrah High star Bird joins a group that includes Jay Powell, Michael Rosamond, John Thomson, Van Pope and Brent Leach. Powell (West Lauderdale High), Rosamond (Madison Central), Pope (Terry) and Leach (Brandon) were prep and college stars in the state. Thomson, a Vicksburg native who appeared with the M-Braves on two different major league rehab assignments, went to high school in Sulphur, La. A number of Mississippi natives also played for Jackson’s old Texas League franchise, including Murrah product Fletcher Thompson, the second baseman for the 1993 pennant-winning Generals. Bird, acquired last week from the Los Angeles Dodgers, was 5-7 with a 4.75 ERA in 19 games (17 starts) at the high Class A level this season. … The Tippah Tribe beat the Tupelo Thunder 5-1 on Sunday in New Albany to claim the Cotton States League championship. Northwest Mississippi Community College alum Stephen Sexton and Bryan Ray Jr. homered for the Tribe. … Former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier matched his career-high for homers with No. 23 for Minnesota on Sunday; the Tupelo native, now in his fourth MLB season, has 70 career homers. … Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton is 51-for-58 on steal attempts this season for Cincinnati, an 88 percent success rate. His 2014 rate was 71 percent; he was thrown out an MLB-high 23 times while stealing 56 bases. … McComb native and Meridian CC alum Corey Dickerson is back on Colorado’s disabled list, his third trip of the year, this time due to broken ribs. He has played just 43 games, hitting .315 with five homers. … Former Itawamba CC standout Desmond Jennings is 1-for-5 in two rehab games at Triple-A Durham. Out since April with a knee problem, he figures to rejoin the Tampa Bay club sometime soon. … Last but hardly least, ex-Richton High star JaCoby Jones hit three homers for Erie on Sunday, his third game with Detroit’s Double-A club since he was traded last week (for Joakim Soria) by Pittsburgh. Jones, a shortstop, had 10 homers in A-ball this season and 23 in 2014.

12 Jul

whatever happened to …

Travious Relaford, a former juco All-America shortstop at Hinds Community College, is back on the field at Class A Augusta, where he is batting .272 with 24 RBIs and 24 runs in 48 games. Relaford went 3-for-6 with an RBI and a steal in a doubleheader on July 7, his first game action after a month on the disabled list. It’s hard to get a read on how Relaford stands in the San Francisco Giants’ grand scheme. Drafted in the 44th round in 2011, he didn’t start his pro career until 2012. He got a look in Double-A in 2013 but hit only .188 and found himself on a short-season Class A team in 2014. He batted .283 with three homers and 28 RBIs for Salem-Keizer and made the Northwest League All-Star Game. He appeared in a couple of major league spring games this year, then was assigned to the low Class A South Atlantic League. He isn’t on any of the lists of the Giants’ top prospects, but he is only 23 and he appears to be progressing. P.S. Sixteen years after the Jackson Generals last played at Smith-Wills Stadium, there are two alums of the old Houston Double-A affiliate still playing. Daryle Ward, at age 40, is in the independent Atlantic League, batting .253 with one homer for Southern Maryland (Jackson native Stan Cliburn’s club). Ward hit 90 MLB homers and has 189 others as a pro. Freddy Garcia, 38, is pitching in the Mexican League. The big right-hander, in his 21st pro season, has a 6.00 ERA in five games for Tabasco.

06 Apr

battle stations

Eli Whiteside, who retired in the off-season at 35, is now San Francisco’s bullpen catcher. Whiteside, a former Delta State star from New Albany, played 216 MLB games spread over 10 years, batting .210 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs. He was in the majors briefly with the Chicago Cubs last season and signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the off-season before opting to retire. … There are still four managers with Mississippi connections in MLB: Former Mississippi State star Buck Showalter in Baltimore, ex-Jackson Mets skipper Clint Hurdle with Pittsburgh and former JaxMets players Ned Yost and John Gibbons in Kansas City and Toronto. Coaches with connections are scattered about, as well: Bobby Dickerson (Laurel resident, Baltimore), Jim Hickey (Jackson Generals coach, Tampa Bay), Bobby Thigpen (State, Chicago White Sox), Mickey Callaway (Ole Miss, Cleveland), Dave Clark (Jackson State, Detroit), Neil Allen (JaxMets, Minnesota), Dave Hudgens (Gens coach, Houston), Alan Zinter (JaxMets, Houston), Dave Magadan (JaxMets, Texas), Roger McDowell (JaxMets, Atlanta), Jeff Branson (Waynesboro, Pittsburgh) and Chris Maloney (State, St. Louis). … Former Southern Miss and MLB star Kevin Young is now a special assistant for the Pirates and spent much of spring training working with Pedro Alvarez, who is shifting from third to first base, as Young did in his playing days. … Former Mississippi Braves managers Brian Snitker and Rocket Wheeler are still running teams in Atlanta’s system, at Gwinnett and Danville, respectively, and ex-M-Braves standout Scott Thorman will manage in Kansas City’s system in 2015. Other minor league skippers with Mississippi ties: Rick Sweet, Gary Allenson, Wally Backman, Al Pedrique, Joe Mikulik, Pedro Lopez and Jimmy Gonzalez.