Tag Archives: Jackson Generals

15 Sep

a few observations

Former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon blew a save (just his fourth of the year in 41 chances) on Sunday, got booed by the Philadelphia crowd, made an apparent vulgar gesture as he walked to the dugout, got ejected and then engaged umpire Joe West in a heated confrontation. Can this marriage be saved? Papelbon clearly doesn’t want to be in Philly, and maybe this was the final straw for Phillies management. … Four former Mississippi Braves belted home runs on Sunday, but none did so for Atlanta. Martin Prado and Brian McCann went deep for the New York Yankees, Yunel Escobar for Tampa Bay and Jordan Schafer for Minnesota. … Meanwhile, M-Braves alum Mike Minor allowed eight hits, three walks and five runs in 4 2/3 innings as skidding Atlanta lost its third straight game to a woeful Texas team that is playing a veritable Triple-A lineup. Minor is 6-11 with a 4.74 ERA. The Braves are just one game over .500 and likely have had a fork stuck in their season. … Former Ole Miss star Seth Smith got a hit for San Diego, but it was just his fifth in 35 at-bats. His latest slump has dropped his average to .268, and he has been stuck on 12 home runs for a while also. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton stole a base, his 56th on the year for Cincinnati but first since Sept. 2. He is also slumping (.139 over his last 10 games) at the plate and has seen his average fall to .259. … Former Jackson Generals standout Bobby Abreu is 2-for-3 since the New York Mets recalled him from the minors. Abreu now has 2,468 career knocks and a .291 average.

03 Sep

on the debut watch

Curious to see how Kendall Graveman’s stuff plays in the big leagues. It sure worked in the minors. The ex-Mississippi State standout, a September call-up by Toronto, accidentally discovered a cut fastball, ala Mariano Rivera, this summer while throwing in A-ball. That pitch essentially propelled the right-hander to Double-A, then Triple-A and now to the Blue Jays. He went 14-6 with a 1.83 ERA as a starter at four levels in the minors. The Blue Jays, hanging buy a thread in the American League postseason race, figure to use Graveman out of the bullpen. “A big league starter? I don’t know,” Gary Allenson, Graveman’s manager at Triple-A Buffalo, told the National Post of Toronto. “He doesn’t light up the radar gun. But he’s got good movement on his fastball, and it’s late movement.” Allenson, a former Jackson Generals manager, also said that a “soft tosser” like Graveman can have a hard time getting an MLB opportunity, so Graveman has already beaten those odds. The Alabama native was an eighth-round pick by the Jays in 2013 after he went 8-5 with a 3.09 for State’s College World Series team. P.S. Other interesting call-ups include former Mississippi Braves pitcher Erik Cordier (11-7, 3.71 for the 2010 club) by San Francisco and ex-M-Braves outfielder Antoan Richardson by the New York Yankees. Richardson got a cup of coffee with Atlanta in 2011; Cordier is awaiting his MLB debut.

20 Aug

say it ain’t so

The 40th anniversary of the first game at Smith-Wills Stadium comes next April. What a shame it would be if the Jackson ballpark is no longer standing at that time. Reports are out there that the old yard may be demolished. To make way for a Costco. A Costco on Cool Papa Bell Drive? Squeezed in between the Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and the Murrah High baseball field? Smith-Wills still serves a purpose. Not only does Belhaven University play there, but in recent years so have junior colleges, high schools, youth teams and semi-pro squads. Heck, maybe Biloxi’s homeless Southern League team could move in there next season. Smith-Wills has an unappreciated history. It has been nine years since the last pro game was played there and 15 since the final Texas League game. People forget. They should be reminded. This was a place where stars came out, from Lee Mazzilli to Selwyn Langaigne. Darryl Strawberry called it home, and Mookie Wilson and Jeff Reardon and Lenny Dykstra and Gregg Jefferies. And Billy Wagner and Bobby Abreu and Lance Berkman. Fernando Valenzuela made a visit there, and Pedro Martinez and Mark McGwire and Roberto Alomar and Johnny Damon. The list goes on. Will Clark and a host of other Mississippi State and Ole Miss stars played there, too, in the old Mayor’s Trophy Game. Max Patkin and the San Diego Chicken performed there. And the Silver Bullets and The King and His Court and two U.S. Olympic squads. Six pro teams won league pennants while playing there. These things should not be forgotten; they should be celebrated. They want to take this tradition and put up a wholesale store? Carole King ought to write a song.

05 Aug

full speed ahead

It’s a small sample size but impressive nonetheless. In 13 1/3 professional innings, Mississippi State product Jacob Lindgren has racked up 30 strikeouts with a 0.68 ERA. New York Yankees officials reportedly are calling the 5-foot-11 left-hander “the Strikeout Factory.” Lindgren was an All-America pick this year at State after moving from the rotation to the bullpen and fanning 100 batters in 55 1/3 innings. He was selected by the Yankees in the second round of the June draft, 55th overall, and has quickly moved through three levels. He is currently pitching at high Class A Tampa, where he posted a four-strikeout inning on Sunday. Speculation is that a promotion to Double-A, the real proving ground, may come soon. P.S. We are back to zero former Jackson Generals in the big leagues after the New York Mets designated Bobby Abreu for assignment on Monday. It seems unclear whether the 40-year-old Abreu will go back to the minors.

03 Jun

oldie but goodie

Maybe Bobby Abreu spent last year looking for the fountain of youth. Maybe he found it. The former Jackson Generals star — from way back in 1994 — is batting .315 for the New York Mets at the age of 40. Abreu, the only ex-Gen still playing affiliated ball, is hitting .400 over his last 10 games and went 5-for-13 in a five-game series at Philadelphia, helping the surging Mets win four times. In that series, the Venezuela native contributed four runs, three RBIs, two walks and a stolen base, No. 400 of his career. There is talk that Abreu might see some time in the leadoff spot while Juan Lagares is out with an injury. Abreu’s outstanding MLB career (.292 average, 2,400-plus hits) appeared to be over after he batted just .242 in 100 games with the Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers in 2012. He did not play in 2013. The Phillies gave him a look in spring training this year but he didn’t stick. Then the Mets signed him to a minor league deal and called him up in late April. Abreu’s impact surely has been everything, if not more, than they could have expected. P.S. Louis Coleman, the Greenwood native and former Pillow Academy star, was sent down by Kansas City lugging a 6.27 ERA, more than double his career average. Coleman posted a 0.61 in 27 games for the Royals in 2013. … San Diego signed former Ole Miss star Cody Overbeck (out of the independent Atlantic League) and assigned him to Double-A San Antonio. … Former Hattiesburg High star and onetime big leaguer Robert Carson is back in A-ball with Rancho Cucamonga in the Dodgers’ system. A waiver claim by the Angels (from the Mets) in the off-season, the big left-hander posted a 10.34 ERA in Triple-A, was released last month and signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He pitched for the Quakes on Sunday and gave up a home run in his one inning.

09 May

remember the time

Some nights at the ballpark stay with you. Here’s one: It was May 9, 1996. The Jackson Generals were playing host to the Wichita Wranglers in a Texas League game at Smith-Wills Stadium. There was a player photo giveaway that night: Russ Johnson, the former LSU star who was playing shortstop for the Houston Astros’ Double-A club that season. And wouldn’t you know it: Johnson put on a show. He hit for the cycle, one of baseball’s rarest feats. It was the first time a Generals player had done it in the six years the team had been in Jackson. Johnson, who would go on to play in the big leagues, scored three times and drove in a run as the Generals won 8-4. Former Ole Miss star Kary Bridges also played for the Gens in that game, as did Richard Hidalgo, Chris Hatcher, Donovan Mitchell, Tim Forkner and Dennis Colon. Doug Simons got the win. The announced attendance was 2,284. Still have the box score and the photo. And the memory.

21 Apr

slowly but surely?

It seems odd to put Billy Hamilton and the word “slowly” in the same sentence, but here goes: The former Taylorsville High star is slowly starting to hit for the Cincinnati Reds. The jet-fast Hamilton, feeling some pressure perhaps as the Reds’ new leadoff batter this spring, got off to an awful start but is batting .282 over his last 10 games. He extended his hit streak to five games with a 1-for-5 effort in the Reds’ 8-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. He is now hitting .213 with seven stolen bases in nine tries. He has walked just three times and scored only six runs, but those totals should begin to rise. “I’m starting to get to the point where I’m more relaxed, and I can play this game with the big guys,” Hamilton told mlb.com before getting three hits on Saturday. The Reds, just 8-10, need Hamilton’s spark at the top of the lineup. They could also use some more offensive crackle from Ole Miss alumnus Zack Cozart, who is batting just .153. The Cincy shortstop went 3-for-5 Sunday and belted his first home run, so perhaps things are beginning to turn around for him, too. P.S. The New York Mets reportedly will recall 40-year-old outfielder Bobby Abreu, the only ex-Jackson General still playing affiliated ball. (Freddy Garcia apparently is going to pitch in Taiwan this year.)

06 Apr

bombs away

Seth Loman hit the first home run of the Mississippi Braves’ 2014 season on Saturday night, helping the M-Braves beat Mobile 4-2. Trustmark Park doesn’t give up a lot of bombs — 32 by M-Braves hitters all of last season — but Loman, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound left-handed hitter, is a player who could hit a few. In eight previous pro seasons, he had 110 homers, including 25 in one season in A-ball. The one Loman hit Saturday he pulled over the visitors bullpen in right-center, where the ball seems to carry better than it does to left. … Former M-Braves standout Yunel Escobar, who just signed a contract extension, hit his first homer of the season on Saturday in Tampa Bay’s 5-4 win over Texas. … Southern Miss alumnus Brian Dozier belted his first bomb of the season in Minnesota’s 7-3 win over Cleveland. That was former Jackson Mets infielder Ron Gardenhire’s 1000th win as manager of the Twins. … Ex-Mississippi State star Paul Maholm allowed a home run on Saturday, a three-run blast by Pablo Sandoval that boosted San Francisco to a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Maholm took the loss in his first start for L.A. … And a blast from the recent past: Former M-Braves star Jeff Francoeur homered in his debut for Triple-A El Paso (San Diego Padres) on Thursday night. P.S. Weir’s Roy Oswalt and ex-Jackson Generals star Lance Berkman signed one-day contracts with Houston and retired as Astros in a pregame ceremony at Minute Maid Park on Saturday. Oswalt and Berkman led Houston to the 2005 World Series, the high water mark for the franchise.

04 Apr

they’re everywhere

Former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman was back in the captain’s chair on Thursday night and surely enjoyed the view. In his first game as manager of the Arkansas Travelers — the Los Angeles Angels’ Double-A team — Wellman picked up a 20-7 win over Texas League rival Midland. Wellman, who managed the M-Braves from 2007-10 and won a Southern League pennant in 2008, is among a large group of Mississippi-connected managers in the minor leagues this season. The others: Brian Snitker (Braves-AAA), Jonathan Schuerholz (Braves-A), Rocket Wheeler (Braves-rookie), Scooter Tucker (Indians-A), Rick Sweet (Brewers-AAA), Wally Backman (Mets-AAA), Pedro Lopez (Mets-AA), Al Pedrique (Yankees-A), Travis Chapman (Yankees-rookie), Joe Mikulik (Rangers-A) and Gary Allenson (Blue Jays-AAA). Among the coaches in the minors in 2014 are Mississippi natives Stu Cliburn, Larry Herndon and Marcus Thames, former Ole Miss standout Jeff Fassero and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product Greg Hibbard. There are also some ex-Jackson Mets players and coaches (Blaine Beatty, Jody Davis, Neil Allen, Dwight Bernard, Glenn Abbott); ex-Jackson Generals (Dave Hajek, Chris Holt, Scott Elarton); and a former Jackson Senator (Jeff Ware).

28 Mar

mlb roster news

Found wanting in Minnesota, Alex Presley has found a roster spot in Houston. The Astros have claimed the former Ole Miss standout off waivers and reportedly will put him on their opening day roster as a backup outfielder. Presley, a .264 career hitter, had a poor spring with the Twins and was beaten out by Aaron Hicks for the starting center field job. Presley, a left-handed hitter with some pop and some speed, is the “type of player you hope becomes available in a waiver claim,” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told mlb.com. In other moves: Meridian Community College alumnus Corey Dickerson apparently will make the Colorado 25-man roster with the Rockies deciding to carry six outfielders. … Pascagoula’s Joey Butler, claimed by St. Louis off waivers from Texas in the off-season, was sent down by the Cardinals. … Chris Coghlan, the ex-Ole Miss star, will join Delta State alum Eli Whiteside at Triple-A Iowa; both were in the Chicago Cubs’ camp as non-roster players. … Former Pillow Academy star Louis Coleman, a key member of Kansas City’s vaunted bullpen, may start the season on the disabled list with a finger injury. … Bobby Abreu was released by Philadelphia. With Freddy Garcia having been cut by Atlanta and Lance Berkman retiring in the off-season, there are no former Jackson Generals left in the major leagues. The Astros’ old Double-A club had produced a steady stream of big leaguers starting in 1991 when Tony Eusebio was the first to go up.