Tag Archives: Jackson Mets

08 Oct

chasing a ring

Though he appeared in only 18 games in the big leagues, fans of the old Jackson Mets might remember that John Gibbons could play a little bit. The Toronto Blue Jays manager, a first-round pick by the New York Mets in 1980, was the regular catcher for the Double-A JaxMets in 1983 and batted .298 with 18 homers and 67 RBIs for a club that made it to the Texas League Championship Series. He was a standout on a team that included Billy Beane, Kevin Mitchell, Herm Winningham, Roger McDowell and Calvin Schiraldi. Gibbons was penciled in to start for the big Mets in 1984 before being injured in spring training. Soon thereafter the Mets traded for Gary Carter. Gibbons was up for a while with the Mets’ 1986 world championship club but didn’t play in the postseason. He was the bullpen catcher that October and got a ring, but, he told the Toronto Sun, “I didn’t really feel like I was part of that team.” He never got back to The Show as a player. Gibbons won two championships as a minor league manager in the Mets’ system but struggled in his first opportunity in the big leagues, a stormy tenure with the Blue Jays from 2004-08. Toronto gave him a much-questioned second chance in 2013, and now he has the Jays in the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. Gibbons is very much a part of this team, which many think is the favorite to win a ring. Maybe he can manage a little bit, too.

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.

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.

30 Sep

championship mettle

Can’t let September end without another nod to the 1985 Jackson Mets, who won the Texas League championship in this month 30 years ago. The ’85 JaxMets, managed by Sam Perlozzo, won the second half in the TL East, beat Arkansas 2-0 in a best-of-three division playoff and then swept El Paso four straight for the pennant. But it wasn’t a season of smooth sailing. Injuries and inconsistency marked a first half that saw the team finish 31-35, which many felt was not indicative of its talent. Perlozzo, who had won titles in 1983 at Class A Lynchburg and ’84 in Jackson, called it his “most challenging season.” The team was led by a strong core of future big leaguers: Biloxi native Barry Lyons, Dave Magadan, Kevin Elster, Mark Carreon, Randy “Moose” Milligan, Keith Miller and Stanley Jefferson. The pitching staff featured DeWayne Vaughn, Dave Wyatt, Craig Weissmann, Tom Burns, Jim Adamczak and Ed Pruitt. The El Paso team they encountered in the championship series was stocked with sluggers like Joey Meyer (37 homers that year), Billy Jo Robidoux (133 RBIs) and Glenn Braggs. Chris Bosio was the Diablos’ ace. The JaxMets went to El Paso’s hitter-friendly Dudley Field for the first three games and won them all, then came back to Smith-Wills Stadium for the clincher. The September surge was a case of a very talented team finding its form at the right time, and it produced the last of the JaxMets’ three TL championships.

27 Sep

by the numbers

100 – Runs this season for Brian Dozier, the former Southern Miss star who scored again in Minnesota’s big (aren’t they all now?) win over Detroit on Saturday. Dozier has reached the 100-run mark each of the last two years.
22 – Years since Toronto last made the postseason, a drought that has ended on the watch of manager John Gibbons, the second former Jackson Mets catcher to get a team into the 2015 American League playoffs. (Ned Yost of Kansas City is the other. Former JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle has his Pittsburgh team in the National League postseason, and the New York Mets are in, too, as NL East champs, though there are no former OJMs with the team in any capacity.)
12 – Holds by Tony Sipp, the ex-Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star who notched his latest for Houston on Saturday in a crucial win against Texas in their AL West scrap.
5 – Hits by Corey Dickerson, the former Meridian CC standout, in Colorado’s two wins over NL West leader Los Angeles Dodgers in their current series. Dickerson, batting .323, also has three RBIs and three runs in the two games.
2 – Hits by Fred Lewis, the Gulf Coast CC product who added an RBI in Southern Maryland’s Freedom Division series clincher against Lancaster on Saturday. Jackson native Stan Cliburn’s club next plays for the independent Atlantic League championship.
0 – At-bats for Ed Easley, the former Mississippi State star, since St. Louis recalled him to the majors on Sept. 11. Easley is still seeking his first big league hit.

25 Sep

only the beginning

Oh, the Kansas City Royals celebrated on Thursday night. The video evidence is there. Much champagne and beer were spilled after the 10-4 win against Seattle. The Royals – and Mississippians Jarrod Dyson and Louis Coleman — are American League Central champs. But this celebration was different from last year’s, when the Royals claimed a wild card and made the postseason for the first time in 29 years. “We expected this from the first day of the season,” manager Ned Yost, the ex-Jackson Mets catcher (1976-77), told the Kansas City Star, adding that he has “eyes on a much bigger prize.” That would be the World Series crown, which KC was one victory from taking last season. The oft-criticized Yost still has a losing record as a big league manager (919-967) and is under .500 as the Royals’ skipper (462-465). But he has now produced three straight winning seasons, and note that many predictions did not have the Royals as a playoff team in 2015. Yost, third in the AL manager of the year voting in 2014, might be due for that honor. … Dyson, from McComb, and Coleman, from Schlater, didn’t play in Thursday’s clincher. Dyson, the pinch-running and defensive specialist, wasn’t needed, and Coleman reportedly is nursing an arm injury. Dyson has 28 runs, 26 steals and eight outfield assists in 83 games. Coleman, a recent call-up, has worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings but none since Sept. 13. P.S. The spotlight tonight should be on Houston, where the Astros and Texas Rangers begin a three-game series that could settle the AL West. Houston, long the front-runner in the division, now trails red-hot Texas by 3.5 games. Former Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland from Amory has been a force in the heart of Texas’ lineup. Tony Sipp, a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College alum out of Pascagoula, is a lefty specialist in the Houston pen. The pair could meet in a big moment this weekend.

24 Sep

turn up the heat

As if there weren’t enough tension in the current Baltimore-Washington series, leave it to Jonathan Papelbon to inject some more on Wednesday. The Beltway rivals are hanging by a thread in their respective playoff quests, and the Orioles’ 4-3 win – which turned on a Manny Machado homer in the seventh inning – was a punch to the gut for the Nationals. In the ninth, ex-Mississippi State standout Papelbon plunked Machado and was promptly ejected. Machado was irate about getting hit, calling it “coward stuff,” among other things. Papelbon, who went up and in twice on Machado before hitting him in the shoulder, denied it was intentional. O’s manager Buck Showalter said of Papelbon, his fellow MSU alum, to The Associated Press: “He kind of reminds me of the wrestlers who pull somebody’s hair and then they throw their hands up.” Nats star Bryce Harper said he expects to get hit in today’s series finale. Stay tuned. … In other Magnolia State news, Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier hit his 28th homer – his first to the opposite field in 2015 – in Minnesota’s win. Southwest Mississippi Community College product Jarrod Dyson stole his 26th base and hit a game-tying sac fly in the ninth as Kansas City rallied to win. Former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn notched his 12th win with six shutout innings for St. Louis. Meridian CC alum Corey Dickerson had three hits, including his seventh homer, in Colorado’s loss to Pittsburgh, which clinched a playoff berth. Clint Hurdle, the former Jackson Mets skipper, has his Pirates club in the postseason for the third straight year. And former Mississippi Braves hurler Arodys Vizcaino notched his seventh save as Atlanta beat the New York Mets. In Vizcaino, who has a 1.86 ERA, the Braves may have found their closer for 2016.

17 Sep

farm livin’

Houston and Texas are slugging it out for first place in the American League West in Arlington, with the Rangers, now up 1½ games, landing most of the big punches through three games of the four-game series. Meanwhile, down on the farm, the Triple-A affiliates of both clubs are facing off for the Pacific Coast League pennant. No doubt former Ole Miss standout Alex Presley would rather be with the Astros, but playing for a championship with Fresno can’t feel too bad. Especially when you’re hitting .481 in the postseason, with four RBIs, four runs and three steals through six games. Presley and the Grizzlies squared the PCL finals at 1-all with a 3-1 win at Round Rock on Wednesday night. Presley, 30, who has spent parts of six years in the majors – eight games with Houston this year – batted .292 this season with three home runs, 49 RBIs and 15 steals for Fresno. The lefty-hitting outfielder might get another call from the Astros before it’s all said and done in the AL West. … Someday, perhaps, Biloxi Shuckers fans will sit at the bar and recall the days of Orlando Arcia, much like old Jackson Mets fans might remember Lee Mazzilli. Arcia, a 21-year-old shortstop, went 2-for-3 with a homer as host Biloxi beat Chattanooga 7-1 at MGM Park in the opener of the Southern League Championship Series. He is hitting .625 with three bombs, nine RBIs and six runs in four postseason games after batting .307 with eight homers and 69 RBIs during the inaugural season of Shuckers baseball. Mazzilli was the first MLB star to emerge from Jackson’s old Double-A club back in the mid-’70s. Arcia, Milwaukee’s top prospect, may well become the first ex-Shucker to do so.

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.

31 Aug

wait till next year

The Oakland A’s are one of those teams that enters September thinking about next year. And one of the things the A’s must be thinking about is whether Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz can fill the bill as their closer in 2016. The big left-hander, a converted starter, has gotten some looks in that role in August and had some success. He is 2-for-4 in save chances for the month with a couple of holds and a 1.42 ERA in 11 games. “It seems like every time he’s out there he’s more and more comfortable,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin told mlb.com. For the year, in 43 games (34 relief appearances), Pomeranz has a 3.61 ERA, three saves, a 4-5 record and 75 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings. Pomeranz was the fifth overall pick by Cleveland in 2010 but hasn’t really blossomed over five tours as a big leaguer. Closing might be his calling, and next year might be his time. P.S. It has to have been a trying year for Roger McDowell, the former Jackson Mets star now in his 10th season as Atlanta’s pitching coach. The Braves’ pitching is a mess, and it’s not his fault. Trades and injuries have gutted the staff. The team has used 34 different pitchers, some of them very young, some way past their prime, very few effective. The staff ERA of 4.43 ranks 26th in baseball, and it’s 5.28 since the All-Star break. They’re second in the majors in walks. They’ve blown 21 saves, most in MLB. They just allowed 38 runs in three games at home against the New York Yankees. The Braves have been among the majors’ leaders in staff ERA every year under McDowell – first in 2013 and fifth in 2014 — and for many years before that. This is a shock to the system for Braves Nation and raises the question, Are they really going to be able to clean this up by 2017?