Tag Archives: Jackson Mets

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.

02 Jul

a feel for the job

It was a late summer day in 1984. Hours before the game scheduled that night at Smith-Wills Stadium, a player was taking ground balls at shortstop, scooping them up and firing to first base with a beautiful rhythm. A visiting radio broadcaster in the press box remarked about how good “that shortstop out there” looked. It wasn’t a shortstop. It was Roger McDowell, a Jackson Mets pitcher who was still rehabbing from an elbow injury that shelved him for most of that season. McDowell is a man of many skills, as we have seen over the years. He has transitioned smoothly from minor league starter to major league reliever (with big league comedic talents, as well) to pitching coach, first in the minors now in the big leagues. The job he has done in Atlanta this year — his ninth in charge of the Braves’ staff — is worthy of an award. The Braves’ rotation has been plagued by injuries. Three projected front-line starters are out for the season. The relief corps also has taken injury hits. Five pitchers, all recent Mississippi Braves, have made their MLB debuts in the bullpen this season, plugging holes as necessary. And yet, Atlanta has a 3.27 ERA, fifth-best in MLB, third-best in the National League, and leads the NL East standings. It isn’t hitting that got them there. The ’84 JaxMets were a star-studded bunch, but McDowell had some shining moments of his own in the Texas League Championship Series win over Beaumont. He was in the big leagues the next year, and in 1986, he got the win in Game 7 of New York’s World Series triumph over Boston. McDowell pitched for 12 seasons, winning 70 games, saving 159 and posting a 3.30 ERA. He even hit .222. He became a minor league pitching coach in 2002 and succeeded Leo Mazzone, no small task, in Atlanta in 2005. McDowell has handled the job with aplomb and never better than in 2014. P.S. Seth Smith, the former Ole Miss star, led off with a home run for San Diego on Tuesday, ending an 0-for-17 skid and a nine-game homer-less drought. He has nine bombs for the year and is hitting .281, worthy of some All-Star consideration. … Pascagoula native Joey Butler finally made his debut in Japan on Tuesday. Butler, released by St. Louis so that he could sign with the Orix Buffaloes, went 2-for-4 in a win over Rakuten. Among Butler’s teammates is former big leaguer Wily Mo Pena.

26 Jun

getting lucky

Jarrod Dyson is on the board. In the fifth inning on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium, Dyson went yard for the Kansas City Royals. “I get lucky every 1,000 at-bats,” the McComb native and ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star told mlb.com. Actually, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Dyson has hit four homers in 715 career ABs. Point is, he doesn’t get many. The one he hit Wednesday off Dan Haren of the Los Angeles Dodgers was his first in just over a year. Dyson has been hot of late, batting .343 over his last 10 games; he’s at .303 for the year and has 12 stolen bases. But his team has gone cold. A 10-game win streak had propelled Ned Yost’s Royals into first place in the American League Central. But the former Jackson Mets catcher has seen his club drop six of seven since and fall 4 games back of Detroit. P.S. Ti’Quan Forbes, the state’s Mr. Baseball from Columbia High, is off to a hot start in his pro career. Forbes, a second-round pick by Texas, is 8-for-24 for the rookie-level Arizona League Rangers. He has a double, a triple, two RBIs, six runs and a steal in five games. Blake Anderson from West Lauderdale, the first Mississippian drafted (by Miami), is 0-for-8 in two games for the Gulf Coast League Marlins.

24 Jun

seeing stars

Former Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe, who already has reached Double-A in his first full pro season, will play in the All-Star Futures Game at Target Field in Minneapolis on July 13. Renfroe, an outfielder drafted 13th overall by San Diego last summer, was batting .295 with 16 home runs and 52 RBIs at high Class A Lake Elsinore when he was promoted to Double-A San Antonio last week. The Crystal Springs native is 2-for-18 in five games but does have a home run. … Mississippi Braves second baseman Jose Peraza will play for the International team in the Futures Game. P.S. The 78th Texas League All-Star Game will be played tonight at North Little Rock, Ark., with former Mississippi Braves skipper Phillip Wellman, now with the Arkansas Travelers, running one of the clubs. More noteworthy here, however, is that it was 30 years ago this month when Billy Beane homered in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the TL All-Star Game in Jackson. Beane, then with the Jackson Mets, now general manager of the Oakland A’s, was not picked for the game initially but came when called because, he said, he felt like he owed it to the fans in Jackson. He was in his third year with the JaxMets in 1984 and would end that season in the big leagues. His home run in the All-Star Game rates as one of the greatest moments in Smith-Wills Stadium’s long history.

25 May

managing (mostly) fine

Eyebrows were raised when John Gibbons was re-hired to manage the Toronto Blue Jays in 2013. Here lately, eyebrows have been raised over how well the Jays have played under the former Jackson Mets catcher. As we approach the Memorial Day pole – always a key marker in the MLB season – Toronto has won 10 of 12 games and surged to the top of the American League East with a 28-22 record. Gibbons had a losing record in his first run with the Jays from 2004-08, and the club went 74-88 last season. Former Mississippi State star Buck Showalter has his Baltimore Orioles in third place in the AL East at 24-23. Ex-Jackson Mets shortstop Ron Gardenhire, who has endured three straight miserable seasons in Minnesota, is enjoying better days so far in 2014. The Twins, fueled by Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier’s big numbers, are 23-23, tied for second in the AL Central with Kansas City (24-24). The Royals, whom everyone keeps expecting to break out, are managed by ex-JaxMets catcher Ned Yost. Former JaxMets star Billy Beane, the GM in Oakland, has worked more magic in 2014. The A’s are 30-19, leading the AL West. In the NL, former JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle, manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, has seen his club slide to a 22-26 start, fourth in the Central Division. The Bucs made the playoffs last year for the first time since 1992; they’ve got work to do to get back in. P.S. On the MLB transaction watch: Cincinnati has signed former Ole Miss left-hander Matt Maloney to a minor league deal. Maloney debuted with the Reds in 2009. He last pitched in the big leagues in 2012 with Minnesota and has a 5.74 career ERA in 31 games. … Pascagoula’s Joey Butler, who got only five at-bats during his brief stint with St. Louis, is off to Japan, where he will play for the Orix Buffaloes. … Ole Miss alum Phillip Irwin was designated for assignment by Pittsburgh, which took him off the 40-man roster. The right-hander may very well wind up back with the Pirates’ Triple-A team.

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).

03 Jan

anniversary check

While eagerly looking ahead to the start of the 2014 season, it’s the perfect time to note some significant anniversaries related to the Jackson area’s minor league clubs. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Jackson Mets’ dominant season. That team swept both halves in the Texas League East Division and then claimed the franchise’s second pennant in the playoffs. The ’84 JaxMets, managed by Sam Perlozzo, featured the likes of Lenny Dykstra, Mark Carreon, Billy Beane, Greg Olson, Dave Cochrane, Al Pedrique, Steve Springer, Jay Tibbs, Calvin Schiraldi, Randy Myers and Floyd Youmans — all future big leaguers. Ten years later — and 20 years ago — the Jackson Generals won the TL East playoffs in one of Smith-Wills Stadium’s most unforgettable games. The Gens, down 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth of the decisive Game 5, got back-to-back home runs from Tom Nevers and Jeff Ball to stun rival Shreveport. The ’94 Generals, managed by Sal Butera, lost in the TL Championship Series. Bobby Abreu (still not retired) was the star hitter for that club. Of course, who could forget that in 2004 reports surfaced and were later confirmed that the Greenville Braves of the Southern League were going to move to a new ballpark in Pearl for the 2005 season. Hard to believe this will be the Mississippi Braves’ 10th season at Trustmark Park.

17 Oct

october memories

Kirk Gibson’s dramatic home run in the 1988 World Series has been garnering much attention of late. The 25th anniversary of that moment, and of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ last world championship, fall in this month. Gibson’s homer came in Game 1 of the Series, which underdog LA won in a rather anticlimactic five games against Oakland. Much more compelling that October was the ’88 National League Championship Series, which fans of the New York Mets — and the Jackson Mets — remember but not fondly. The Mets, two years removed from their last world title, won 100 games in 1988 and were arguably the best team in the NL. There were 12 former Jackson Mets on the NLCS roster, and former JaxMets skipper Davey Johnson was the manager. Darryl Strawberry hit .300 in that series with a homer and six RBIs. Lenny Dykstra batted .400 (with six runs), Gregg Jefferies .333 and Wally Backman .273. Randy Myers picked up two wins working out of the bullpen, and Rick Aguilera posted a 1.29 ERA. But the Mets lost the series, which may have turned at Shea Stadium in Game 4, in which they blew a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning and lost in 12 (on a Gibson homer off Roger McDowell). That squared the series. New York won Game 6 to stay alive. But in Game 7, the Mets committed two costly errors, watched Ron Darling get KO’d in the second inning and managed just five hits off Orel Hershisher in a 6-0 defeat. That was really the last hurrah for that core group of Mets, so many of whom had passed through Smith-Wills Stadium. The team fell to 87 wins and missed the postseason in 1989, and Johnson was fired early on in 1990. Coincidentally, that was the last year of the Jackson Mets. The honeymoon that began in 1975 was over. The Smith-Wills to Shea pipeline closed. P.S. Willis Steenhuis, a fixture in Jackson-area baseball for many years, will be formally inducted into the Hinds Community College Hall of Fame today. Steenhuis was a standout pitcher for the Eagles in the late 1950s and went on to play at Mississippi College and in pro ball in the Baltimore Orioles system. He became a very successful high school coach, winning a state title at Wingfield, and remains involved in the state semi-pro organization.