the long and short of it
Now that the 2014 Ole Miss team has made history — reaching the College World Series for the first time in 42 years — the Rebels must hope history doesn’t repeat. Ole Miss’ 1972 trip to Omaha lasted just two games. The Rebels lost 8-6 to Southern Cal and 9-8 to Texas. That Ole Miss team was coached by Rebels legend Jake Gibbs, who just the year before was catching for the New York Yankees. The stars were shortstop Steve Dillard — future big leaguer (nice career) and future manager of the Jackson DiamondKats (forgettable season) — outfielder Paul Husband and pitcher Jim Pittman, who won 10 games for a 28-16 club. The ’72 Rebels won the SEC Championship Series 2-games-to-none against Vanderbilt. Next they won the NCAA District III playoffs, going 5-1 in the double-elimination affair and beating South Alabama twice for the right to go to Omaha. It was Ole Miss’ fourth CWS berth. Having waited so long for the fifth, maybe the Rebels will stay a little longer. P.S. A spinning managerial wheel put pitcher Tony Sipp in right field for Houston on Monday night. Left-hander Sipp, the former Moss Point High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star, moved from the mound to the outfield (for one batter, who walked) and back again during the eighth inning at Arizona. It was the first MLB outfield appearance for the veteran Sipp, who was a standout outfielder in amateur ball, playing the position at Clemson as well as in high school and junior college. He faced six batters Monday and retired five of them, notching his fourth hold in the Astros’ 4-3 win and lowering his ERA to 2.70.