Tag Archives: Meridian Community College

25 Jan

a dead deal?

Friday became Saturday and Saturday became Sunday and Jonathan Papelbon is still a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. The rumored trade that would have moved the former Mississippi State star to the Milwaukee Brewers is all but dead, a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel would seem to indicate. Money issues in Papelbon’s contract appear to be the snag. Papelbon, 34, has a no-trade clause and Milwaukee is on the list of destinations he must approve. Papelbon, who has 325 career saves (39 last year), would fill the Brewers’ need for a closer. He has said he wants to play for a contender, and the Brewers are much better positioned to contend in 2015 than are the Phillies. It seems like a move Papelbon would welcome, even if it meant making some concessions. P.S. The lists just keep on coming: Former Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson, after a breakout year with Colorado, was rated the No. 8 left fielder in the game by MLB Network. Bobby Bradley, the Harrison Central High alum who had a sensational pro debut in the Cleveland system, was ranked the ninth-best first base prospect by mlb.com. And MSU alum Hunter Renfroe, who reached the Double-A level in 2014, is rated the No. 3 prospect in San Diego’s system by Baseball America and projected to make the majors by 2016.

03 Nov

the envelope please …

It’s not always about numbers in baseball. But sometimes, the numbers are just so good, they have to be celebrated. Corey Dickerson had just such numbers in 2014. In his first full season with the Colorado Rockies, the McComb native and ex-Meridian Community College standout batted .312 with 24 home runs, 76 RBIs and 74 runs in 131 games. He slugged .567. He had 27 doubles, six triples and eight stolen bases. Even though the Rockies had a rough year, Dickerson’s numbers make him an easy choice for the 2014 Cool Papa Bell Award, given here for the best season by a Mississippian (native or college alum) in the major leagues. Dickerson, 25, a left-handed hitting outfielder, was projected (by Rotowire.com) to hit .275 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in a backup role in 2014. He far exceeded those numbers and appears poised now for even bigger and better things. … Dickerson gets the nod for the award this year over Billy Hamilton (.250, 72 runs, 56 steals in 152 games as a rookie for Cincinnati); Brian Dozier (23 homers, 71 RBIs, 112 runs, 21 steals for Minnesota); and Lance Lynn (15-10, 2.74 ERA, 203 2/3 innings for division-winning St. Louis). … Previous winners of the Cool Papa Bell Award, named for the first Mississippi native to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, are Desmond Jennings, Lynn, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Chris Coghlan.

27 Oct

eye on 2015

The calendar still says 2014, but in a real sense the 2015 season already has started for Tyler Moore. And it has started well. The former Northwest Rankin High, Meridian Community College and Mississippi State star hit his fourth home run on Sunday in the Dominican Winter League. Moore has 10 hits all told in 28 at-bats (.357) with 10 RBIs for Toros del Este. Moore, who spent most of 2014 with Triple-A Syracuse, will go to spring training in February vying for an MLB roster spot with Washington – or perhaps with some other big league club. The right-handed slugger, who has spent parts of three seasons in the majors with the Nationals, has 18 career MLB homers and 106 minor league bombs. P.S. Former Petal High standout Anthony Alford, returning to baseball in Toronto’s system, will play the outfield for Canberra in the Australian Baseball League. The Cavalry’s season starts Nov. 6. Alford, the former Ole Miss and Southern Miss football player, is joined on the Canberra roster by Marcus Lemon, a onetime Mississippi Braves player who is the son of Jackson native and former MLB star Chet Lemon.

17 Oct

back to work

After a tough year in limited time in The Show, Mississippi State product Tyler Moore is getting some extra work in the Dominican Winter League. Moore, a Brandon native who also played at Meridian Community College, went 1-for-2 with a run and two walks for Toros del Este in the DWL season opener on Thursday. Moore broke into the big leagues with a bang in 2012, belting 10 home runs and hitting .263 in 156 at-bats for Washington. His didn’t fare as well in 2013 (.222, four homers in 167 ABs) and scuffled again this season (.231, four homers in 91 ABs). Moore, 27, who can play first base or left field, has right-handed power that MLB clubs value. He twice hit 31 homers in a season in the minors and got 10 bombs (with a .265 average) at Triple-A Syracuse this year. Complicating Moore’s status in the Nationals’ organization is the emergence this season of Steven Souza Jr., another strong, right-handed hitting outfielder.

29 Sep

the curtain drops

The Mississippi star on the final day of the MLB regular season was T.J. House, the Picayune High product who pitches for Cleveland. House, a rookie lefty who turns 25 today, went five innings Sunday for another victory, improving his season numbers to 5-3, 3.35 ERA. He went 4-0 over his last seven starts and appears to have thrust himself into the Indians’ plans for 2015. … Pillow Academy product Louis Coleman, with postseason-bound Kansas City, notched his first save of the season by striking out the side in a 6-4 Royals win. It’s unlikely that Coleman, with a 5.56 ERA this year, will make KC’s postseason roster. … Kendall Graveman, the Mississippi State product who rocketed to the big leagues this year with Toronto, tossed a scoreless inning in his fifth appearance and ended with a 3.86 ERA. … The Mississippi-connected hitters had a very quiet final day. The only one to get a hit was MSU alum Tyler Moore, who went 1-for-2, finishing at .231 this season for National League East champ Washington. Ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier (Minnesota) was 0-for-4 (.242); Ole Miss alum Alex Presley (Houston) 0-for-4 (.244); UM’s Zack Cozart (Cincinnati) 0-for-3 (.221); ex-Rebels star Chris Coghlan (Chicago Cubs) 0-for-4 (.283); Jackson native and Ole Miss alum Seth Smith (San Diego) 0-for-3 (.266); and Southwest Mississippi Community College product Jarrod Dyson (Kansas City) 0-for-1 (.269). … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton (Cincinnati) missed a fourth straight game because of a concussion. He finished at .250 with 56 steals. Meridian CC alum Corey Dickerson (Colorado) missed the final three games of the year to be with his wife in Mississippi for the birth of their first child. Dickerson hit .312 with 24 homers. P.S. Bobby Abreu, the last Jackson General still playing, got a hit in his final MLB at-bat for the New York Mets. Abreu, who has announced his retirement, finished with 2,470 hits, a .291 average, 288 homers, 1,363 RBIs and 400 stolen bases. Hall of Fame worthy? Close.

21 Sep

spoiler alert

Your spoiler this day was ex-Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan, who stuck it to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Coghlan hit two home runs, a leadoff blast and a two-run go-ahead shot in the eighth inning, to lift the Chicago Cubs to an 8-7 victory at Wrigley Field. The Dodgers already have clinched a playoff berth but are trying to nail down the National League West title, a more valuable prize. Coghlan, having a bounce-back campaign for the Cubs after losing his way with Miami, went 4-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs. The lefty-hitting outfielder is batting .283 with eight home runs, 38 RBIs and 45 runs. “I just feel blessed at the opportunity I have,” Coghlan told The Associated Press. He may well get another opportunity with the young but talented Cubs in 2015. P.S. Mississippians in the majors put on quite a power display on Saturday. Also going deep were Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson (No. 24), Southern Miss product Brian Dozier (No. 21), former Ole Miss star Alex Presley (No. 6) and ex-Rebel Zack Cozart (No. 4).

17 Sep

as the dust clears

Buck Showalter and his Baltimore Orioles celebrated an American League East championship after beating visiting Toronto 8-2 on Tuesday night. It’s the first division crown for the O’s since 1997. Former Mississippi State standout Showalter will make his fourth foray into the postseason as an MLB skipper looking for another elusive achievement. For all his success (.521 winning percentage) in various places, Showalter has yet to win a postseason series. … In Atlanta, former MSU star Tyler Moore and Ole Miss product Aaron Barrett got to celebrate as Washington clinched the National League East with a 3-0 win over the Braves. … In the role of spoiler, Meridian Community College alumnus Corey Dickerson went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs to lead Colorado to a 10-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose NL West lead over San Francisco slipped to 3 games. Dickerson is batting .307 (he’d be in the top five in the batting race if he had enough plate appearances) with 23 bombs, 73 RBIs, 70 runs, 27 doubles, five triples and eight stolen bases. … Former Mississippi Braves star Charlie Morton, making his first start in a month because of injury issues, threw five shutout innings for Pittsburgh, which beat Boston 4-0 and boosted its postseason hopes. Morton is 6-12 with a 3.72 ERA for former Jackson Mets manager Clint Hurdle’s Bucs, who are just 2 1/2 games back of St. Louis in the NL Central. … Wasting a great start (one run in seven innings) by ex-Ole Miss standout Lance Lynn, the Cardinals lost to Milwaukee 3-2 in extra innings. … M-Braves alumnus Craig Kimbrel is Atlanta’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, ex-M-Brave Todd Redmond is Toronto’s and Morton is Pittsburgh’s.

02 Sep

back to work

Desmond Jennings got the Labor Day weekend off, thanks to a left knee problem. The former Itawamba Community College standout, who last played for Tampa Bay last Thursday, is expected back in the lineup soon, possibly today. Though the Rays are essentially out of the running for a postseason berth, it’s a safe bet they would like to see a strong finish from Jennings, who hasn’t had a stellar year. He is batting just .244 with 10 home runs, 36 RBIs, 15 steals and 64 runs in 123 games. Jennings, who plays center field and usually leads off, was riding a six-game hitting streak before he left the lineup. He was 9-for-28 (.321) in that span. … Washington, threatening to run away with the National League East, added Ole Miss alum Aaron Barrett and Mississippi State product Tyler Moore as September call-ups. Barrett, a right-handed reliever, was 3-0 with a 3.21 ERA in his prior stint with the Nationals, while Moore hit .214 with three homers in two brief tours. Moore, a former Northwest Rankin High and Meridian CC star, was hitting .265 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs at Triple-A Syracuse. P.S. Worth noting: Jonathan Papelbon, the ex-MSU standout, got the last three outs of Philadelphia’s no-hitter against Atlanta on Monday. The final out in the 7-0 game was a line drive to the first baseman off the bat of former Mississippi Braves standout Phil Gosselin.

28 Aug

welcome to the club

It’s not a record, but Billy Hamilton swiped his 50th base on Wednesday in Cincinnati’s 7-5 win over the Chicago Cubs. “It’s just what I do: Steal bases,” Hamilton told The Associated Press. The rookie from Taylorsville High joins an exclusive fraternity of Reds in the 50-bag club. Among the group: Bobby Tolan, Joe Morgan, Eric Davis, Barry Larkin and Deion Sanders. The Cincinnati record for steals by a rookie is within Hamilton’s reach: 54, by Bob Brescher in 1909, back in the deadball era. Brescher also holds the overall franchise record with 81, which he set in 1911. Hamilton has some other nice numbers, too: 126 hits, 66 runs, 24 doubles, seven triples and eight assists. … Also on Wednesday, Corey Dickerson belted his 20th home run, joining a whole lot of players in Colorado’s 20-homer club. However, the ex-Meridian Community College standout hit his milestone bomb into McCovey Cove in San Francisco for the 100th splash hit in AT&T Park’s history. (Barry Bonds hit most of them.) Dickerson has a few other numbers of note, as well: 109 hits, 60 runs, 63 RBIs, 23 doubles, four triples and eight stolen bases. P.S. Worth noting from Wednesday: Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi CC product, put down a nifty bunt to squeeze home a run as first-place Kansas City rallied late for a 6-1 victory against Minnesota. It would have been Dyson’s seventh sac bunt of the year, but he beat it out for a hit, his 65th of the season.

24 Aug

star turns

Take 1: What will Gustavo Nunez do today? The Mississippi Braves infielder has had quite the weekend so far. On Friday night at Trustmark Park, he hit an inside-the-park home run — his first homer of the season — and also scored the game-winning run on a sac fly in the eighth inning. On Saturday night, Nunez hit an 11th-inning, walk-off homer. With the 6-5 win over Birmingham, the M-Braves, winners of five straight, kept a grip on first place, by a single game over Jacksonville, in the Southern League South. The win was also the M-Braves’ 77th of the year, most in a season since the team moved to Pearl in 2005. Nunez, a 26-year-old Dominican signed by Atlanta in the off-season, doesn’t typically garner a lot of attention, but he has had a good year. The switch-hitter, whose walk-off on Saturday came from the left side, is batting .302 with 29 RBIs and 43 runs in 85 games. He has played shortstop, second base and some outfield. This is his eighth pro season. … Take 2: Corey Dickerson’s dream season for Colorado continued on Saturday when he hit a game-tying homer — third deck in right field at Coors Field — in the ninth inning and then slapped a game-winning single in the 13th as the Rockies beat Miami 5-4. Meridian Community College alum Dickerson, in his second MLB season, is batting .322 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs. His homer on Saturday was just the 33rd to reach the third deck at Coors in the ballpark’s 20 seasons. “It was pretty awesome that it went that far,” Dickerson, a lefty hitter, told mlb.com. P.S. Brian Dozier, the former Southern Miss star, has scored six runs in the last two days (three games) for Minnesota to run his American League-leading total to 91. The Twins have put up 38 runs the last two days against slumping Detroit, winning two of the three games. Dozier is batting just .235 but has a .341 on-base percentage. He also has 20 homers and 20 steals, the first 20-20 season by a second baseman in Twins history.