18 Dec

shopping

From all indications, Corey Wimberly has still got game. The former Alcorn State standout, 31 and a veteran of 10 minor league campaigns, is batting .291 with 17 stolen bases for Obregon in the Mexican Pacific League. He went 3-for-3 with a home run, a sac and three RBIs on Tuesday and 1-for-4 with a run on Wednesday. What Wimberly doesn’t have is a team for 2015. He’s a 5-foot-8 switch-hitter with speed who can play the outfield or second base. And he’s hungry, still hoping for that first taste of the big leagues. Surely, he fits someone’s shopping list. … Also still looking for a place to play: Paul Maholm (Mississippi State alum), Phil Irwin (Ole Miss), Justin Henry (Ole Miss) and Matt Tolbert (Ole Miss). Veteran left-hander Maholm is coming off a poor year (with the Los Angeles Dodgers) and an injury. Irwin made one appearance for Texas and was released in August. Henry, an infielder/outfielder, was in Triple-A with Boston in 2014, and Tolbert, an infielder with big-league time, was also in the minors (with Philadelphia) recovering from injury.

11 Dec

eye on …

It’ll be interesting to see how ex-Mississippi Braves standout Todd Cunningham fits into Atlanta’s plans in 2015. Cunningham, a switch-hitting outfielder, is batting .282 with five runs and two steals through 11 games with Licey in the Dominican Winter League. This after batting .287 with eight homers, 58 RBIs and 19 bags at Triple-A Gwinnett this past season. Cunningham, a second-round pick out of Jacksonville State in Alabama in 2010, has hit at every level, including a 2-for-8 showing in the big leagues in 2013. With the M-Braves in 2012, he impressed with a .309 average, three homers, 51 RBIs and 24 steals. He is currently leading off for Licey and playing center field. He can play anywhere in the outfield, which might make him a valuable piece for the remodeled Braves. P.S. John Lindsey, the veteran slugger from Hattiesburg, has nine homers through 21 games in the Mexican Pacific League. He is batting .282 with 20 RBIs for Navojoa.

26 Nov

still slugging away

Though he has no major league home runs to his credit, John Lindsey has to be regarded as one of the great sluggers Mississippi has ever produced. The Hattiesburg native, at age 37, has hit two home runs in seven games this winter for Navojoa in the Mexican Pacific League. He has 328 minor league homers on his ledger, which dates back to 1995, when he was drafted out of Hattiesburg High by Colorado. He’s not slowing down: He hit 33 bombs (along with a .306 average and 99 RBIs) in the Triple-A caliber Mexican League in 2014. Lindsey, a 6-foot-2, 255-pound right-handed first baseman/DH, has played for at least 20 different teams over 20 years in pro ball, not including winter league assignments. He has played in 1,984 minor league games, with 7,044 at-bats and 1,360 RBIs. He got one hit (a single) in 13 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010, his only MLB stint. He really ought to be considered for the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. P.S. The all-time leader in minor league homers among Mississippi natives is Jack Pierce, a Laurel native who played parts of three MLB seasons in the 1970s. Pierce, who died in 2012, belted 395 minor league bombs, most of those in the Mexican League, including 54 in 1986. Pierce is in the Mexican League Hall of Fame.