Tag Archives: Mississippians in the majors

05 Dec

on such a winter’s day

On a cold, wet December day — on a desktop in a cozy room somewhere in Mississippi — a team of stars from the Magnolia State took on the 1961 New York Yankees. The squad of Mississippians was a pretty formidable bunch, but the Yankees, world champs in ’61, won the game 7-4. Whitey Ford got the W, Boo Ferriss — the 1946 Boston Red Sox ace from Shaw — took the loss. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle both doubled and homered for New York. For the Mississippi stars, Gee Walker, a Gulfport native who hit .353 with Detroit in 1936, went 2-for-5 with an RBI and also scored a run. The Yankees built an early 5-0 lead and held off a rally from the Mississippians as Luis Arroyo got the final six outs. All this took place on a desktop and took about 45 minutes. No replay reviews, no TV commercial breaks, no mound visits. The yucky weather outside was easily forgotten. Making such a seamhead fantasy possible is APBA Baseball, the venerable dice-and-board creation that assures the summer game is never out of season. It’s almost like having a time machine at your fingertips. You can replay games from seasons past, match great teams from different eras against each other — or create an all-time team of players from Mississippi and see how they fare as a unit. The individual player cards almost come to life; there is personality in their numbers. In this particular game, the Bronx Bombers were too good. Ford, a 25-game winner in ’61, scattered nine hits over seven frames and overcame a costly error. Elston Howard and Johnny Blanchard had big knocks in a 10-hit attack. George Scott, the 1975 Milwaukee version of the Boomer from Greenville, drove in Mississippi’s first run with a pinch single in the third inning, scoring Jackson native Chet Lemon (1979 Chicago White Sox), on with a leadoff triple. Byram’s Chad Bradford (2008 Tampa Bay) tossed two scoreless innings in relief for the Magnolia Staters, who pulled within 6-4 in the seventh on an RBI single by Ellisville native Buddy Myer (1926 Washington). Maybe a shakeup in the lineup would produce a better result for Mississippi: Harry Walker, Ellis Burks and Brian Dozier didn’t get off the bench. Put Claude Passeau on the bump and run it back. Maybe a best-of-5?

02 Dec

totally random

Today’s subject: Buddy Blair. Columbia native Blair, a decorated athlete in college, enjoyed a short but sweet big league career. As a 31-year-old rookie with the Philadelphia A’s in 1942, the lefty-hitting third baseman got a hit in his first game and another in his last game that same season. Blair (given name Louis) hit .279 for Connie Mack’s last-place A’s, with five homers, 66 RBIs, 26 doubles and 48 runs in 137 games. Over the next three years, he served in World War II in the Air Force. He returned to baseball in 1946 — but not to the big leagues. Blair was a player/manager from 1946-50 with Vicksburg in the Class B Southeastern League. In 1949 with the Billies, he won the only pro game he ever pitched. Blair, who died in 1996, was a three-sport star at LSU, lettering in basketball and track as well as baseball. He originally signed with the New York Yankees in 1936 and spent six years in their minor league system.

20 Oct

northwest passage

Seattle remains one win away from the first World Series appearance in franchise history, a history of frustration that dates to 1977. After losing at Toronto on Sunday, the Mariners will play a Game 7 tonight at Rogers Centre for the American League pennant. It’s the fourth time the Mariners have reached the AL Championship Series but their first Game 7. There are no Mississippians (natives or school alums) on this Mariners club, but a number of players with state ties have worn the Seattle uniform over the years. Some surely have fond memories of their time in the Great Northwest. A couple even got to the postseason. Adam Frazier, ex-Mississippi State standout, was a regular with the 2022 Mariners, who won 90 games, beat Toronto in a wild card matchup and lost to Houston in the AL Division Series. Ole Miss alum Jeff Fassero won 33 games for the Mariners over parts of three seasons from 1997-99; the ’97 team fell to Baltimore in the ALDS. Roy Corcoran, a standout at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, pitched for Seattle in 2008 and ’09, going 8-2 with a 3.82 ERA and three saves. Neither of those teams made the postseason. MSU product Kendall Graveman was an effective reliever for the M’s in 2020-21, posting a 2.61 ERA and 10 saves before his tenure there ended with a mid-season trade to Houston. McComb native Jarrod Dyson played for Seattle in 2017 (.251, 28 steals), and Jackson native Seth Smith spent two years with the M’s, belting 28 homers with 105 RBIs in 2015-16. Former Meridian Community College star Cliff Lee spent part of the 2010 season in Seattle; Nettleton’s Bill Hall was there briefly in 2009; and Gulfport’s Matt Lawton finished his MLB career with the M’s in 2006. Also worth noting, former Mississippi Braves catcher Jesus Sucre spent parts of four years (2013-16) with the M’s, and ex-M-Braves shortstop Dylan Moore played for them from 2019 until being released this summer. Old Jackson Generals fans will recall the 1998 trade that sent Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen and John Halama from the Double-A club to Seattle for Randy Johnson. All three were on the 2001 Seattle team that won 116 games but flamed out in five in the ALCS against New York. That one hurt. A loss tonight no doubt would hurt more.

19 Oct

it happened one october, take 7

On this date in 2005, Roy Oswalt threw seven innings of one-run ball as Houston beat St. Louis 5-1 in the decisive Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium. Oswalt, the former Holmes Community College star from Weir, was named the MVP of the series after going 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two starts against the Cardinals. The Astros advanced to the World Series for first time in their history but lost in four straight games to the Chicago White Sox. Oswalt got a no-decision in his lone start in that Series, made the postseason twice while with Philadelphia but didn’t get another shot at the Fall Classic. He won 163 games all told in his 13-year career.

18 Oct

it happened one october, take 6

On this date in 2009, Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee tossed eight dominant innings for Philadelphia against Los Angeles in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. In an 11-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park that put the Phillies up 2-1 in games, lefty Lee allowed three hits (all singles) and no walks and struck out 10. He also got a hit. The Phillies would win the series in five games and go on to face — and fall to — the New York Yankees in the World Series. Lee — a 143-game winner and four-time All-Star over 13 seasons — went 4-0 in that ’09 postseason and was 7-3 all-time in October but never claimed a ring.

17 Oct

it happened one october, take 5

On this date in 1989, Game 3 of the World Series between Oakland and San Francisco was postponed because of the horrific earthquake that struck the Bay Area. Former Mississippi State stars Will Clark and Jeff Brantley were on that Giants club. When the Series resumed 10 days later, Oakland won 13-7 at Candlestick Park to go up 3-0 en route to a sweep. Clark went 1-for-4 with two punchouts in the rescheduled Game 3, and Brantley yielded one of Oakland’s five homers. Neither made it back to the Fall Classic in their outstanding MLB careers. Grenada native Dave Parker, nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career, was on that A’s team; he went 2-for-9 with a homer (in Game 1 at Oakland) and collected his second World Series ring.

16 Oct

it happened one october, take 4

On this date in 2021, Austin Riley ripped a game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving Atlanta a 3-2 win over Los Angeles in the opener of the National League Championship Series at Truist Park. Ex-DeSoto Central High standout Riley, who had homered earlier in the game against Tony Gonsolin, delivered the clincher off Blake Treinen, scoring Ozzie Albies from second base with one out. Riley — who has 169 career homers and five more in postseason play — hit .250 with five RBIs as the Braves won the 2021 NLCS in six games en route to the World Series title, the team’s first since 1995.

15 Oct

it happened one october, take 3

On this date in 1946, Pascagoula native Harry “The Hat” Walker delivered his famous game-winning hit for St. Louis in Game 7 of the World Series against Boston. Walker’s seventh hit and sixth RBI of the series came in the eighth inning at Sportsman’s Park and scored Enos Slaughter, who dashed home all the way from first base. St. Louis won 4-3. Walker batted .412 in that Series but just .237 during the season; he hit .363 and won a National League batting title the next year with Philadelphia. On the losing side on Oct. 15, 1946, was Boo Ferris, the Shaw native and ex-Delta State coaching legend. He had started that game for Boston but was pulled in the fifth. He won Game 2 of the Series.

14 Oct

it happened one october, take 2

On this date in 2014, McComb native Jarrod Dyson, inserted as a pinch runner, scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning for Kansas City in a 2-1 win against Baltimore in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. The win put K.C. up 3-0 in the series, and the Royals would eliminate the Orioles the next day at Kauffman Stadium, advancing to the World Series. Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Dyson, a .269 hitter with 36 steals that season, played in all four ALCS games as a sub but did not get a hit. Baltimore was managed by ex-Mississippi State star Buck Showalter.

13 Oct

it happened one october, take 1

On this date in 1960, Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazeroski hit his famous walk-off home run in Game 7 of the World Series, stunning the New York Yankees and much of the baseball world. Mississippi natives Joe Gibbon and Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell won rings — the only ones they would get in lengthy big league careers — thanks to Mazeroski’s blast at old Forbes Field. Gibbon, from Hickory via Ole Miss, yielded three runs in two appearances in that Series, and Leakesville’s Mizell took the loss as the starter in Game 3 and had a 15.43 ERA over two appearances. The Yankees, who had won six championships in the 1950s, outscored the Pirates 55-27, losing Game 7 10-9.