Mississippians in the majors Archives - All Mississippi Baseball

13 Apr

anniversary time

Several of the Magnolia State’s brightest big league stars have debut anniversaries to celebrate this year. Claude Passeau, one of the state’s great pitchers, debuted in 1935. Boo Ferriss broke in with the Boston Red Sox 80 years ago, throwing a shutout in his first game on April 29, 1945. Don Blasingame, the Corinth Comet, debuted 70 years ago. Chet Lemon, one of the best defensive center fielders of all-time, played his first MLB game in 1975. Paul Maholm, a recent Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame inductee, broke in 20 years back and Jacob Lindgren — whose promising career was marred by injury — 10 years ago. But the spotlight here is on Buddy Myer, the Ellisville native and Mississippi state alum, who launched his 17-year career 100 years ago. A middle infielder, he played in just four games for the old Washington Senators in 1925 but got the first two of his 2,131 career hits, the record for Mississippi natives in the majors. He made the team’s roster for the ’25 World Series and got two more hits in the loss to Pittsburgh. He went 6-for-20 in the ’33 World Series, also with the Senators. Myer won a batting title in 1935 and hit .303 for his career; only Negro Leagues star Cool Papa Bell (.325) holds a better average among Mississippians. Myer scored 1,174 runs, hit 130 triples, stole 157 bases and posted a 48.4 WAR (fourth-best among Mississippi-born players) in 1,923 games. Remarkably, he walked (965 times) more than twice as many times as he struck out (428). Indeed, it was a very different game a hundred years ago. Myer — a two-time All-Star who got MVP votes in four seasons — played it very well.

31 Mar

checking in …

Jake Mangum finally got his name in a major league box score on Sunday, joining the long list of Mississippi natives — and Mississippi State alumni — to make The Show. Barely a minute into the game, the Flowood native and Jackson Prep grad caught a fly ball in right field for the first out of Tampa Bay’s 6-4 victory over Colorado. Mangum was with his Triple-A Durham team in Virginia on Friday when he was told he had gotten “the call,” six years after he was drafted into pro ball. “Heartbeat went up a lot,” he said. He scrambled to get to Tampa on Saturday and completed his long journey on Sunday when he ran out onto Steinbrenner Field in a big league unie. A rookie at 29. Now another quest remains: the first big league hit. He went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut, driving a ball deep to left field in his first at-bat. He struck out in his second, flied out to center in his third and walked in his final plate appearance. He might get another chance today when the Rays host Pittsburgh. Mangum has had a ton of hits over the years: 383 of them at State, another 78 in summer leagues, then 496 in the minors. After all the work he’s put in and all the waiting he’s done since his first pro game in 2019, it’s hard to imagine what that first major league hit will feel like. P.S. A major league opportunity is a cherished thing, never taken for granted. Justin Foscue, a teammate of Mangum’s at MSU, is no doubt itching for another shot with the Texas Rangers. They needed an infielder on Sunday but recalled another player from Triple-A Round Rock, where Foscue is now playing. He made his MLB debut last April and got a hit in his second game before going on the injured list. He got a couple more call-ups over the year but managed only one more knock in 42 at-bats all told, finishing on an 0-for-39 skid. The 2020 first-round draftee is a .278 career hitter — with power — in the minors and is off to a 4-for-11 start in 2025.

28 Mar

cue the highlights

With one triple to his name over his first four big league seasons, Nick Fortes delivered a second three-bagger Thursday that helped Miami make a little history. The former Ole Miss catcher led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a triple off the center-field wall, and moments later Kyle Stowers knocked in pinch runner Javier Sanoja to give the Marlins their first opening day walk-off win, 5-4 over Pittsburgh. Fortes, whose defense is his real forte, sorta picked up where he left off in 2024, when he batted .290 after the All-Star break. His big hit was one of several highlights for Mississippians in the majors on opening day: Austin Riley, the ex-DeSoto Central High star, hit the first 2025 home run by a Magnolia State product, going yard for Atlanta in its 7-4 loss at San Diego. … Mississippi State alum Jordan Westburg smacked one of the six homers Baltimore hit in a 12-2 rout of Toronto. … After all those fireworks had settled, former Southern Miss star Nick Sandlin pitched a clean ninth inning in his Blue Jays debut. … Garrett Crochet, Ocean Springs High product, threw five innings (two runs, four strikeouts) in his Boston debut and got a no-decision in a game the Red Sox won late, 5-2, at Texas. … Ex-George County High standout Justin Steele allowed three runs in five innings, good enough to get the win for the Chicago Cubs in a 10-6 victory at Arizona. … Biloxi High alum Colt Keith had a chance to be a hero for Detroit but, with two on and two out in the ninth, fouled out against Blake Treinen, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 win in their home opener. Keith went 0-for-5. … A couple of lowlights: Brent Rooker, the former State slugger, went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts for the A’s in a 4-2 loss at Seattle, and East Central Community College product Tim Anderson went 0-for-4 with three punchouts in his Angels debut, an 8-1 loss to the White Sox, his original team.

26 Mar

play ball!

A pair of Mississippi high school products will be on the mound as starting pitchers on Thursday, opening day for most of the major league clubs. Garrett Crochet, out of Ocean Springs, will go for Boston — in his Red Sox debut — at Texas and Justin Steele, ex-George County standout, gets the ball for the Chicago Cubs at Arizona. Steele is 0-1, having lost in the Cubs’ second game in Japan last week. There are state connections in just about every game. Austin Riley is back at third base for Atlanta, which opens at San Diego. Hunter Renfroe likely will be in the lineup for Kansas City against visiting Cleveland. Baltimore, with Jordan Westburg at third base, visits Toronto, where Nick Sandlin now works out of the bullpen. There’s Chris Stratton with the Royals, Brent Rooker with the A’s, Matt Wallner with Minnesota, Colt Keith with Detroit, Will Warren with the New York Yankees, Nick Fortes with Miami. Adam Frazier is back with Pittsburgh after side trips to San Diego, Seattle, Baltimore and Kansas City. Thursday will bring the Washington debut of Nathaniel Lowe when the Nationals host Philadelphia. Tim Anderson, who made the Los Angeles Angels’ club as a non-roster invitee, returns to Chicago, where he was once a batting champ for the White Sox. Marcus Thames is the hitting coach for the White Sox and Bobby Dickerson the infield coach for the Phillies. Brandon Woodruff (Milwaukee), James McArthur (Kansas City) and J.P. France (Houston) will start the season on the injured list. … Of note: Four former Biloxi Shuckers, including the starting pitcher, and a former Mississippi Braves star are expected to be in Milwaukee’s Day 1 lineup, and four former M-Braves and one ex-Shuckers star are projected as starters for Atlanta. (And Ronald Acuna could return to Atlanta’s active roster by late April.) P.S. Ole Miss alum and MLB veteran Drew Pomeranz, 36, was released by Seattle. He was in camp as a non-roster invitee and posted a 4.70 ERA in eight games. … Ex-Rebels star Hayden Dunhurst, a 24-year-old catcher from Carriere, has re-signed with Kane County of the independent American Association.

26 Feb

moments in the sun

A week into MLB spring training games, a bunch of Mississippi products have enjoyed noteworthy moments. To wit: Cooper Pratt (Milwaukee) has had the best day so far, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs in a Cactus League game on Tuesday. … Konnor Griffin (Pittsburgh) got an RBI knock last week in his first at-bat as a pro player. … Tim Elko (Chicago White Sox) homered in his first AB, repeating his feat from 2024. … Will Warren (New York Yankees) threw two shutout innings. … Tyler Stuart (Washington) notched a win in his spring debut. … Braden Montgomery (White Sox) got a hit in his first pro game. … Dakota Jordan (San Francisco), another rookie, doubled in his first spring appearance. … Matt Wallner (Minnesota) hit a two-run, game-tying bomb. … Drew Pomeranz (Seattle), on the comeback trail, picked up a hold in his second scoreless outing. … Hurston Waldrep (Atlanta) threw a scoreless inning in his first outing but, alas, was sent to the minor league camp shortly thereafter.

23 Feb

gatorade gang

Fun fact, No. 1: Ten Gatorade prep players of the year from Mississippi have reached the big leagues since the award was first handed out in 1986. Pontotoc’s Steve Pegues, the winner in 1987, was the first to make The Show, debuting with Cincinnati on July 6, 1994. Also on that list are Nate Rolison, Donnie Bridges, Jermaine Van Buren, Craig Tatum, Ed Easley, Anthony Alford, Austin Riley, J.T. Ginn and Colt Keith. Riley (Atlanta), Ginn (A’s) and Keith (Detroit) are currently on MLB rosters and will be prominent players in 2025. Fun fact, No. 2: The last five winners of the award are highly rated prospects in their respective organizations, each standing a good chance of joining the ranks of major league players someday soon. The 2024 winner, Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin — also the national player of the year — has been invited to Pittsburgh’s major league spring camp and will make his pro debut this spring in the Pirates’ system. The ninth overall pick in last year’s draft, he is ranked the No. 43 prospect in all of the minors, with an MLB ETA of 2028, according to MLB Pipeline. Cooper Pratt, the ’23 winner from Magnolia Heights, played in A-ball for Milwaukee last season and is rated No. 57 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 for 2025. He is expected to play for Double-A Biloxi this season. Dakota Jordan, the ’22 winner at Jackson Academy, was rated San Francisco’s No. 4 prospect after being drafted out of Mississippi State as a sophomore last summer. He went 0-for-7 in A-ball in an abbreviated pro debut. Braden Montgomery won the Gatorade award in 2021 at Madison Central, played three years of college ball and was drafted 12th overall by Boston last summer. Ranked No. 55 in the Top 100, he recently was traded from the Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox. Former DeSoto Central standout Blaze Jordan, a storied power hitter in high school, was the 2020 winner and has put up good numbers in Boston’s chain the past four seasons. At age 21, he batted .261 with seven homers and 61 RBIs in Double-A last year, when he had two stints on the injured list, once after being hit in the face by a pitch. Jordan was rated the Red Sox’s No. 22 prospect last summer with a big league ETA of 2025. That might be optimistic, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is the next state Gatorade winner to make The Show.

20 Feb

just wondering …

Here are nine questions regarding Mississippians in MLB spring training camps:
Will Jake Mangum — a .296 career hitter in the minors — earn a spot on Tampa Bay’s roster and make his long-awaited big league debut?
Can Brandon Woodruff — 46-26, 3.10 career — reclaim his pre-injury form for Milwaukee after missing the ’24 season?
How will Colt Keith handle the sophomore jinx and the move from second base to first in Detroit?
Can Hunter Renfroe — .229 and 15 homers in 2024 — be a productive power bat for Kansas City?
What will 2024 All-Star Garrett Crochet — 3.58 ERA, 209 strikeouts — do for an encore after moving from lowly Chicago to Boston?
Can Hurston Waldrep, after a disappointing 2024 trial in Atlanta, be an impact arm for the Braves this season?
Does Brent Rooker, now armed with a fat contract, have another 30-homer season in him for the (Sacramento) A’s?
Is Doug Nikhazy — 7-4, 2.98 in the high minors in 2024 — ready to break through in Cleveland?
Can Tim Anderson, the fallen All-Star, carve out a role at shortstop or the outfield for the Los Angeles Angels?
P.S. Justin Steele, the ex-George County High standout from Lucedale, reportedly will be the Chicago Cubs’ starter in the second game of next month’s Tokyo Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Steele, a 2023 All-Star, went 5-5 with a 3.07 ERA in 24 starts last season. The season-opening Japan series is set for March 18-19. … Samil De La Rosa, a 5-foot-8 Dominican infielder, has signed with the Mississippi Mud Monsters, the new independent club. De La Rosa, 21, played four years in the rookie-level minors in the St. Louis and Atlanta systems from 2021-24. … Delta State, 8-3 with seven straight wins, is ranked No. 20 in the new NCBWA Division II poll, the first time the Statesmen have cracked the Top 25 in that poll in almost three years, per a school release. DSU swept three from then-nationally ranked Lee last weekend and beat Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday.

21 Jan

a breakthrough

The Texas League era lasted 25 years at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium, and a parade of talented players — All-Stars and World Series champs — passed through with the Double-A Mets and Generals. Billy Wagner, who pitched for the Generals 30 years ago, became the first player from that era (1975-99) to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Results were announced tonight on MLB Network. In his final year on the writers’ ballot, Wagner got 82.5 percent of the vote, clearing the 75 percent threshold. Wagner was a seven-time All-Star who registered 422 saves with a 2.31 ERA over 16 seasons in the big leagues. He ranks first all-time (live-ball era) in opponents batting average (.187), hits allowed per nine innings (6.0) and strikeouts per nine (11.9). In making a case for Wagner’s election, Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci called the little left-hander “historically difficult to hit.” Wagner was a first-round pick by Houston in 1993 out of NCAA Division III Ferrum College. He reached the Double-A Generals in 1995, going 2-2 with a 2.57 ERA in 12 starts, fanning 77 batters and walking 36 in 70 innings. He debuted with the Astros later that year. … Former Generals outfielder Bobby Abreu, in his fifth year on the ballot, got 19.5 percent of the vote, topping the 5 percent mark needed to remain on the ballot for next year. Surprisingly, Brian McCann, one of the best players to pass through Pearl’s Trustmark Park during the Mississippi Braves’ 20-year run, got just 1.8 percent in his first year of eligibility. McCann, a catcher, batted .262 with 282 homers and 1,018 RBIs with seven All-Star Game appearances in a 15-year career. He was the first M-Braves alum to reach the majors, going up to Atlanta in 2005. P.S. Mississippi native Dave Parker previously was elected to the Hall by the Classic Era Committee and will join Cool Papa Bell (Starkville) as the only state natives in Cooperstown. The induction ceremony is set for July 27.

06 Dec

a melancholy note

Bill Melton, one of just two Mississippi natives to win a home run crown in the majors, has died at the age of 79. Melton was born in Gulfport in 1945 while his father, who was in the Navy, was stationed on the Coast. The family moved to California, and Melton was signed by the Chicago White Sox out of a rec league, per a SABR story. He made his big league debut in 1968. The right-handed hitting third baseman/outfielder slugged 33 homers for the White Sox in 1971 to lead the American League. (Greenville native George Scott tied for the AL homer title in 1975 when he hit 36 for Milwaukee.) Melton, a .253 career hitter, suffered a back injury in 1972 and wasn’t quite the same hitter thereafter. He left Chicago in 1976 as the franchise’s all-time home run leader with 154. He retired after the ’77 season with 160, which ranks ninth among Mississippi-born players on the career list. Melton was a popular broadcaster for the ChiSox for many years after his playing days. “Bill was a friend to many at the White Sox and around baseball, and his booming voice will be missed,” owner Jerry Reinsdorf said in a release by the club.

20 Nov

mlb roster moves

A handful of Mississippi college products were added to major league 40-man rosters on Tuesday, most notably former Mississippi State star Jake Mangum, who has toiled in Triple-A the past three years with three different organizations. Outfielder Mangum, a .296 hitter over his five minor league seasons, was selected by Tampa Bay. (The Rays traded starting center fielder Jose Siri to the New York Mets for a pitcher on Tuesday.) MSU product Eric Cerantola made Kansas City’s 40-man protected roster and ex-Ole Miss stars Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy were added by Oakland and Cleveland, respectively. All three are pitchers who reached the Triple-A level this season. They’ll go to big league camp next spring, seeking to make the active roster for the 2025 season. … Atlanta added 2024 Mississippi Braves pitcher Rolddy Munoz and Milwaukee selected Logan Henderson, who pitched in Biloxi this past season. (As noted by mlb.com: Players signed at age 18 or younger must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 or older have to be protected within four seasons. The Rule 5 draft is next month.) P.S. A total of 26 Mississippians (native or school alum) appeared in major league games in 2024, with J.T. Ginn, Will Warren, Hurston Waldrep, Justin Foscue and Colt Keith making their MLB debuts. Keith, a Biloxi High alum who played for Detroit this year, was a Silver Slugger finalist at second base.