Tag Archives: Orioles

12 Jan

from the stove

Having agreed to terms with free agent Gerardo Parra, Colorado may look to deal an outfielder, and Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson is a candidate to be moved. Not only is Dickerson a quality left-handed bat, but he is four years from free agency. Baltimore, where Parra finished 2015, is a possible destination. … Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan, who figures to see limited playing time with the talent-laden Chicago Cubs, might be a fit in Baltimore, some have speculated. Coghlan has enjoyed a career resurgence with the Cubs the last two years. … Former Ole Miss standout Zack Cozart’s time in Cincinnati could be coming to an end soon. The Reds are in the process of signing 21-year-old Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez, the 2014-15 Serie Nacional rookie of the year. Rodriguez is labeled “a glove-first prospect with good speed” whose bat still needs some polish. He’ll likely start 2016 in the minors but could eventually push Cozart out of his starting role. There already had been rumors that Cozart might be dealt this season by the rebuilding Reds. … Southern Miss and William Carey alum Dan Jennings, the ex-Miami Marlins GM and manager, is now a special assistant to the president of baseball operations for the Washington Nationals. (Can he help concoct a trade involving closer Jonathan Papelbon, the controversial ex-Mississippi State standout? Probably not.) … Months of wheeling and dealing by Atlanta’s front office has left just 11 Mississippi Braves alumni on the Braves’ current 40-man roster. Only three of those are position players: Freddie Freeman, Daniel Castro and Mallex Smith. The latest to go was power-hitting outfielder Joey Terdoslavich, put on waivers last week and claimed by Baltimore, which really must have a need for outfielders.

06 Oct

‘gentle giant’ remembered

Stumbled across a very nice tribute to Walter Young on a blog site called crawdadsbeat.com. It’s worth a read. The former Purvis High baseball and football star played one of his 11 pro seasons for the Hickory Crawdads and apparently made a big impression, on and off the field. Young won the South Atlantic League MVP with the Crawdads in 2002, when he hit 25 homers and drove in 103 runs. He hit 175 homers all told, one in the big leagues. Drafted in the 31st round out of Purvis in 1999 by Pittsburgh, Young was listed at 6 feet 5, 320 pounds when he was called up by Baltimore in 2005, making him possibly the largest man to play in an MLB game. Young retired from baseball in 2009 and was working for the Lamar County School District at the time of his death from a heart attack on Sept. 19. He was only 35.

24 Sep

turn up the heat

As if there weren’t enough tension in the current Baltimore-Washington series, leave it to Jonathan Papelbon to inject some more on Wednesday. The Beltway rivals are hanging by a thread in their respective playoff quests, and the Orioles’ 4-3 win – which turned on a Manny Machado homer in the seventh inning – was a punch to the gut for the Nationals. In the ninth, ex-Mississippi State standout Papelbon plunked Machado and was promptly ejected. Machado was irate about getting hit, calling it “coward stuff,” among other things. Papelbon, who went up and in twice on Machado before hitting him in the shoulder, denied it was intentional. O’s manager Buck Showalter said of Papelbon, his fellow MSU alum, to The Associated Press: “He kind of reminds me of the wrestlers who pull somebody’s hair and then they throw their hands up.” Nats star Bryce Harper said he expects to get hit in today’s series finale. Stay tuned. … In other Magnolia State news, Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier hit his 28th homer – his first to the opposite field in 2015 – in Minnesota’s win. Southwest Mississippi Community College product Jarrod Dyson stole his 26th base and hit a game-tying sac fly in the ninth as Kansas City rallied to win. Former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn notched his 12th win with six shutout innings for St. Louis. Meridian CC alum Corey Dickerson had three hits, including his seventh homer, in Colorado’s loss to Pittsburgh, which clinched a playoff berth. Clint Hurdle, the former Jackson Mets skipper, has his Pirates club in the postseason for the third straight year. And former Mississippi Braves hurler Arodys Vizcaino notched his seventh save as Atlanta beat the New York Mets. In Vizcaino, who has a 1.86 ERA, the Braves may have found their closer for 2016.

28 Aug

into the wild

Joey Butler celebrated his return to The Show with a couple of hits, a game-tying RBI and the go-ahead run in Tampa Bay’s 5-4 win over Minnesota, which had won six straight. Pascagoula native Butler was recalled by the Rays on Thursday when Itawamba Community College alum Desmond Jennings went back on the disabled list. The Twins, along with the Rays two of the eight American League teams (excluding current division leaders) within 5 games of a wild card, got a 1-for-3 effort from ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier, who scored his 87th run. … In another battle of AL playoff contenders, Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland went 1-for-4 with an RBI (No. 67) to help Texas to a 4-1 victory over Toronto, the AL East Division leader managed by former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons. … Former State star Buck Showalter’s Baltimore club, another playoff hopeful, fell to AL Central leader Kansas City 5-3. Southwest Mississippi CC’s Jarrod Dyson had a tough day for ex-JaxMets star Ned Yost’s Royals: 0-for-4 with an error (just his second of the year). … In the slightly less crazy National League, Washington, which was supposed to run away with the East Division title, kept pace (though still 6.5 games out) with the first-place New York Mets by holding off San Diego 4-2. Former State standout Jonathan Papelbon notched his fourth save for the Nationals but yielded a run, a hit, a walk and a balk in his one inning. … Ex-JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle’s Pittsburgh Pirates grinded out a 2-1 win over Miami and tightened their grip on the first NL wild card spot. The Chicago Cubs lost 9-1 to San Francisco, another postseason contender, and dropped 4 games back of the Bucs, who are trying to keep NL Central leader St. Louis in range. … September is coming, and it’s only going to get better for MLB fans.

25 May

digging the long ball

Brian Dozier, last year’s runner-up in the all-Mississippi home run race, is leading the pack at the Memorial Day mark. With nine home runs this season — including two on Sunday — the former Southern Miss star is tops among the 11 Mississippians who’ve appeared in the majors. He leads Ole Miss alumni Chris Coghlan by two and Zack Cozart by three. Collectively, Mississippi-connected players have hit 43 homers in 2015. Ex-Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland belted the 40th — his fourth of the season — on Friday at Yankee Stadium. Last year’s champion (with 24 bombs) was Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson, currently on the disabled list with five. UM alum Seth Smith has hit four. Dozier erupted with a career-high 23 homers last season, when he was picked for the Home Run Derby at his home field in Minnesota. He is on a current power trip with five homers in his last eight games. P.S. Southern Miss/William Carey alum Dan Jennings, after starting 0-5 as Miami manager, has won two in a row, both at the expense of ex-MSU star Buck Showalter’s Baltimore club. Showalter was an ardent supporter of the Marlins’ much-debated decision to move Jennings from GM to skipper. Former Mississippi Braves star Martin Prado got the game-winning hit (in the 13th inning) for the Marlins on Saturday and delivered a key home run Sunday. … The New York Yankees have brought up lefty reliever Jacob Lindgren, the ex-State standout who had such a terrific pro debut in 2014 and almost made the big club this spring.

28 Feb

swing thoughts

“Good field, no hit” was not a label that applied to Zack Cozart prior to 2014. And it’s one he is eager to shed. The Ole Miss product, a top-drawer defensive shortstop for Cincinnati, saw his offensive numbers slide last year to .221 with four homers and 38 RBIs. He was a .250 hitter with 27 homers combined in 2012-13. Cozart reportedly noticed a “glitch” in his swing while reviewing video in the off-season and believes it’s an easy fix. And there’s this: He may be pushed this spring by newly acquired Eugenio Suarez, who batted .242 with four homers and 23 RBIs in 85 games with Detroit last year and has a .271 career minor league average. P.S. Odds and ends: Corey Wimberly, the former Alcorn State star and 10-year minor leaguer, will play in Mexico this season, according to an milb.com story. Wimberly, 31, has played for seven different organizations without reaching The Show. “I’ve only enjoyed it,” he said of the ride. “I haven’t gotten to that bitter point.” … Former Hinds Community College star Beau Wallace signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee for this season after not playing in 2014. Drafted as a third baseman by Pittsburgh in 2013, Wallace is now listed as a catcher. … Starkville native Julio Borbon re-signed a minor league deal with Baltimore; he put up good numbers for the Orioles in Triple-A last year but never got a call-up.

02 Feb

the rope

If there were questions about whether Bob Boyd could handle major league pitching, he answered them in his first career at-bat. The Potts Camp native delivered a game-tying pinch single for the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 8, 1951, at old Comiskey Park. He would go on to bat .293 over parts of nine big league seasons. In recognition of Black History Month, let us sing the praises of “The Rope,” one of the first black Mississippians to make the majors. Boyd, who earned his nickname for his knack for hitting line drives, starred in the Negro Leagues before getting his shot in MLB. He batted .362 over a four-year span with the Memphis Red Sox in the late 1940s and played in two East-West All-Star Games, according to the Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Leagues. He was the first black player signed by the White Sox in 1950, three years after Jackie Robinson’s debut. A left-handed hitting first baseman, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Boyd didn’t have a lot of power, but he could put the ball in play. He hit .342 (and stole 41 bases) in the Pacific Coast League in 1951 and .320 in that high-caliber league in 1952. He was 31 when he got his first call to The Show and 37 before he became a regular, batting .318 for the 1957 Baltimore Orioles. He hung around the majors until 1961 and played in the minors into his mid-40s. Boyd died in Kansas in 2004.

12 Nov

the power to shine

Among the words of wisdom attributed to Buck Showalter is this tidy catchphrase: “You have to be brilliant at the basics.” As it applies to baseball, that’s an absolute. And most of Showalter’s teams have been brilliant at the basics, including his 2014 Baltimore club, which won the American League East in a runaway and earned the former Mississippi State star his third manager of the year award. Showalter never played in the major leagues, but he was a better player than some might realize. At State in 1977, he set a single-season batting average record when he hit .459. The New York Yankees thought enough of Showalter’s skills to draft him in the fifth round. He hit .294 as a minor leaguer, but the Yankees had other plans for him. He became a minor league manager in their system in 1985 and by 1990 was on the big-league coaching staff. He took the reins as manager in 1992. Over 16 seasons, his MLB managerial record is 1,259-1,161, a solid .520 winning percentage, and he has now won three manager of the year awards (in 10-year increments, oddly enough). He hasn’t had much postseason success: 9-13 overall in four appearances. Showalter, 58, might need a World Series crown to garner Hall of Fame consideration, and the Orioles might have the talent to deliver one in the next couple of years. If that does happen, brilliance at the basics will be the underlying reason.

24 Sep

managerial material

If you haven’t noticed, Tim Bogar, the former Jackson Mets shortstop, has done a pretty impressive job as the interim manager in Texas. After a slow start under Bogar, the injury-thinned Rangers have won 10 of 11 and are 11-6 overall since Bogar stepped in for Ron Washington, who resigned on Sept. 5. Surely Bogar, a successful minor league manager, will be considered for the job next season. … Meanwhile, ex-JaxMets catcher John Gibbons will return in Toronto in 2015, according to reports. Gibbons is 154-165 in his second stint with the Blue Jays, who were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday. Toronto, which faded this year after a great start, hasn’t made the postseason since 1993. … Clint Hurdle, the 1990 Jackson Mets skipper, celebrated the clinching of a second straight playoff appearance on Tuesday after his Pittsburgh club beat Atlanta. … Former JaxMets catcher Ned Yost has Kansas City on the brink of its first playoff berth since 1985 yet still seems to attract more than his share of criticism for his game management. The Royals won their 86th game on Tuesday, matching last year’s total with five games left, and have posted their best back-to-back years since 1979-80. Yost is in his fifth season at the KC helm. … In Minnesota, the last-place Twins have clinched a fourth straight 90-loss season, but former JaxMets shortstop Ron Gardenhire reportedly will return as manager in 2015 – if he wants to. Gardenhire, 56, steered the club to six division titles in a nine-year stretch, but hasn’t sniffed the postseason since 2010, when he was the American League’s manager of the year. … The only question about the future of Buck Showalter, the onetime Mississippi State star, is whether he’ll win AL manager of the year for the job he has done in Baltimore. … Wondering what the shakeup in Atlanta will mean for the minor league field personnel. Aaron Holbert has done a good job as manager of the Double-A Mississippi Braves the last three years and would seem deserving of a promotion. But who knows how much change is coming for the Braves?

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.