Tag Archives: Orioles

06 Jan

head east

Seth Smith will wear another hat in 2017. If you’re counting, that’ll be his fifth in 11 years in the big leagues. The Ole Miss alum and Jackson native has been traded from Seattle to Baltimore for pitcher Yovani Gallardo. Smith, a lefty-hitting corner outfielder, is 34 and in the last year of a three-year contract. He batted .249 with 16 homers and 63 RBIs for the Mariners in 2016, his second year with that club. He has previously played for Colorado, Oakland and San Diego. Smith has been a serviceable player in his MLB career, with 113 homers and a .261 average, though he is limited because he doesn’t hit lefties. His bat should benefit from playing in Camden Yards and those other American League East parks. Plus, he gets to play for Buck Showalter.

08 Nov

on the ballot

It’s not the ballot people are talking about today, but, hey: Mississippi State alum Buck Showalter is a candidate for Manager of the Year in the American League. He is a finalist, along with Terry Francona and Jeff Banister, for the award given by the baseball writers. The winner will be announced next Tuesday. Showalter, who has won the award three times (including 2014), steered Baltimore to a wild card berth out of the hyper-competitive AL East, exceeding the expectations of virtually every preseason prediction. Showalter has been with Baltimore for seven seasons, longer than he stayed at any of his previous three managerial stops. With 547 wins, he trails only the legendary Earl Weaver on the Orioles’ list of winningest managers. Showalter hasn’t had a lot of playoff success, but in the current state of MLB, just getting in is a big deal. P.S. Former Southwest Mississippi Community College star Kade Scivicque is batting .346 (9-for-26) with three RBIs in the Arizona Fall League. Scivicque, acquired by Atlanta from Detroit late last season, finished 2016 with the Mississippi Braves and could be back with the Double-A club next spring. The 6-foot, 225-pound catcher batted .282 with six homers in high-A for the Tigers. … David Goforth, the Ole Miss alum from Meridian, is pitching for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League. Goforth, who has made 30 MLB appearances with Milwaukee the past two years, had a 4.91 ERA in Triple-A in 2016.

11 Oct

gotta love october

Time to take stock on the MLB postseason. We’ve seen Baltimore go down in flames as Orioles manager Buck Showalter, the ex-Mississippi State standout, kept the best closer in the league in the bullpen with the American League Wild Card Game on the line. MSU product Mitch Moreland was in the middle of the play that ended the season for Texas, the team that had the best record in the AL. First baseman Moreland knocked down the errant throw by Rougned Odor, then threw home too late to stop the winning run from scoring as Toronto completed a stunning sweep. Moreland went 2-for-8 with two RBIs in what may have been his Texas swansong. Ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz surrendered the pivotal home run (to Coco Crisp) on Monday in the other ALDS as Cleveland ended Boston’s season and David Ortiz’s career with a sweep. UM alum Mickey Callaway, the Indians’ pitching coach, saw his bullpen limit the Red Sox to two runs while fanning 14 in 10 1/3 innings over the three games. Former Rebels standout Chris Coghlan (0-for-2) has had a quiet National League Division Series for the Chicago Cubs, who saw their ace closer, Aroldis Chapman, cough up a lead Monday against San Francisco, which dodged a sweep by winning in 13 innings. Conor Gillaspie – the son of former MSU star Mark Gillaspie and the Giants’ Wild Card Game hero – delivered the big blow against Chapman, a two-run triple in the eighth inning. “He’s been fun to watch,” Giants ace Madison Bumgarner told the Chicago Tribune. It ain’t been fun for everyone, but that’s what makes October baseball so compelling.

04 Oct

all in

You can argue that the win-or-go-home wild card game isn’t fair – but it sure is fun to watch. Former Mississippi State star Buck Showalter, still seeking his first World Series appearance in his 18th season as an MLB manager, takes his Baltimore Orioles into Toronto’s rowdy Rogers Centre tonight with this one shot at moving on in the postseason. The Blue Jays, managed by former Jackson Mets star John Gibbons, were widely regarded as a favorite in the American League East heading into the season. Showalter’s O’s weren’t supposed to be here. Sports Illustrated in its preseason preview ranked Baltimore 14th in the 15-team league. But a power-hitting lineup and a great bullpen carried the club to an 89-73 record and into the playoffs for the third time in Showalter’s seven years at the Orioles helm. Showalter has won 52 percent of his games – over 1,400 all told — and three manager of the year awards. He’s a Hall of Fame candidate. But his resume is missing a ring. He’ll try to take a step in that direction tonight in an elimination game. Note, too, that there is a history of testiness in this rivalry. As a fan, what more can you ask for?

28 Sep

men at work

In a game that has Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Manny Machado and Adam Jones – to name a few star players – the matchup of managers is hardly a feature attraction. But let’s give Baltimore’s Buck Showalter and Toronto’s John Gibbons – hard-working skippers with Mississippi connections – their due as two of the game’s best. Their teams currently cling to the two wild card berths in the American League, the Blue Jays up 2 games on the Orioles after winning Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto 5-1. Gibbons, who starred for the Jackson Mets in 1983, is 642-611 in nine years as an MLB manager, all with Toronto. He is in the midst of his third straight winning season. Showalter, a Mississippi State All-American in 1977, is 1,425-1,314 in 18 years and is a three-time manager of the year. His O’s have been .500 or better in each of the last five years. And keep in mind that both clubs play in the AL’s Big Boy Division – the East. Tonight’s game features a good pitching matchup – Chris Tillman for Baltimore against Francisco Liriano of the Jays – but considering the power bats both teams possess and Rogers Centre’s rep as a launching pad, a laser show wouldn’t be a shock. And tempers might flare, too, with both managers known to run a little hot.

02 Jul

timing is everything

If you’re going to watch Seth Smith play, you should catch him at home, at Seattle’s Safeco Field, and against a right-hander, which he faces almost exclusively. And catch him when he’s hot, of course, like now. The former Ole Miss standout from Jackson homered for the second straight game on Friday as the Mariners beat American League East leader Baltimore for the second straight time at Safeco. The lefty-swinging Smith is batting .362 over his last 15 games and has six hits in his last three games. For the year, he is at .272 with eight homers and 30 RBIs. At home, he is hitting .298 with six homers, and against right-handers, he’s batting .284 with all eight of his homers and 27 of the RBIs. The Mariners face Buck Showalter’s Orioles again tonight at Safeco, and Baltimore’s scheduled starter is right-hander Tyler Wilson. Seattle is 41-39, battling to keep AL West leader Texas in its sights. The M’s trail the Rangers by 10½ games. P.S. East Central Community College product Tim Anderson got some love on MLB Network’s Quick Pitch show today for drawing the first walk of his big league career on Thursday. It came in his 86th plate appearance for the Chicago White Sox. Anderson did not walk in Friday’s game – or get a hit – but the rookie leadoff man is batting .300 with three homers, 14 runs, five RBIs and a couple of steals while also playing some sharp shortstop over 20 games. The White Sox apparently are pleased. “He’s quiet, but there’s a confidence and a drive,” ChiSox manager Robin Ventura told CBSChicago.com.

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.