Tag Archives: Orioles

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.

15 Jul

trend spotting

In 1994, Buck Showalter won the American League manager of the year award with the New York Yankees. In 2004, the former Mississippi State standout won the award again with the Texas Rangers. So now it’s 2014, and at the All-Star break, Showalter has his Baltimore Orioles in first place in the AL East, defying preseason predictions that had the O’s finishing closer to the bottom in a strong division. Could another manager of the year award be in the offing? The Orioles have a nice array of hitters — Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Nick Markakis, Manny Machado, et al. — but could use some pitching help, especially if they hope to make any noise in October. What Showalter surely would like more than a managerial award is to make the postseason — and then make a playoff run. Despite a .517 winning percentage over 16 seasons as an MLB skipper, Showalter, 58, has made just three playoff appearances (1995 Yankees, ’99 Arizona Diamondbacks and ’12 Orioles) and never seen his club get past the division series. That’s a trend he’d like to buck. His best team might have been the ’94 Yankees, who were 70-43 when the season was halted by the players’ strike. The core of that team won the World Series in 1996, but Showalter had moved on by that time, fired after the ’95 season. He was also canned in Texas in 2005, one year after winning the managerial award there. Showalter is in his fifth season in Baltimore, which is longer than he stayed at any of his previous three stops. Maybe this is his team and this is his time. P.S. Zack Cozart isn’t hitting much for Cincinnati. The Ole Miss product is batting .233 with two homers, 22 RBIs and 30 runs in 90 games. But the reason the playoff-hungry Reds keep him in the lineup can be seen in another set of numbers. Cozart, in his third season as Cincy’s shortstop, has a .982 fielding percentage (seven errors in 393 chances) and leads all National League shortstops with a 2.2 Defensive Wins Above Replacement rating. Former Mississippi Braves star Andrelton Simmons, by comparison, has a 1.4 DWAR for Atlanta.

25 May

managing (mostly) fine

Eyebrows were raised when John Gibbons was re-hired to manage the Toronto Blue Jays in 2013. Here lately, eyebrows have been raised over how well the Jays have played under the former Jackson Mets catcher. As we approach the Memorial Day pole – always a key marker in the MLB season – Toronto has won 10 of 12 games and surged to the top of the American League East with a 28-22 record. Gibbons had a losing record in his first run with the Jays from 2004-08, and the club went 74-88 last season. Former Mississippi State star Buck Showalter has his Baltimore Orioles in third place in the AL East at 24-23. Ex-Jackson Mets shortstop Ron Gardenhire, who has endured three straight miserable seasons in Minnesota, is enjoying better days so far in 2014. The Twins, fueled by Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier’s big numbers, are 23-23, tied for second in the AL Central with Kansas City (24-24). The Royals, whom everyone keeps expecting to break out, are managed by ex-JaxMets catcher Ned Yost. Former JaxMets star Billy Beane, the GM in Oakland, has worked more magic in 2014. The A’s are 30-19, leading the AL West. In the NL, former JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle, manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, has seen his club slide to a 22-26 start, fourth in the Central Division. The Bucs made the playoffs last year for the first time since 1992; they’ve got work to do to get back in. P.S. On the MLB transaction watch: Cincinnati has signed former Ole Miss left-hander Matt Maloney to a minor league deal. Maloney debuted with the Reds in 2009. He last pitched in the big leagues in 2012 with Minnesota and has a 5.74 career ERA in 31 games. … Pascagoula’s Joey Butler, who got only five at-bats during his brief stint with St. Louis, is off to Japan, where he will play for the Orix Buffaloes. … Ole Miss alum Phillip Irwin was designated for assignment by Pittsburgh, which took him off the 40-man roster. The right-hander may very well wind up back with the Pirates’ Triple-A team.

24 May

it’s a start

The first MLB start for former Picayune High star T.J. House didn’t go all that well. House, 24, a left-hander who made his debut (a scoreless inning) for Cleveland last Saturday, worked six innings at Baltimore tonight, had a lead at one stage but left the game trailing 5-4. House yielded 11 hits, including home runs by Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis, walked two and fanned one. Baltimore won the game 8-4 on the 58th birthday of manager Buck Showalter, the ex-Mississippi State standout. P.S. Orioles radio broadcasters (as heard on XM) noted that House: signed with Cleveland for $700,000 as a 16th-round pick in 2008 rather than attend Tulane; had family members who had driven some 15 hours from Mississippi in attendance at Camden Yards; and got the name “T.J.” from his childhood nickname, Tiger Jr. (his dad apparently was called Tiger).