love for the glove
One of the fun things about watching the Atlanta Braves on a regular basis is marveling at Jason Heyward’s skill with the glove in right field. The former Mississippi Braves star catches everything. He was justly rewarded on Wednesday as the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year. Ex-M-Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons was also named to Wilson’s nine-man all-defensive team. Both Heyward and Simmons previously won Rawlings National League Gold Gloves. Along with Heyward’s glove and Simmons’ rifle arm, there are other treats provided by other former M-Braves in Atlanta: Freddie Freeman’s stroke, Evan Gattis’ power, Craig Kimbrel’s heat, Alex Wood’s “funkiness,” the grit of Tommy LaStella and Phil Gosselin. Those things are fun to watch. Of course, for longtime Braves fans, it would be more fun to watch the team make a deep postseason run. Haven’t seen that in a while. P.S. The Cincinnati Reds were named the Wilson Defensive Team of the Year, which is a nod to, among others, Zack Cozart and Billy Hamilton. Former Ole Miss standout Cozart and Taylorsville High product Hamilton man the key positions of shortstop and center field, and both are very good. … Anthony Alford, the former Mr. Baseball from Petal (see previous posts), went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts as the Canberra leadoff batter in his Australian Baseball League debut.