Tag Archives: World Series

02 Nov

reaching the top

The time came. In the 12th inning of Sunday night’s Game 5, after a leadoff single by Salvador Perez, Jarrod Dyson’s time came. Inserted as a pinch runner by manager Ned Yost, the McComb native stole second base on a 2-0 pitch. He motored to third on a ground out. Then he trotted home on a hit by Christian Colon, putting Kansas City on top of the New York Mets 3-2. That trickle became a flood of runs. The Royals won 7-2, claiming their second World Series title and first since 1985. After a rather muted postseason to that point (five games, four at-bats, two steals, no runs), the ever-adrenalized Dyson seized his moment. He got a bag. Scored the game-winning run. Earned a ring. “This is what you play for,” Dyson, quoted by the Kansas City Star, shouted as he carried the Commissioner’s Trophy around Citi Field. “This is what you play for, baby, right here.” The 50th-round draft pick from Southwest Mississippi Community College was on top of the baseball world. P.S. Props also go to Yost, the old Jackson Mets catcher. Though the Royals made it to Game 7 of the 2014 Series, very few prognosticators had the team even getting into the playoffs again, much less winning it all this fall. Sports Illustrated, for one, pegged KC fourth in the American League Central. Yost’s club plays hard and smart and is really fun to watch.

27 Oct

rarin’ to go …

Jarrod Dyson must be champing at the bit. The McComb native and Southwest Mississippi Community College product, one of Kansas City’s speed specialists, made one brief appearance in the American League Championship Series. He stole two bases in two attempts in the division series but didn’t have a big impact. Dyson played in five games in the 2014 World Series but didn’t get a chance to run on the big stage. While Dyson’s playing time decreased this season, he still swiped 26 bags – second on the team — and scored 31 runs in 90 games. (Plus, he’s a plus-defender in the outfield.) Dyson has 146 steals in 169 tries in his MLB career, an 86.4 percent success rate. Kauffman Stadium buzzes when Dyson, one of the longest-tenured Royals (50th round pick, 2006), comes in as a pinch runner. At some point in this World Series, Ned Yost will have a need for Dyson’s speed. Maybe we see him tonight in Game 1 against the New York Mets, who pride themselves on controlling baserunners. It’s a safe bet that Dyson is ready to do some running.

26 Oct

beyond the goats

The last time – the only time, actually — the Kansas City Royals won a World Series, Greenville native Frank White played a big role for the champs. That was 1985. The last time the New York Mets won a World Series, a host of ex-Jackson Mets had a hand in claiming the ring. That was 1986. Of course, there are famous “goats” associated with both of those Series, umpire Don Denkinger for his missed call in Game 6 in ’85 and Boston first baseman Bill Buckner for his mishandled grounder in Game 6 in ’86. But remembering those Series for the so-called goats does a disservice to the players who shined in those seven-game Fall Classics. White, a five-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner over his 18 seasons, batted .250 with a homer, six RBIs and four runs for the Royals in the ’85 Series against St. Louis. In the ’86 Series, the second of the two titles won by the Mets, Wally Backman hit .333 with four runs, Lenny Dykstra batted .296 with two homers, Mookie Wilson hit .269 with three runs, Jesse Orosco pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings and Roger McDowell and Rick Aguilera botch notched wins. All these years later, mention the World Series of 1985 or 1986, and the names of Denkinger and Buckner will come up. That’s understandable, perhaps, but those two names shouldn’t be all we remember.

31 Oct

lefty for hire

The list of free agent pitchers includes some big names: Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, James Shields, Ervin Santana, to name a few. It also includes many more names from the MLB rank-and-file, role-fillers such as Paul Maholm, the former Mississippi State star from Greenwood. Maholm, a 32-year-old left-hander, was a late signee last off-season by the Los Angeles Dodgers and had a generally lackluster year: 1-5, 4.84 ERA in 30 games (eight starts). Over 70 2/3 innings, he yielded 82 hits and 28 walks with just 34 strikeouts. And he finished the season on the disabled list. Maholm was a first-round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2003 and spent his first seven MLB campaigns with the then-lowly Pirates. He has bounced from the Chicago Cubs to Atlanta to the Dodgers over the past three seasons. His career numbers: 77-100, 4.30 ERA. Since he is a lefty who can start or come out of the pen, Maholm should get another shot in 2015. But he again might have a long wait this off-season. P.S. Read an interesting comment from Kansas City’s Alex Gordon, who was held at third base while his two-out hit was misplayed in left field in the bottom of the ninth inning of World Series Game 7. “I’m not as fast as Jarrod Dyson,” Gordon told mlb.com. “If I was, I probably would’ve scored (the tying run).” He’s probably right. Of course, a pop up ended the game and gave San Francisco the title. Former Southwest Mississippi Community College standout Dyson, who swiped 36 bags during the season, didn’t get to use his speed much in the Series. He wasn’t on base very often and never attempted a steal.

29 Oct

going seven

In its most recent issue, Baseball Digest chose the top 13 World Series Game 7’s in major league history, and two of them involved Mississippians. In 1997, Meridian native and ex-West Lauderdale High and Mississippi State star Jay Powell got the win as Florida beat Cleveland 3-2 in 11 innings. Powell worked a scoreless top of the 11th, keeping the score at 2-2, and the Marlins won the championship in the bottom half on Edgar Renteria’s memorable two-out hit. In 1946, Pascagoula native Harry Walker delivered the game-winning hit for St. Louis against Boston. Walker’s eighth-inning double, with two down, scored Enos Slaughter from first base on the latter’s famous “mad dash,” and the Cardinals held on to win 4-3. Shaw native and former Delta State coaching legend Boo Ferriss, who had a win earlier in that Series, started Game 7 for the Red Sox, departing in the fifth. Tonight’s San Francisco-Kansas City clash will be the 37th Game 7 (under the best-of-7 format) in World Series history. Aren’t we lucky?

28 Oct

the hustle factor

The last time the Kansas City Royals were in the World Series, in 1985, they had their backs to the wall in Game 6 against St. Louis and won 2-1, then went on to win Game 7. People remember Game 6 because of umpire Don Denkinger’s missed call in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jorge Orta reached first base on that play, and KC, down 1-0, rallied from there (with the aid of some misplays by the Cardinals). Orta, when he was the hitting coach for the Jackson Generals in 1998, said when asked about the play that he hoped people would remember how he busted it down the first-base line and turned what appeared to be a routine 3-1 putout into a close play. Yes, Denkinger missed the call. Replays showed that. But Orta’s hustle — in a situation where some players might not have gone full-bore — was a factor. Hustle always plays. P.S. Much is made about how the 2014 Royals were built through the draft, and it is interesting to note that McComb’s Jarrod Dyson has some of the deepest roots on the current roster. Drafted by KC in 2006, he is the only homegrown player on the World Series roster from that draft. Dyson, a small but swift center fielder at Southwest Mississippi Community Colleger, was picked in the 50th round. Luke Hochevar, a pitcher, was the Royals’ top pick — the No. 1 overall pick, in fact — but he missed the entire 2014 season after having elbow surgery in March. Dayton Moore, who was Atlanta’s farm director when the Mississippi Braves were hatched in 2005, took the Kansas City GM job in June 2006, just after the draft was conducted.

24 Oct

just looking

While looking forward to tonight’s Game 3 of the World Series — and the possibility that McComb native Jarrod Dyson might be in the starting lineup for Kansas City — it’s worth taking a few moments to look back at some notable anniversaries of Fall Classics in which Mississippians played a role. … It was 30 years ago that the Detroit Tigers, with a pair of Magnolia State natives in their starting outfield, capped a dominating season with a World Series triumph over San Diego. In Game 3, with the series tied, the Tigers capitalized on 11 walks and won 5-2. Sunflower native Larry Herndon (5-for-15 in the Series) went 1-for-4 with an RBI on a walk in that game, and Jackson native Chet Lemon (5-for-17) went 2-for-5 with a run. The Tigers, who started that season 35-5 and won 104 games, took the Series in five games. Lemon, known for his defense in center field, had 15 putouts. … It was 40 years ago that the Oakland A’s beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games for their third straight world championship. That Oakland team included Belzoni native Herb Washington, the ex-track star and so-called designated runner. Washington, who stole 29 bases that season and never batted, made three Series appearances, getting no bags and scoring no runs. He was famously picked off in the ninth inning of Game 2, the only game the Dodgers won. Oakland released him the next year. … And it was 80 years ago that the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers engaged in a rollicking seven-game battle notable in part because the Dean brothers, adopted Mississippian Dizzy and Paul, earned all four of the Cardinals’ W’s. In Game 2, Gulfport native Gerald “Gee” Walker delivered a game-tying pinch single in the ninth inning and the Tigers went on to win in 12. That was Walker’s only hit in the Series.

23 Oct

whatever happened to …

Corey Wimberly, the former Alcorn State standout, is still chasing the dream of making it to the big leagues — and the trail has led him to the Mexican Pacific League. Wimberly, 31, a sixth-round draft pick by Colorado in 2005, is batting .308 with three runs and a steal in six games for Obregon. The 5-foot-8, switch-hitting outfielder played at Double-A New Britain in the Minnesota organization in 2014, batting .252 with 32 runs and 17 bags in 72 games. Wimberly has been with seven different organizations, including some time with Atlanta’s Triple-A Gwinnett club in 2013. Wimberly’s best pro year might have been his first, 2005, when he led the rookie Pioneer League with a .381 average. He has stolen as many as 59 bases in a season (2008 in Double-A). P.S. Props to Mississippi Braves alum Gregor Blanco for becoming just the 19th player to hit a lead-off home run in a World Series game. Blanco’s Wednesday night blast didn’t hold up for San Francisco, which lost Game 2 to Kansas City 7-2.

22 Oct

bits and pieces

The big stuff was provided by other hitters, but former Mississippi Braves standout Gregor Blanco did a lot of little things Tuesday night that helped San Francisco win Game 1 of the World Series. Blanco went 1-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and two runs — plus a couple of nice catches in center field — as the Giants whipped Kansas City 7-1. Blanco played for the M-Braves in 2005 and ’06 and was — trivia alert! — the first player to bat in the very first M-Braves game on April 7, 2005, in Montgomery, Ala. He won a ring with the Giants in 2012, going 4-for-15 with a run and an RBI — plus some nice D in left field — in the Series victory over Detroit. … Former M-Braves reliever Tim Collins, buried in KC’s deep bullpen, made just his second postseason appearance, working two scoreless innings, though he did allow an inherited runner to cross in the seventh. Collins, a 5-foot-7 lefty who throws gas, put up a 1.13 ERA and two saves in six games for the M-Braves in 2010 after he was acquired by Atlanta from Toronto as part of the Yunel Escobar trade. A couple of weeks later, Collins went to Kansas City (along with Blanco, coincidentally) in the deal that moved Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth to the Braves. P.S. Ex-Mississippi State star Tyler Moore smacked his second home run in the Dominican Winter League, this time going deep against ex-M-Braves ace Randall Delgado. Moore is batting .417 in four games for Toros del Este. … Former Hattiesburg High standout and onetime big leaguer Robert Carson has re-signed as a minor leaguer with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A 14th-round pick by the New York Mets in 2007, the big left-hander pitched at two levels for the Dodgers this past summer, going 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 25 innings in Triple-A. He began 2014 in the Angels’ system before getting released.

21 Oct

see how they run

You have to be hoping that McComb native Jarrod Dyson gets on base tonight in Game 1 of the World Series. Even some San Francisco Giants fans have to be hoping for that. You want to see the Kansas City Royals speedster run. And you want to hear what he says about it afterward. Dyson has always been fast — and he’s always been outspoken. “That’s J-Rod,” said Chuck Freeman, Dyson’s coach at McComb High from 2002-04. “We tried to keep the reins on him, but his personality always shined through. That’s how he is.” Dyson, who stole 36 bases for KC in the regular season — four against the Giants in the Royals’ three-game sweep back in August — and is 120-for-140 in his big league career, has gotten just one bag in the postseason. But he’s a major threat to steal, as are several of his teammates, which makes for compelling theater. As Dyson told mlb.com, “They give us an inch, we are going to run a mile.” P.S. Both Pittsburgh and Oakland made the postseason this year but both lost in the wild card round (to the Giants and Royals, as a matter of fact.) Still, both towns have reason to celebrate this month. The Pirates won the World Series in 1979 — 35 years ago — and the A’s captured the Fall Classic in 1989 — 25 years ago. Significant anniversaries, to be sure, and Mississippi native Dave Parker was a common thread. He batted .345 with four RBIs for the Pirates in the ’79 Series and contributed a homer and two RBIs for the A’s in ’89. The oft-controversial slugger, one of baseball’s first big-money players, batted .290 with 339 homers over a 19-year career spent with six different clubs. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame this summer, though his chances of making it into Cooperstown appear slim. Sadly, Parker is battling Parkinson’s disease.