yankees Archives - All Mississippi Baseball

31 Oct

a memory evoked

Los Angeles rallied from a five-run deficit Wednesday night to win Game 5 — and the World Series — evoking a painful memory for Atlanta fans but no doubt a thrilling one for Hattiesburg native Charlie Hayes. According to baseballreference.com, the only other time a team has squandered a lead of five runs or more after five innings and lost a Series game was in Game 4 in 1996. The Braves, up 2-1 in the Series, led 6-0 after five innings but fell to the New York Yankees 8-6 in 10 at old Fulton County Stadium. Hayes played a role in the rally. He had an RBI hit in the three-run sixth and another knock in the eighth, when Jim Leyritz’s three-run homer off Mark Wohlers crushed the soul of Braves fans and tied the score 6-6. Hayes also reached on an error that scored the final run in New York’s two-run 10th. The former Forrest County AHS star went 3-for-5 in Game 4 — his only hits in the six-game Series — and three days later at Yankee Stadium caught the foul pop that closed out the Yankees’ championship. A midseason pick-up by the Yankees in ’96, Hayes played 14 years all told in the big leagues (1998-2001), batting .262 with 144 homers and winning the one ring. P.S. Dodgers first baseman and Mississippi Braves alum Freddie Freeman, 6-for-20 with four homers and 12 RBIs against the Yankees, was named the MVP of the 2024 Fall Classic, becoming the first Mississippi-connected player to win that award. No native or college alum has done so. … In the Arizona Fall League on Wednesday, Ole Miss product Tim Elko went 3-for-5 with a double, a homer (his fourth), four RBIs and three runs for Glendale. The Chicago White Sox prospect is hitting .267 in the AFL.

25 Oct

names to know

There are no Magnolia State natives or school alums on the active rosters for this year’s World Series, though there are some significant state connections. Former Mississippi Braves star Freddie Freeman plays first base and Evan Phillips, another M-Braves alum, pitches for Los Angeles. Trent Grisham, who played for the Biloxi Shuckers, is a reserve outfielder for New York. Ex-Mississippi State star Travis Chapman also suits up for the Yankees and enjoys the privilege of slapping hands with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, et al., as they start their home run trek. Chapman, the Yankees’ first-base coach, was an outstanding third baseman who played on two College World Series teams at State before enjoying a nice pro career (.286 average) that included one at-bat in The Show in 2003. He played his last game in 2006 and then became a manager and coach in the Yankees’ minor league chain. He joined the big club in 2022. Grisham belted 20 homers in 79 games for Biloxi in 2017-18 and hit nine this year for the Yankees, but the lefty hitter has yet to appear in this postseason. Freeman, who has pronounced himself a “100 percent go” for tonight’s Game 1 despite an ankle injury, played for the M-Braves in 2009; he hit .248 with two homers and 24 RBIs in 41 games. He made the big leagues in 2010 and is an eight-time All-Star and former MVP. Phillips did two stints in Pearl (2016 and ’17), appearing in 37 games as a reliever. He reached Atlanta in 2018 and was traded to Baltimore during that season. The right-hander has yet to allow a run in 12 postseason appearances over four years with the Dodgers. … Andy Fletcher, an Ole Miss alum and Olive Branch resident, is on the umpiring crew for the Series and will be behind home plate for Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. A 25-year vet in MLB, Fletcher was behind the plate in Korea for Game 2 of the 2024 season when the Dodgers played San Diego. … Brent Rooker, MSU alum now with Oakland, will serve as a correspondent for MLB Network in Game 3 of the Series at Yankee Stadium, doing pre- and postgame interviews. P.S. In the previous 11 World Series matchups featuring the Dodgers and Yankees, the only one in which a Mississippian played any type of role was the 1941 meeting. Morton native Atley Donald, nicknamed Swampy, started Game 4 for the Yankees and stood to get the loss before Mickey Owen’s infamous ninth-inning passed ball allowed the Yankees to mount a winning rally en route to taking the Series 4-1. Right-hander Donald pitched eight years with the Yankees from 1938-45 and compiled a 65-33 record with a 3.52 ERA. He was a three-time world champion with the Bronx Bombers.

10 Sep

fizzling finish

The big game on Monday’s MLB docket was Kansas City-New York, a battle between two playoff-bound clubs at Yankee Stadium. It proved to be a big disappointment for the visiting Royals. The KC bullpen — namely Ole Miss alum James McArthur and Mississippi State product Chris Stratton — imploded, handing the Yankees a 10-4 victory. New York leads the American League East by 1.5 games; Kansas City sits second in the AL Central and the wild card race. A home run by ex-MSU star Hunter Renfroe — his 13th — gave the Royals a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, with one out, McArthur — the team’s former closer — came on to face the top of the New York order. Gleyber Torres singled, Juan Soto walked, Aaron Judge singled in the tying run and Austin Wells hit a three-run bomb: 7-4 Yankees. Down goes McArthur. It was his seventh blown save in 25 chances; his record fell to 5-7 and his ERA jumped to 5.01. “We know that is a big spot in the game,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said in an mlb.com article. “We felt really good about him there. It was just one of those nights he wasn’t able to put them away.” It was still 7-4 in the eighth when Stratton came on. He gave up four hits, a walk and three runs, pretty much ending any hopes the Royals might have had of a ninth-inning rally. Tupelo native Stratton, who won a ring with Texas last year, saw his ERA balloon to 5.34. The Royals get two more cracks in this series at the AL’s top team.

24 Aug

three stars

Hunter Renfroe joined the 500-RBI club — a pretty cool milestone — by driving in a pair of runs Friday night with his 12th homer of the year for Kansas City. The ex-Mississippi State standout from Crystal Springs walked twice and scored twice for the Royals, who beat Philadelphia 7-4 in an interleague matchup of playoff contenders. (If anyone is wondering, Dave Parker is the career leader in RBIs among Mississippi natives in MLB with 1,493. Ellis Burks had 1,206.)
David Mershon, a 2024 draftee thrown right into the Double-A fire, banged out two more hits for Rocket City and is batting .324 with three RBIs and five runs over 37 at-bats for the Los Angeles Angels’ affiliate. Mershon, a shortstop, was an 18th-round pick out of MSU, where he was an All-SEC performer.
Cooper Pratt belted his fourth homer, picked up two RBIs and scored twice for High-Class A Wisconsin. The ex-Magnolia Heights High shortstop, Milwaukee’s No. 2 prospect, is batting .228 in 21 games for the Timber Rattlers. A second-year pro, he hit .295 with three homers in 73 Low-A contests before his promotion.
P.S. Jackson Prep product Will Warren will get a fourth crack at his first big league win today when he takes the bump for the New York Yankees against Colorado at Yankee Stadium. Warren, who has 24 minor league victories on his resume, is 0-1 with an 8.59 for the Yanks but pitched well (two runs in five innings) his last time out. … Former Mississippi Braves pitchers Julio Teheran and Nolan Kingham got the win and the save, respectively, for Monterrey in Game 1 of the Mexican League Championship Series. Teheran went five innings as the starter in the 9-5 win over Dos Laredos, Kingham got the last out with a punchout. Teheran, 3-0 with a 3.38 in the LMB postseason, threw a combo no-hitter for the 2010 M-Braves. Kingham, four saves in the postseason, was 6-1 for the 2021 M-Braves championship team.

31 Jul

lightning strikes twice

Deadline trades — and there were a slew of them this week — can be risky, but they can also make a big difference in a team’s championship chase. To wit: Former Meridian Community College standout Cliff Lee was involved in deadline deals in back-to-back seasons that proved very rewarding. Both times the lanky left-hander helped his new club reach the World Series. In 2009, the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies traded four prospects to Cleveland for Lee, the 2008 Cy Young Award winner, and an outfielder. Lee went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA as the Phillies won the National League East. In the postseason, he was 4-0 with a 1.56 and beat the New York Yankees twice in the World Series. Alas, the Phils fell in six games. In 2010, Lee had moved on to Seattle. That July, Texas sent three prospects along with big leaguer Justin Smoak to the Mariners to get Lee for the stretch run. He went 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA for the Rangers, 2-1 with a 1.93 in four September starts, helping them win the American League West. In the 2010 postseason, Lee posted a 3-2, 2.78, ledger as Texas reached the World Series. Both of his losses came in the Series, won by San Francisco. … Lee won 143 games in a 13-year big league career and was 7-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 11 postseason starts. He did not win a ring, however. P.S. At a press conference in Pittsburgh today, Jackson Prep alum Konnor Griffin formally signed with the Pirates for a $6.5 million bonus, the highest for a Mississippi-connected player in the bonus pool era (since 2012) of the MLB draft. The consensus national high school player of the year was the ninth overall pick. “The (Pirates) team is on a great track right now hopefully getting to the playoffs,” Griffin said at his signing. “There are a lot of great things I’m seeing here.” If Griffin, an outfielder/shortstop, plays this season, it’ll likely be at Low-Class A Bradenton. The rookie league season has ended. … Former Jackson Prep standout Will Warren was optioned back to Triple-A by the New York Yankees after making an impressive MLB debut at Philadelphia on Tuesday (see previous posts). … Lance Lynn, the 37-year-old right-hander out of Ole Miss, went on the injured list with knee inflammation today, a day after notching his sixth win for St. Louis against Texas. Lynn (6-4, 4.06 ERA) is 2-0 in his last three starts while allowing just three runs in 16 innings for the Cardinals, who are still in the National League wild card race.

31 Jul

fresh cut

A bunch of faces turned up in new places on Tuesday: Thrown into the cauldron at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Will Warren acquitted himself well in his big league debut. The former Jackson Prep standout from Brandon gave up four early runs but nothing more over 5 1/3 innings as a spot starter for the New York Yankees. The Yanks rallied to beat the Phillies 7-6 in 12 innings. Warren, New York’s No. 7 prospect, threw a fastball past Bryce Harper in the first inning for his first strikeout. … Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko homered in his first game for Triple-A Charlotte after being promoted by the Chicago White Sox. Elko, who hit 46 homers in five seasons in Oxford, has 42 career bombs in three years of pro ball. … Southern Miss product Tyler Stuart, traded to Washington by the New York Mets, pitched five innings (three runs, five K’s) in his debut with Double-A Harrisburg. … Former USM star Matthew Etzel, traded to Tampa Bay by Baltimore, went 0-for-4 in his debut with Double-A Montgomery. … Cooper Pratt, 2023 Gatorade player of the year at Magnolia Heights, hit a homer and a sac fly in his first game at High-Class A Wisconsin in the Milwaukee system. … David McCabe, Atlanta’s No. 11 prospect, came off the injured list for the Double-A Mississippi Braves and went 0-for-3 with a walk in his 2024 debut. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound third baseman hit .276 with 17 homers in A-ball in 2023. … Ole Miss product Gunnar Hoglund, 9-4 with a 2.84 ERA in Double-A, was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas by Oakland but did not pitch on Tuesday. P.S. Brent Rooker, subject of many trade rumors, stayed put with Oakland on deadline day and belted his 26th homer of the season in a 5-2 win at San Francisco. The ex-Mississippi State standout leads the majors with 11 homers in July. … Former DeSoto Central star Austin Riley had his first four-hit game since June 8, 2023, in Atlanta’s 5-1 win at Milwaukee. Riley boosted his average to .259. … Recently signed by Gastonia of the independent Atlantic League, MSU alum Jacob Robson hit his first homer of 2024 in his third game on Tuesday. The well-traveled Robson played in four MLB games with Detroit in 2021 and most recently played in Australia.

30 Jul

debut alert

While we wait for Konnor Griffin to sign his pro contract, another former Jackson Prep star is in the news today. Will Warren has been called up by the New York Yankees to make his MLB debut tonight against Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. The 25-year-old right-hander, New York’s No. 7 prospect, will get to face Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper in the first inning of his first game. Good luck with that. In his fourth pro season, Warren was an inconsistent 5-5 with a 6.11 ERA in 20 starts at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He features an excellent slider and a mid-90s fastball. Warren went 7-0, 1.39 ERA, at Jackson Prep as a senior in 2017 and signed with Southeastern Louisiana, an off-the-radar NCAA Division I program. Over four years with the Lions, he put up a 3.90 ERA in 53 games. The Yankees drafted him in the eighth round in 2021.

27 May

special occasion

The mood tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl should be celebratory. It’s Memorial Day, which traditionally mixes well with baseball, and the Mississippi Braves are back home and playing as well as any team in the minors. Atlanta’s Double-A club just swept a six-game series at Chattanooga and has won seven straight overall, 11 of their last 13. The bats have perked up of late, with 30 runs over the last four games. Tonight’s starting pitcher, Hurston Waldrep, one of the Braves’ top prospects, has won three straight starts. He is 3-3 with a 2.64 ERA on a staff with a 3.36, which ranks among the best in Double-A. Recently added prospect Spencer Schwellenbach has yet to allow a run in two starts. Middle reliever Hayden Harris has been virtually untouchable with a 0.59 in 13 games. Shortstop Nacho Alvarez, the top position player prospect in Atlanta’s system, has lived up to billing with slick defense, a .278 average, 13 RBIs and 16 steals. Five M-Braves rank among the top 15 base stealers in the Southern League, led by Geraldo Quintero with 17 bags. The team will wear patriotic-themed jerseys against Montgomery tonight (6:05 first pitch) with a pregame flyover scheduled and — of course — postgame fireworks. P.S. Austin Riley, ex-DeSoto Central High standout, is back in Atlanta’s lineup today for the first time since May 12. He is batting second behind Ozzie Albies at Truist Park. Riley is hitting .245 with three homers and 18 RBIs. With Ronald Acuna down, it’s time to get going. … Something has gone horribly wrong for Will Warren, the former Jackson Prep star now in the New York Yankees’ system. Warren, who contended for a spot in the big league rotation in the spring, is 0-4 with a 15.88 ERA in four May starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He gave up seven earned runs in three innings on Sunday. Warren was 3-0 with a 2.33 in five April starts.

17 May

championship mettle

Among the most impressive aspects of James “Cool Papa” Bell’s career is the number of championship teams he played for during his Hall of Fame career. Bell, born on this date in Starkville in 1903, was a member of 11 teams that won — or claimed — league championships during his 25-year pro career. Known as one of the fastest players ever to suit up, Bell batted .325 for his career and is credited by baseball-reference.com with 285 steals in official Negro League games. Including exhibition games, winter league games and foreign leagues, his career steals total is likely double that and more. An eight-time All-Star, he was a leadoff batter and center fielder for three of the greatest franchises in the old Negro Leagues, winning nine pennants with the St. Louis Stars, Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays between 1922 and ’46. The Grays won two World Series titles with Bell. Bell also was on a championship team in the Dominican Republic in 1937 and the pennant-winning team in Mexican League in 1940. Bell, at age 37, won the league’s Triple Crown that year, batting .437 with 12 homers and 79 RBIs; he also stole 28 bases. He was elected to Cooperstown in 1974 and passed away in 1991. … On the subject of championship teams, Jackson Prep — led by the dynamic pro prospect Konnor Griffin — won its seventh straight title in MAIS, beating Presbyterian Christian for the 6A crown on Thursday night. P.S. On this date in 2010, at Yankee Stadium, former East Central Community College star Marcus Thames hit a walk-off two-run homer against ex-Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon, giving New York an 11-9 win over Boston. It was the only walk-off bomb Thames hit among his 115 career homers, according to Baseball Almanac.

23 Mar

watch for it

As spring training winds down, Will Warren is ramping up his bid to make the New York Yankees’ starting rotation. The Jackson Prep product pitched five strong innings on Friday, allowing three hits, two walks and a lone run in a Grapefruit League game against the New York Mets. Right-hander Warren, the Yanks’ No. 8-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, is competing with several others for the fifth starter job. He is 3-1 with a 3.52 ERA in five games this spring. “He’s got the starter repertoire, a lot of confidence and a great demeanor on the mound,” New York manager Aaron Boone said in an mlb.com article. “He’s done a nice job and earned (a chance) to be in this position.” The 26-man roster should be announced soon. The team opens March 28 at Houston. Featuring a wipeout slider, Warren went 10-4 with a 3.35 between Double-A and Triple-A last season. After going 7-0, 1.39, as a senior at Jackson Prep in 2017, Warren signed with NCAA Division I Southeastern Louisiana, where he posted a 3.90 ERA in 53 games over four seasons. The Yankees drafted him in the eighth round in 2021, and he has made steady progress in their system. P.S. Pitching against Warren and the Yankees on Friday was ex-Southern Miss star Tyler Stuart, drafted by the Mets in the sixth round in 2022. The 6-foot-9 Stuart allowed two runs in three innings against the likes of Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Rated the Mets’ No. 18 prospect, Stuart was 7-2, 2.44, between High-Class A and Double-A in 2023.