the envelope please …

Evan Longoria is Tampa Bay’s star position player. Ben Zobrist does a lot of things well for the Rays, and Yunel Escobar — the former Mississippi Braves shortstop — James Loney and rookie Wil Myers had solid 2013 seasons, as well. But let’s give Desmond Jennings his due. The former Itawamba Community College standout took on B.J. Upton’s role — center fielder and sometime leadoff batter — in just his second full MLB season and wore it well. Jennings, in 139 games, batted .252 with 14 home runs, 54 RBIs, 82 runs, 31 doubles, six triples and 20 stolen bases. Over the last half of September, while battling a hamstring problem, Jennings hit .393 in his last 10 games with seven RBIs, four runs and five walks. The Rays were feverishly pursuing a playoff berth at the time, and they grabbed it, beating Texas in a one-game showdown for the second American League wild card (Jennings was 1-for-3) and then winning the Wild Card Game against Cleveland. For his efforts, Jennings, who turned 27 today, is the winner of the 2013 Cool Papa Bell Award, given here for the top performance by a Mississippian (native or college alum) in the majors. Consideration was also given to Meridian CC product Cliff Lee (14-8, 2.87 ERA), Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn (15-10, 3.97) and ex-Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland (23 homers, 60 RBIs). P.S. Congratulations go out to M-Braves product Andrelton Simmons on receiving a Gold Glove after his first full year in Atlanta. Simmons had an Ultimate Zone Rating (a defensive metric of some sort) that was reportedly nearly triple his nearest competitor at shortstop. (And he hit a little bit, too, which never hurts in the Gold Glove voting.)