young at heart

Dmitri Young is indeed plotting a comeback. The Vicksburg native is 38 and hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2008. But he recently told mlb.com that the reason he is playing in the Venezuelan Winter League is because he wants another shot at The Show. Young, who reportedly has lost 50 pounds after reaching 300-plus in retirement, is hitting .161 with no home runs in 19 games for Caribes. He said he is “getting re-acclimated to playing, getting the rust off.” Young, a powerful switch-hitter in his prime, belted 171 homers in the majors, including 29 for Detroit in 2003. He was an All-Star in 2007 with Washington but managed to play just 50 games because of injuries in ’08, hitting .280 with four homers. He formally retired in the spring of 2010. But now he’s shopping for an offer from a big league organization. “You’ve got to prove yourself to see exactly where you’re at,” Young told mlb.com, “and that’s why I wanted to come play winter ball, for that reason.”
P.S. Fun facts: Young played on the 1994 Arkansas Travelers club with new Mississippi Braves manager Aaron Holbert. That team was managed by Jackson native Chris Maloney, recently hired as a coach by the St. Louis Cardinals.