ohhh mexico

A host of 2009 Mississippi Braves are spending their winter vacation in Mexico — and seem to be enjoying themselves. Outfielder Concepcion Rodriguez, who'll likely be back in Pearl next year, is hitting .280 with six RBIs through 14 games. Starting pitcher Tim Gustafson is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA, and reliever Brett Butts has three saves and a 3.86 ERA in eight appearances. Those three are playing for Navojoa. Left-hander Edgar Osuna, with Mazatlan, has a 2.25 ERA in four relief appearances. ... In Venezuela, Ernesto Mejia, the 6-foot-6 first baseman who missed most of the 2009 season rehabbing a knee injury, is at .269 with two homers and seven RBIs in six games, while lefty Jose Ortegano is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in three starts. (Also playing in Venezuela: ex-Jackson General Richard Hidalgo and the unforgettable former Senator Selwyn Langaigne.) ... Meanwhile, back in the U.S.A., Freddie Freeman, who could well be back at first base for the M-Braves in 2010, hit his first home run in the Arizona Fall League today. He is hitting just .222. Brandon Hicks, the likely M-Braves shortstop in 2010, has been hot at .296. Jason Heyward has been out of action with a buttocks (no joke) injury.

been there ...

Meridian Community College alumnus Cliff Lee has been given the honor of starting Game 1 of the World Series for Philadelphia on Wednesday night. That's at Yankee Stadium. Yes, it's new this year, but it's still an intimidating place. The ghosts made the move from the old park, so they say. But Lee should feel rather comfortable. After all, the left-hander beat the Yankees in the first game ever played in the new park, back on April 16 when he was pitching for Cleveland. Plus, Lee has been very good this postseason, his first in the big leagues. He'll face his former Indians teammate CC Sabathia in Game 1, which could be one heck of an opening act.

something abreu-ing

It is fairly remarkable that the Los Angeles Angels are still hanging around in the American League Championship Series considering the lack of production they've received from Bobby Abreu. The former Jackson Generals star — known as "Bobby A-Brew" when he hit .303 with 73 RBIs for the '94 Gens — is batting .143 (3-for-21) in the five games with one RBI. During the regular season, his first with the Angels, he hit .293 and drove in 103 runs, his seventh straight year of 100-plus RBIs. But Abreu's biggest contribution was helping the Angels' other hitters become more disciplined at the plate. The team jumped from 18th in on-base percentage to third this season, taking its cues from the ever-patient Abreu. "We've changed because of Bobby," Torii Hunter told Sports Illustrated. Against the New York Yankees in the ALCS, Abreu has seemed out of sorts, walking just four times and fanning seven. He could be the X-factor in what remains of the series, which New York leads 3-2 entering Saturday's Game 6. If Abreu returns to form, watch out, Yankees fans.

a will to succeed

Will Hawkins was named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's hitter of the year last spring, when he mashed out a .406 average with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs. And the 6-foot-2, 230-pound junior from Nettleton hasn't restricted his hitting to the baseball field. As a linebacker for the Majors football team, Hawkins has recorded three straight double-digit tackle performances, capped by a career-high 15 in a win over Rhodes last week. Maybe the Millsaps basketball team could use a board-pounding power forward ...
P.S. Mississippi State's recruiting class for 2010 is rated No. 8 in the country in the recently released Baseball America overview. An under-the-radar player to watch, according to the experts at BA, is Jaron Shepherd, a left-handed hitting outfielder signed out of Navarro (Texas) Junior College. He is described as raw but bursting with potential; his dad, Ron, played 115 games for the Toronto Blue Jays in the mid-'80s. Ole Miss' class comes in at No. 12, highlighted by lefty-hitting juco catcher Miles Hamblin. BA is very high on Hamblin, who starred for a Howard (Texas) JC team that went 63-1 last season.

a series to remember

If you set out to document the greatest performances in League Championship Series history, you'd have a lot of ground to cover. After all, this is the 40th anniversary of the first expansion of baseball's postseason. Yet any Mississippian who's followed the game for a while — say, 20 years plus — could give you one for the list right off the top of his head. Will Clark, 1989. The former Mississippi State star put on a superstar show in the San Francisco Giants' 4 games to 1 win over the Chicago Cubs. It was the postseason debut for Clark, who had a thing for debuts. He homered in his first pro at-bat and in his first big league at-bat, off Nolan Ryan, no less. In that 1989 NLCS, Clark went 13-for-20 (.650) with 2 home runs, 8 RBIs and 8 runs in the five games. He set the tone for the Giants' dominance of the series in Game 1 when he went 4-for-4 with six RBIs. He was 3-for-3 with two homers, including a grand slam, against the Cubs young ace Greg Maddux. In the clinching Game 5, Clark delivered the tying and go-ahead runs with an eighth-inning single off Mitch Williams. In the World Series against Oakland — the infamous Earthquake Series — Clark had four hits but no RBIs as the Giants were swept. He never got back to the Fall Classic, but the sometimes irascible guy known as "The Thrill" gave us an LCS performance you can't forget. And it's a tale that will only get better as it ages.

afl update

Former Mississippi Brave Jason Heyward had two hits in his Arizona Fall League debut on Tuesday night and added another on Wednesday; he's 3-for-9 with two doubles and an RBI. Ex-M-Braves Freddie Freeman and Brandon Hicks debuted on Wednesday and went a combined 0-for-7. Of note, Hicks, the M-Braves' shortstop in 2009, played third base for the Peoria Saguaros. There was some speculation in the spring that he might be moved there someday. This is likely just a trial run. Odds are Hicks will be back at short and back with the M-Braves next spring. Three other 2009 M-Braves pitched for the Saguaros on Wednesday: Jeff Lyman started (2 innings, 3 hits, a walk and a run) and Lee Hyde and Craig Kimbrel worked an inning each. The starter for Scottsdale was Jackson native Donnie Veal, whom the Pirates reportedly are planning to convert to starting in 2010. The live-armed lefty was sharp in his AFL debut, tossing two perfect innings with three K's.

fall forward

Six players who toiled for the Mississippi Braves this season are among the Atlanta contingent in the Arizona Fall League, which starts today. Outfielder Jason Heyward, first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Brandon Hicks and pitchers Jeff Lyman, Craig Kimbrel and Lee Hyde are joined by 2009 first-round pick Mike Minor, a pitcher from Vanderbilt, on the roster of the Peoria Saguaros. The AFL is sort of a select league for minor leaguers, and success there has propelled many a player to a big league job the next spring. Heyward is one to keep an eye on. Baseball America's minor league player of the year has a legit chance to be Atlanta's right fielder next spring. Lyman and Kimbrel are not far from being big league ready, either. Hicks had a tough year with the M-Braves; the AFL affords him a chance to get back on the rails. ... Other names of note in the AFL: Ole Miss product Zack Cozart (shortstop/Reds) is on the Saguaros roster; ex-Rebels pitchers Cody Satterwhite (Tigers) and Lance Lynn (Cardinals) are with the Peoria Javelinas and Surprise Rafters, respectively; and Jackson native Donnie Veal (pitcher/Pirates) is with Scottsdale, where former Jackson General Dave Hajek is serving as hitting coach.

fenway flop

Boston took a lead into the eighth inning of a must-win game and sent two of the best closers of this generation out to preserve it on Sunday at Fenway Park. They couldn't do it. Former Jackson General Billy Wagner and ex-Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon got knocked around by the Los Angeles Angels for five runs in a combined 1 2/3 innings and the Red Sox's postseason came to a stunning and abrupt end. Whoulda thought it? Papelbon's meltdown was particularly hard to figure. He had never allowed a run in the postseason. But on Sunday, he couldn't drop the hammer. He relieved Wagner in the eighth and gave up a two-run hit. Still, Boston took a 6-4 lead to the ninth. Papelbon got two outs and then it all fell apart. Former Generals star Bobby Abreu (3-for-5 on the day) had a big two-out, two-strike double that drove in the first run of the ninth, and he later scored what proved to be the game-winner. Papelbon had to be pulled. In an inning of work, he was charged with 4 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs. He didn't strike out a batter. He's an intense kind of guy. Wonder how long he'll stew over that final inning of 2009?

two and done?

Minnesota Twins third baseman Matt Tolbert's first postseason as a major leaguer may have been short and not so sweet. The former Ole Miss star started Games 1 and 2 of the American League Division Series against New York but left Friday night's game with a strained oblique in his left side. He may be done, regardless of how much farther the Twins go. And down 2-0 to the Yankees, that likely isn't far. Tolbert, who spent most of the season in the minors, played a key role for Minnesota down the stretch, hitting .333 the last 21 games and playing good defense at what had been a problem position for the club. At least he'll go to spring training with some credentials for more regular duty in 2010.

numbers

Stumbled across some figures on ballparkdigest.com that caught the eye. The Mississippi Braves, in their fifth season at $30 million Trustmark Park, drew a paid (tickets sold) average of 2,996 fans per game in 2009. That ranked 105th out of 176 minor league clubs this year, according to the Web site's data. The Atlanta Braves pulled their Double-A club out of Greenville, S.C., where it had resided since 1984, after protracted haggling over the building of a new ballpark there. They moved to Pearl, where the TeePee was built for them, and drew a paid 3,847 the first year, 2005. That seemed promising. Smith-Wills Stadium never drew anything like that during the 25 years (1975-1999) of Double-A baseball there. But the TeePee attendance figure has dropped each year since. And the 2,997 figure of this past season includes a lot of tickets that were never used. The actual average might have been closer to 2,000 per game, which is awfully close to what the old Jackson Generals drew in their best season (1,866 in 1996). Hmmm. Didn't the Generals leave (for greener pastures in Texas) because of poor attendance? And here's another number to ponder: 4,857. That's what the new Greenville, S.C., club (a Boston Red Sox low A team) drew in the ballpark that was built there soon after the Braves left.

ghosts of smith-wills

They played professional baseball of some variety at Smith-Wills Stadium for 30 years, so maybe it shouldn't be surprising that there are so many people with ties to the old ballpark involved in this year's playoffs. Still ... seven of the eight clubs, all except the New York Yankees, have someone in uniform who either played, coached or managed the Jackson Mets or Generals. (Sorry, no Diamond Kats or Senators involved here.) Players include ex-Generals stars Julio Lugo with St. Louis, Bobby Abreu with the LA Angels and Billy Wagner with Boston. Former Jackson Mets shortstop Ron Gardenhire is managing Minnesota, and ex-OJM Rick Anderson is his pitching coach. Former JaxMets manager Sam Perlozzo coaches third base for Philadelphia. Former JaxMets third baseman Dave Magadan, who played for Perlozzo on the '85 title team, is the hitting coach for the Red Sox, and ex-OJM shortstop Tim Bogar is the first-base coach. Bob Apodaca, a former JaxMets pitching coach, performs the same duty for Colorado, which fired former JaxMets manager Clint Hurdle earlier this year. Last but hardly least, former JaxMets manager Bob Schaefer is a coach for the LA Dodgers.

impact player

He didn't start either of the first two games of the National League Division Series in Philadelphia, but Seth Smith made an impact for Colorado in Game 2 today. The former Ole Miss and Hillcrest Christian star got a pinch-hit single off the leg of Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ in the seventh inning of the Rockies' series-tying 5-4 win. Happ left the game with what was later called a contusion and may no longer be a candidate to start game 3 on Saturday at Colorado. Smith, who hit .293 with 15 homers and 55 RBIs in the regular season, may be limited to pinch hitting in the postseason because the Rockies have such a plethora of outfielders. But pinch hitting is fine by Smith. It's a role in which the sweet-swinging lefty excelled this season, leading all of the majors with a .472 average. He'll no doubt be heard from again.

they're back

Ron Gardenhire has done it again. The Minnesota Twins, the flagship of baseball's limited payroll fleet, are in the playoffs for the fifth time in the former Jackson Met's eight seasons as manager. They made it again tonight with a 12-inning 6-5 win over Detroit in the American League Central tiebreaker, a game that had the good old Metrodome rocking. Matt Tolbert, the former Ole Miss and Centreville Academy star, was in the middle of things for the Twins, going 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI, the latter coming in the bottom of the 10th. It was a bitter end for Detroit, which appeared to have the division sewn up weeks ago. Former Jackson General Carlos Guillen was a quiet 0-for-3. Former Mississippi Brave Zach Miner got a blown save; he got a big out — against Tolbert — in the sixth but yielded a two-run homer to Orlando Cabrera in the seventh that put the Tigers behind.
P.S. The Chicago White Sox picked up the option on pitcher Freddy Garcia, the former Jackson General who beat the Tigers in a big game Sunday. He's not done yet.

on the spot

A pair of pitchers with Mississippi connections played key roles in the frantic American League Central race on Saturday. Delta State alumnus Dusty Hughes, a rookie with the Kansas City Royals, served up Michael Cuddyer's go-ahead home run in the eighth inning of Minnesota's 5-4 win over Kansas City. The Twins, winners of 15 of their last 19, moved into a tie for first later that night when former Jackson Generals ace Freddy Garcia, now with the Chicago White Sox, beat Detroit, scattering six hits over seven innings with seven strikeouts in one of his best outings in a while. The Tigers are one of Garcia's many former employers. The big right-hander has had a hard time finding a spot in the majors the last couple years. If that was his last start, what a way to go out.

is that good?

Lenny Dykstra's 1986 World Series ring sold at auction for $56,762.50, according to reports today. Should we be happy or sad for the former Jackson Mets star? Dykstra filed for bankruptcy in July, claiming more than $31 million in debts. Wonder if he still has the 1984 Texas League championship ring he won with the JaxMets? That might fetch a few hundred.

the finish line

Tommy Hanson, the former Mississippi Braves ace, made his last start of the season for Atlanta on Thursday night (no decision in a 2-1 defeat vs. Washington) and thus closed his case for National League rookie of the year honors. He's got a strong one. He went 11-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 21 starts and was a big reason the Braves made a late run at the playoffs. That should count for something. Of course, Ole Miss alumnus Chris Coghlan emerged as a .300 hitter in the leadoff spot for Florida and helped the Marlins stay in the race until the final week, as well. Coghlan went 4-for-9 with three runs in Florida's wins over Atlanta on Tuesday and Wednesday, losses that severely damaged Atlanta's chances of catching Colorado. ... Though it was a meaningless game for playoff-bound Philadelphia, it might be a sign of trouble that former Meridian Community College star Cliff Lee continued to stumble down the stretch in a loss to Houston on Thursday. Lee started 5-0 with Philly after coming over from Cleveland. He is 2-4 with a 6.13 ERA since then. ... What a weird series Boston experienced against Toronto early this week. First, the Blue Jays swept the three games at Fenway and hit 13 homers in the process. On Tuesday night, when Adam Lind came to the plate looking for his record-tying fourth homer of the game, former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon plunked him on the elbow with apparent intent, though he wasn't ejected. On Wednesday, Roy Halladay baffled the BoSox on three hits in a 12-0 rout. Hattiesburg native Joey Gathright, whose primary role has been pinch runner since Boston recalled him, got two of those hits, including a sixth-inning single that broke up the no-hitter. ... Minnesota won Thursday's beanball-marred series finale at Detroit and thus remained in the fight for the American League Central title, 2 games out with three left. The Twins won 8-3 despite making four errors (one by ex-Rebel Matt Tolbert, in as a defensive replacement at third base). It was a class act by Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, the former Jackson Met, to apologize to the Tigers for pitcher Jose Mijares inexplicably throwing at Adam Everett in the eighth inning. The Tigers retaliated by hitting Delmon Young. Though Young was visibly upset, possibly at Mijares, Gardenhire said the Tigers did what they needed to do in that situation.