deja vu

Never saw Darryl Strawberry at Smith-Wills Stadium. But Jason Heyward, an eerily similar player, may be stirring the same kind of buzz a few miles away at Trustmark Park. The 19-year-old Heyward, one of the top prospects in all of the minors, hit his first Double-A home run Thursday night, a towering blast to the deep gap in right-center. He had three other hits, including a pair of opposite-field doubles. After 10 games with the M-Braves, Heyward is hitting .417 with 5 doubles, 2 triples, the one homer and 10 RBIs. Strawberry, who was 20 when he played for the Jackson Mets in 1982, hit .283 that year with 19 doubles, 9 triples, a franchise-record 34 homers and 97 RBIs. He was in New York the next year. Heyward might be in Atlanta this September. Strawberry was a left-handed hitting right fielder who stood 6 feet 4 and weighed 180 pounds in '82. Heyward is a left-handed hitting right fielder who stands 6 feet 4 and weighs (a chiseled) 220. Both have basketball backgrounds. Both were first-round picks. Strawberry became a big league star in short order after leaving Jackson, where tales of his homers are legend. Heyward's just get started, really, but he looks to be on that track. If you were there Thursday night, you know. You're talking about it today.

close encounters

From the You Never Know Who You'll See at the Ballpark Dept.: On Wednesday night, there was an NBA point guard (Mo Williams) and an NFL running back (Jerious Norwood) in the press box at Trustmark Park. Tonight, former major league catcher and manager Bob Boone was in the house. And almost every night, former Olympic long jumper Savante Stringfellow is working on press row. That's a full house, isn't it?

star turns

The major league All-Star Game has always been a pretty big deal, even before the contrived significance of World Series home-field advantage was added a few years back. Putting all those great players on one field for a midsummer game ... how can it be anything but grand? Winning the World Series is every player's ultimate goal, but making the All-Star Game rates pretty high, too. Years ago in the old Negro Leagues, making the East-West Game, as their showcase was called, was an even bigger deal than winning the season-ending championship. The game drew like nothing else those leagues put together. It was the event of the season, and Mississippians had their share of star turns, as research in Robert Peterson's path-breaking "Only the Ball Was White" shows. In the inaugural East-West Game, at Chicago's Comiskey Park in 1933, Starkville native Cool Papa Bell started and hit leadoff for the East, but fellow Hall of Famer Bill Foster, who grew up in Lorman and later was a dean at Alcorn State, pitched for the West, got the win and a hit. Bell played in almost every East-West game over a 12-year stretch. Howard Easterling of Mount Olive was a five-time All-Star. In 1940, he went 2-for-5 with a run in the East's 11-0 win. In 1946, at Washington's Griffith Stadium, Easterling had three hits, two runs and an RBI in a 5-3 win. Bubba Hyde, from Pontotoc, was 2-for-3 with an RBI in a second 1946 game, back at Comiskey. In 1949, Easterling again came up big in the classic, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a steal in a 4-0 East win. Charleston's Bill Hoskins had a hit and an RBI in the East's 8-3 win in 1941, played before a crowd of 50,000-plus. Jackson native Buddy Armour went 2-for-4 with a couple of runs and a stolen base in the 1944 game and rapped out two hits in '47, as well. Oh, if only there were a time machine for baseball fans ...

it's a start

If there were doubts that Hunter Owen could hit at the pro level, with a wood bat, he has provided some answers in his first two games with the independent Edinburg Roadrunners. The former Millsaps star, the school's career homer and RBI leader, went 2-for-4 with an RBI in his Friday debut, then followed that effort by going 2-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs on Saturday. Owen, who tried out but couldn't get a job with a major league organization, is hitting cleanup for Edinburg, which plays in the United League. There is a fairly long list of players who have used indy ball as a springboard to the affiliated game. Owen could be another.
P.S. Congratulations are in order for former Jackson State star Tommie Campbell, who will be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in September. He was a first-round pick by the New York Mets in 1967 and, by all accounts, a pretty good player. He played four years in the Mets' system, reaching the Double-A level. For the record, and contrary to JSU's information, Campbell did not play for the '69 champion Mets. There is no record that he was ever on their 40-man roster that season.

traded!

It's sad. It was inevitable, perhaps, but it's still sad. Jeff Francoeur, the hometown hero in Atlanta, was traded away. To the New York Mets, no less, the Braves' biggest rival over the last 10 years or so. Francoeur was a big hit with the Mississippi Braves in 2005; people still show up at Trustmark Park in his jersey. But he was an even bigger sensation in Atlanta, having played high school ball in the area. For 2 1/2 years, he looked like a rising star. But then he lost his swing. Came back to Pearl last summer looking for it. Still hasn't found it. Even the biggest Francoeur supporters had to know his time with the Braves was running short. But it was a shock the way it went down. After having one of his best games of the season (3-for-4, 3 doubles) at Colorado on Thursday night, Jeff Francoeur was shipped out for an older, injury-prone player, Ryan Church. Don't know how that's going to work out. This much is certain, though: No. 7 will be missed in right field at the Ted.
P.S. How about that Seth Smith. The former Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss standout got his 12th pinch hit of the season Friday night for Colorado (against the Braves). He is now 12-for-25. Pinch hitting seems to be Smith's main role with the Rockies these days, and he's playing it well.

props

Martin Prado, the former Mississippi Brave, may have arrived. At last. Prado, having recently usurped Kelly Johnson as Atlanta's starting second baseman, was named National League player of the week earlier this week after posting some mighty fine numbers: a .577 average, 8 doubles and 6 RBIs in a week's time. Prado had the look of a big leaguer when he arrived at Trustmark Park way back in 2005. Then-M-Braves manager Brian Snitker raved about him. But until this season, Prado hasn't really been given a chance to play regularly for the big Braves. He is now making the most of it. ... Kudos also go out to Jonathan Papelbon, the ex-Mississippi State star who was named to the American League All-Star team. Papelbon recently became the Boston Red Sox's all-time saves leader (with 133 in just three-plus years). He has also become arguably the most feared closer in the game, passing Mariano Rivera for that honor.
P.S. If you haven't been out to the TeePee to see Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman yet, do it. These guys are good. And they will get better. But they won't be here long, probably not beyond this season if that long.

checking back

It's July 2, a month since the Atlanta Braves' possible "defining moment," an adrenaline-pumping victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Braves were 26-25 on June 2, 3 1/2 games out of first in the National League East. Today, as they play first-place Philadelphia, the Braves are 37-40, 3 games out. So, they've made up ground ... but they haven't exactly turned the season around. Even with the addition of Nate McLouth, Atlanta continues to struggle at the plate. Former M-Brave Jeff Francoeur, whose clutch ninth-inning homer on June 2 created such cause for optimism, still isn't producing enough. Former M-Brave Yunel Escobar is still causing distractions. Former M-Braves Tommy Hanson and Martin Prado have helped the cause, but there seems to be so much work left for Atlanta. Dare we check back yet again a month from now?