Today's subject: Barry Lyons. Lyons, a catcher who played parts of seven years in the major leagues, touched all the bases of Mississippi connections. He was born in Biloxi, where he was a standout talent at an early age, went on to star at Delta State for Boo Ferriss and then played for the 1985 Texas League champion Jackson Mets. He famously hit a game-winning homer in the JaxMets' home opener in '85. Lyons put up MVP-quality numbers in the Double-A loop in '85 and made the New York Mets club the next season. He hung around the majors until 1995, though his career never really took off. His best year was probably 1989, when he played in 79 games for the Mets and batted .247 with three homers and 27 RBIs. He also threw out 27 percent of runners trying to steal, though he did commit 10 errors. He played for three more major league teams (battling back problems along the way) and finished with a career .239 average, 15 homers and 89 RBIs. It could be argued that he is the best big league catcher Mississippi has produced.
P.S. Delta State, which is ranked as high as No. 8 in one NCAA Division II poll, opened its season Friday with a 24-3 win at Montevallo. Jon Carnahan homered and drove in six runs; Michael Vinson and Kris Koerper had four hits and four RBIs each; and Aaron Newcomb yielded one run over five innings for the W. DSU has 17 lettermen back from a 30-19 team that missed the D-II regionals for a third straight year. The Statesmen should be very, very motivated in 2012.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
instant classic
Couldn't ask for much more from the first game of the Maloney Trophy Series. Millsaps, playing its season opener, got a two-out, two-run single from Andrew Evans in the bottom of the ninth inning to top Belhaven 8-7 today at Twenty Field. Evans, a senior from Ocean Springs who had six RBIs in all of 2011, got four today, including the game-winner off Blazers closer Josh Clarke. BU, now 5-2, had taken a 7-4 lead in the top of the ninth on a three-run homer by Anthony Doss. What a start for the compelling small college round robin that includes Millsaps, Belhaven and Mississippi College.
P.S. Bill Hall will go to spring training with the New York Yankees on a minor league contract. The Nettleton product excitedly broke the news himself today on Twitter, saying he wants a ring. Of course, making the Yanks won't be easy. Hall, 32, hit .211 with two homers in 185 at-bats in the majors last season. And offense is his game. ... And this just in: Roy Oswalt, the pride of Weir, is still unsigned. Cincinnati has joined the list of teams that may or may not be interested.
P.S. Bill Hall will go to spring training with the New York Yankees on a minor league contract. The Nettleton product excitedly broke the news himself today on Twitter, saying he wants a ring. Of course, making the Yanks won't be easy. Hall, 32, hit .211 with two homers in 185 at-bats in the majors last season. And offense is his game. ... And this just in: Roy Oswalt, the pride of Weir, is still unsigned. Cincinnati has joined the list of teams that may or may not be interested.
batters up
Millsaps will make its 2012 debut today when it hosts Belhaven in a Maloney Trophy Series contest. The Majors are coming off a 24-18 campaign and for the first time in four years don't have slugger Will Hawkins on their roster. Hawkins hit .368 with eight homers and 49 RBIs last season. Belhaven, ranked 15th in NAIA, is 5-1 and coming off a doubleheader split at LSU-Alexandria. ... Meanwhile, in Hattiesburg, William Carey will be eager to get back on the field today for its doubleheader against Tougaloo. The Crusaders are 0-3, having lost a weekend series at NAIA fifth-ranked LSU-Shreveport 7-1, 11-1 and 9-2. Always undermanned Tougaloo, which lost its opener last week to Belhaven 11-1, could be in for a long day.
Monday, February 6, 2012
totally random, vol. 2.5
Today's subject: Rufus Lewis. Lewis, a high school baseball and football star in Hattiesburg and an Army veteran, pitched in the Negro Leagues after Jackie Robinson broke the "organized baseball" color line. Lewis, a right-hander, posted an 18-3 record for the 1946 Newark Eagles and also won Game 7 of the Negro Leagues World Series that year. In 1948, he started in the East-West All-Star Game, quite a notable honor. He never got a shot at the major leagues but did pitch in the minors in 1952, at age 33, in the Arizona-Texas League. That was his final season in pro ball.
P.S. There were reports last week that Nettleton native Bill Hall was talking with the New York Yankees about a minor league deal, but there has been no word of an agreement. Hall hit .211 without much of his trademark power during brief stints with Houston and San Francisco last year.
P.S. There were reports last week that Nettleton native Bill Hall was talking with the New York Yankees about a minor league deal, but there has been no word of an agreement. Hall hit .211 without much of his trademark power during brief stints with Houston and San Francisco last year.
Friday, February 3, 2012
the short list
Much of the focus will be on the starting pitchers returning from injury when the Atlanta Braves launch spring training later this month. But the situation at shortstop is equally compelling. Raw rookie Tyler Pastornicky, who spent much of the 2010 and '11 seasons with the Mississippi Braves, is going to get first crack at the job. "I'm definitely ready," he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently. "I've still got a lot of hard work to do. ... I think I'm ready to do this." He looked ready last year with the M-Braves, batting .299 with six home runs, 36 RBIs, five triples and 20 stolen bases. Then he hit .365 in 104 at-bats at Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta called him up at season's end — he is No. 58 on the M-Braves-to-the-majors list — but he didn't get into that painful final game. He's not an imposing figure, and he may not blow you away with his talent. But Pastornicky has all the tools. Plus, his father played in the majors. That never hurts. One Braves official said Pastornicky plays "with a little bit of urgency." That doesn't hurt, either. Braves fans will like him. The fall-back plan apparently is veteran Jack Wilson, but still around is Brandon Hicks, another ex-M-Braves standout. Hicks hit 18 homers at Gwinnett last year and is good with the glove. He might yet figure into the shortstop battle.
P.S. There are 21 ex-M-Braves on Atlanta's current 40-man roster. ... Pitcher Zeke Spruill, shortstop Andrelton Simmons, catcher Christian Bethancourt, first baseman Joe Terdoslavich and outfielder Todd Cunningham — likely 2012 M-Braves — are going to big league camp as non-roster invitees. So is first baseman Ernesto Mejia, who hit 26 homers and drove in 99 runs for the M-Braves in 2011, and lefty reliever Dusty Hughes, the former Delta State star who signed as a free agent in the off-season.
P.S. There are 21 ex-M-Braves on Atlanta's current 40-man roster. ... Pitcher Zeke Spruill, shortstop Andrelton Simmons, catcher Christian Bethancourt, first baseman Joe Terdoslavich and outfielder Todd Cunningham — likely 2012 M-Braves — are going to big league camp as non-roster invitees. So is first baseman Ernesto Mejia, who hit 26 homers and drove in 99 runs for the M-Braves in 2011, and lefty reliever Dusty Hughes, the former Delta State star who signed as a free agent in the off-season.
on tap ...
Mississippi College and William Carey are scheduled to open their 2012 seasons today, though the weather may not cooperate. MC, coming off a rather disappointing 24-18 campaign, travels to Montgomery, Ala., to face Huntingdon. The NCAA Division III Choctaws' top returning player is third baseman Spencer Brunson, a senior from Starkville who hit .417 with 10 homers a year ago. (He should be a Ferriss Trophy candidate this spring.) Carey is slated to start at longtime rival LSU-Shreveport. The Crusaders are coming off a 30-24 season that saw them finish second (to Belhaven) in the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament and make the NAIA national tourney field. Carey's top hitter is catcher Quin Stokes, a senior from Walnut Grove who blasted 11 homers in 2011.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
inquiring minds
Speculation about Roy Oswalt's next home is still a hot topic in the blogosphere. The right-hander from Weir is keeping us waiting. The latest is, the Boston Red Sox are out of the running. Well, maybe. Texas has met with him. This is fact. We think. St. Louis, which had a deal with him last week according to one (erroneous) report, is still interested. We assume. The Cardinals were trying to make a trade to clear a spot. Reportedly. Heck, it wouldn't be all that surprising if Oswalt just decided to hang them up. He hinted that he was about ready to do that last season when his back problems were flaring up. He's already had a great career, one of the best all-time by a Mississippi pitcher; anything else really is just gravy.
P.S. Carlos Guillen, the onetime Jackson Generals standout, will get a chance to finish his big league career where it began. He has signed with Seattle, but he's not guaranteed a job. Guillen, an infielder/outfielder who turns 37 this year, is breaking down at the end of a long career. He played for the Gens as a Houston prospect back in 1997, went to the Mariners in the Randy Johnson trade in 1998 and debuted with Seattle that year. He's a .285 career hitter, but does he have enough left for another big league tour? ... Right-hander Tim Corcoran, a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College alumnus who last played in the majors in 2007, recently re-signed as a minor leaguer with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He missed all of 2011 with an injury.
P.S. Carlos Guillen, the onetime Jackson Generals standout, will get a chance to finish his big league career where it began. He has signed with Seattle, but he's not guaranteed a job. Guillen, an infielder/outfielder who turns 37 this year, is breaking down at the end of a long career. He played for the Gens as a Houston prospect back in 1997, went to the Mariners in the Randy Johnson trade in 1998 and debuted with Seattle that year. He's a .285 career hitter, but does he have enough left for another big league tour? ... Right-hander Tim Corcoran, a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College alumnus who last played in the majors in 2007, recently re-signed as a minor leaguer with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He missed all of 2011 with an injury.
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