Couple of Quick Southern Specials

The M-Braves very own Jason Heyward was named the top prospect by Baseball America recently. He is also the top prospect according to MLB.com that is not currently in the Major Leagues ahead of players such as former M-Brave Tommy Hanson, the Cardinals Colby Rasmus, the Tigers phenom Rick Porcello, and Cameron Maybin. The only two prospects ahead of Heyward are the Rays playoff hero and former Vanderbilt ace David Price and former Georgia Tech Catcher Matt Weiters of the Balitimore Orioles. In fact, the top three prospects in baseball this year according to MLB.com are Southerners, as Heyward is from Georgia! Anyway, the M-Braves are on a long homestand, and be sure to check out Heyward and Freddie Freeman, who is likely the Braves first baseman of the future. I don't think it's much of a stretch to think that Heyward may be in Atlanta in September as he is hitting over .400 for the M-Braves at this time.


Tim Dilliard, a pitcher for the Nashville Sounds from Saltillo HS, and former standout pitcher/catcher from Itawamba Community College and a former Ole Miss signee, has become the first pitcher in AAA to win 10 games this year. Even more impressive, he did this despite spending a little bit of time with the Milwaukee Brewers , the Sounds parent team. And yes, Tim is the son of former Ole Miss and Major League infielder Steve Dilliard. He also has two brothers that played collegiately- Jeff Dilliard, who was an infielder for ICC and Mississippi State, and Andy Dilliard, an All-American third baseman for Delta State. His Dad also managed some Indpendent League teams such as the Tupelo Tornado and the Jackson DiamondKats.

Cotton States League One Stop Shopping.

As many of you know, especially you Mary Ann Swindoll fans out there, college baseball doesn't end with Omaha. Many college baseball players spend their summer honing their game, and many of the lessons learned in these summer leagues translate into the regular season next year. Summer baseball is indeed an integral part of college baseball, and baseball as a whole. The most prestigious of these summer leagues is the Cape Cod League in Massachusetts and Maine. Others include the Alaskan League, the Central Illinois League, and the Cal Ripken League, and many others that I am leaving out. Many of these leagues are wood bat leagues, which makes them attractive to scouts so that they can evaluate players in an environment that is more similar to the professional leagues. Many Major League Baseball players have spent a summer or two in these leagues.

Mississippi has it's own wood bat collegiate league- the Cotton States League. It is based out of New Albany, and the league championship just so happens to begin this Friday. If you are in the area, I highly encourage you to go to the games. What else are you going to do in New Albany anyway, visit William Faulkner's house?

That said, my first interview was with Frank Dodds, who is the official scorer for the league, and also the source for the league's information. So, thank you Frank! And here's the interview: (John Stossel, eat your heart out)

Tell us a little bit about the Cotton States League.


The name Cotton States Baseball League is a name that dates back to 1902 as a Class D league, but we are not necessarily affiliated with them, nor are we affiliated with any of the semi-pro leagues.

The BNA Bank Cotton States Baseball League is a collegiate wood bat league featuring the top players from Mississippi, offering top competition in a recently renovated central location. Legion Field at the New Albany Sportsplex host all the regular season and play off games, and also been the home of a number of inter-league games and the All-Star game with the CSBL-Central teams from Jackson, which is run by Chris Snopek (Ole Miss/Chicago White Sox third baseman) and Pete Young (MSU Pitcher/thirdbaseman/Montreal Expos/Boston Red Sox Pitcher). The fan-friendly games include very reasonable ticket prices ($4) and season tickets and other special packages. Special events were scheduled through-out the summer such as Fireworks Night, Special Sponsors Nights (with free giveaways and trivia contests, etc.), USSSA Team night with the area youngsters being introduced at their positions for the National Anthem, special artists performing the Star Spangled Banner and other songs during the game, and the Youth Camp which is this Friday, July 31, 2009 from 9:00-12:30. Each participant will receive a CSBL team t-shirt and a ticket to the opening game of the League Championship series which begins at 5:30 pm Friday. The Van Atkins Game of the Week is broadcast each Tuesday at 6:15 on ESPN Radio, 96.3 WXWX, Tupelo, and is streamed live through the league website at www.cottonstatesleague.com. Saturday’s League Championship game at 4:00 p.m. will also be broadcast as a special ending to the season.

Where do the players come from? Are they required to work or go to summer school to participate in the league? What are the players working on that play in the league as far as baseball is concerned?

The BNA Bank CSBL-North features players representing over 32 universities, colleges, and junior colleges, including Miss. State, Ole Miss, Samford, Tennessee Tech, Jackson State, Southern Polytechnic State University, Lipscomb, Troy, Judson, Delta State, Belhaven, West Alabama, Arkansas-Monticello, Jackson (MI) CC, Kaskaskia (IL) College, Bethel College, NEMCC, NWMCC, ICC, Ms Delta CC, Meridian CC, etc. The players need to have college eligibility and a means to get to the games. Some of the players have jobs during the day while some of them attend summer school – there is no league stipulation on their summer activities away from the field. Players such as M. J. McWhorter (the SWAC newcomer of the year) and Jet Butler (3 year starter at MSU) have an opportunity to continue to hone their skills, work at different positions, and/or upgrade their position in the Major League draft by catching the attention of pro scouts. Other players may be trying to transition from a junior college to a university and need the exposure to this level of competition. Others have been “redshirted” and need the live game action to get back in shape prior to returning to their respective colleges and universities. The All-Star Game and Home-Run Derby on July 18th featured such players as David Williams (East Ms CC), Dustin Lunn (University of West Alabama), Joel Rich (NWCC), Nate Bell (Jackson MI CC), Josh Chism (Lipscomb University), Nick Vickerson (MSU), Colby Maxwell (Lipscomb U), Ben Wallis (NEMCC), Tyler Wilson (Lipscomb U), Drew Dillard (Belhaven College), M. J. McWhorter (Jackson State University), Laddarius Cole (ICC), Ben Fleming (Southern Polytechnic), Ronnie Ferrell (NWMCC), Chris Bennett (Blehaven), John Paul Barber (SWMCC), Cody Kelley (Delta State University), Brandon Hall (DSU), Phillip Wetherell (Kaskaskia IL College), Jeffrey Vance (NWMCC), Jason Howell (Troy University), Jon Andy Scott (Ole Miss), Brad Luna (NEMCC), Brent Hallmark (DSU), Dalton Kulas (Meridian CC), Joseph Blair (NWMCC), Evan Weibel (MCC), Brent Brownlee (MSU), Whit Whitten (Holmes CC), Corbin Moore (MS Delta CC), Davis Horton (NWMCC), Ethan Bright (MSU), Gardner Richey (Samford University), Jesse Hykes , Kyle Thornton, Nathan Flanagan (ICC), Jimel Judon, (Ole Miss) Jake Sloan (ICC), and Noah Sanders (UWA).


Tell us how the season went this year.


The BNA Bank CSBL-North plays a regular season schedule and has already crowned their regular season champions, the Tallahatchie Rascals. The Rascals are coached by former Ole Miss player and current East Union head baseball coach Chris Basil. He is assisted by former high school head coach Buddy Hall. The second place team during the regular season was the North Delta Dealers, coached by former Delta State player and current Water Valley head baseball coach Doug Robbins. He is assisted by John Walker who was recently named the head baseball coach at New Albany. The third seeded team going into the LCS is the Golden Triangle Jets, originally coached by former MSU player Jeff Hunter. He has turned the reins over to his assistant, the recently named head coach of the Blue Mountain Toppers, Curt Fowler. The Tupelo Thunder, coached by Kansas City Royals scout Shawn Hairald and assisted by Brian Reed and Joel Gafford, will not be participating in the LCS due to a variety of factors, including scheduling conflicts, available players, injuries, etc. The season will conclude with the crowning of the LCS Champions.

The BNA Bank Cotton States Baseball has experienced a great, but challenging, first year. It is their goal to become a premier league for area baseball players and with the support of their sponsors, players, coaches, and fans, they have reached major milestones in their development. The overall League sponsor (BNA Bank) and the four team sponsors (McAlister’s Deli, Blue Mountain College/Ingomar First Baptist Church, FNC Park in Oxford, and Game Time Sports in Columbus) provided a stable financial foundation for the league, and the players were able to obtain their own individual sponsors to assist them with their player’s fees. The city of New Albany provided a picturesque locale for the games, with improvements to continue during the off-season, and with field crews and concessions that are top notch. The individual game sponsors have helped make the games exciting and interesting with their giveaways, trivia contests, and information about their business/organization. Very special entertainers (such as Paid in Full, KC Johns, Jordyn Mallory, etc) have lent their talents to the proceedings and the radio partnerships (Van Atkins, State Farm, the New Albany Saw Shop, ASI Technologies, Robert Crosswhite’s Sports Country) have allowed interest in the league to continue to grow.

But perhaps most importantly of all, the coaches, players and the fans have been nothing short of exceptional!!!! Great crowds intermingling with some very special individuals who are competing at the highest level in a game they love has been very rewarding and exciting and fun to watch. The universities and colleges that these players represent have something to be very proud of in these young men.

Where can I find information on the Cotton States League?

For more information and/or statistics, rosters, etc., please encourage your readers to go to the league website at www.cottonstatesleague.com or to become a fan of the BNA Bank Cotton States Baseball League on www.facebook.com for access to almost 400 pictures from the inaugural season. League officials are available to come and speak to various civic and community groups, etc. As Chicago Cubs and Ole Miss great Donnie Kessinger stated at the league’s news conference in April, the amount of baseball talent in Mississippi is incredible and the time is right for an endeavor such as this. Coach Kessinger wished aloud that the BNA Bank Cotton States Baseball League had been around when he and his sons were coming up through the baseball ranks!!!



Thanks to Frank Dodd for answering my questions! I wish the Cotton States League the best of luck, and I would be there if I didn't have to work this weekend.


I didn't ask Frank what kind of pizza he likes ( I know, amateur), but he was gracious enough to send me a list of the Cotton States League All-Stars for this year. Congrats to the All-Stars, and good luck next year!






All-Star Selections

Player Position Team College Hometown
David Williams C Rascals East MS CC Hernando, MS
Dustin Lunn C Thunder ICC/UWA signee Pontotoc, MS
Joel Rich* 1B/3B Dealers Northwest MS CC Southaven, MS
Nate Bell 1B Jets Jackson MI CC Guntown, MS
Josh Chism SS/2B Jets ICC/Lipscomb signee Tupelo, MS
Nick Vickerson* SS Dealers Miss State signee Tuscaloosa, AL
Colby Maxwell** SS Rascals Lipscomb signee Collierville, TN
Ben Wallis UT Rascals Northeast MS CC Ripley, MS
Tyler Wilson OF Rascals Lipscomb University/ ICC Wheeler, MS
Drew Dillard OF Rascals Belhaven College Sherman, MS
M.J. McWhorter* OF Rascals Jackson State University Blue Springs, MS
Ladarrius Cole* OF Thunder Itawamba CC Shannon, MS
Ben Fleming* OF Jets Southern Polytechnic Columbus, MS
Ronnie Ferrell OF Dealers Northwest MS CC Water Valley, MS
Chris Bennett RHP Thunder Belhaven College Tupelo, MS
John Paul Barber RHP Thunder Southwest MS CC Plantersville, MS
Cody Kelley** RHP Dealers Delta State University Louisville, MS
Brandon Hall RHP Dealers Delta State University Water Valley, MS
Phillip Wetherell**RHP Dealers Kaskaskia IL CC Stewardson, IL
Jeffrey Vance RHP Dealers Northwest MS CC Water Valley, MS
Jason Howell LHP Rascals Troy University/ICC Saltillo, MS
Jon Andy Scott LHP Rascals NEMCC/Ole Miss signee Booneville, MS
Brad Luna RHP Rascals Northeast MS CC New Albany, MS
Brent Hallmark RHP Jets Delta State University Columbus, MS
Dalton Kulas RHP/UT Jets Meridian CC Hernando, MS

* These players have also been selected to participate in the Home Run Derby.
** These players will be unable to participate due to injury/or are unable to pitch due to league requirements.

Alternates ***
Joseph Blair C Dealers Northwest MS CC signee Batesville, MS
Evan Weibel C Jets Meridian CC Belden, MS
Brent Brownlee OF/IF Dealers Miss State University Oxford, MS
Whit Whitten RHP Thunder Holmes MS CC Batesville, MS
Corbin Moore OF Rascals MS Delta CC signee Batesville, MS

*** Alternate selections will be added to the 22-player active roster should the above players be unable to participate.


Home Run Derby Participants

Player Position Team College Hometown
Davis Horton 1B/DH Dealers Northwest MS CC Oxford, MS
Ethan Bright 1B/3B Dealers Miss State signee Batesville, MS
Gardner Richey OF Jets Samford University Baldwyn, MS
Jesse Hykes OF/DH Jets ICC/Uncommitted Aberdeen, MS
Kyle Thornton 1B Jets Uncommitted Tupelo, MS
Nathan Flanagan OF Jets Itawamba MS CC Tupelo, MS
Jimel Judon 1B/3B Rascals Ole Miss commit Myrtle, MS
Jake Sloan 3B Thunder Itawamba CC Amory, MS
Noah Sanders C/1B Thunder University of West AL/ICC Saltillo, MS

Southern Fried Specials

As most of you know by now, former Meridian Community College pitcher as well as University of Arkansas pitcher, and former Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Mississppi State pitchers Jared Wesson and Rickey Bowen both signed pro contracts in the last few days, Wesson signed with the Detroit Tigers and Bowen with the Cincinnati Reds. I will admit that I have done my share of Bowen bashing, but I will never forget the game where he was one out away from no-hitting Ole Miss in 2008. Good luck to both of them.

Apparently Conner Powers and the Los Angeles Dodgers have resumed talks, but no word on how they are going. I would suspect that since talks have resumed that the Dodgers will try to sweeten the pot to try to get Powers. We'll see what comes of it.

Now for some high school baseball- Don't be shocked if Kaleb Barlow- the highly sought after infielder from Jackson Prep who is being recruited by both MSU and LSU- ends up signing with a Junior College. Of course, there is also the pssibility that Barlow could go in the draft next June as well.

Polishing MSU's Crown Jewel

I am going to reprise something that I have posted on Sixpack on occasion, and I think it's appropriate given the renovations to the stadium that are beginning and the new survey that Mississippi State athletic director Greg Byrne just sent out.

First of all, what's happening now at Dudy-Noble Field? And no, they're not planting soybeans. Apparently, the drainage system dates back to the Jimmy Bragan era- at least- which was 1975. What has happened over time is rain and the elements have washed the dirt from the field into the drain pipes, and they have become clogged. For those of you are not plumbers, if a pipe gets clogged, things get backed up, in this case water which goes onto the playing field. This creates an unsafe place for the players to play. Allegedly, I don't have access to it or I would put it on here, there is a powerpoint that MSU head baseball coach John Cohen showed Byrne with several members of the MSU grounds crew standing knee deep in a puddle of water on Dudy-Noble Field. So, MSU is having a new drainage system put in place, and it hopefully will be ready in time for fall baseball practice. Another issue regarding drainage- the warning track was basically finely crushed brick. This crushed brick has been the main culprit as far as the drainage woes are concerned. So, what MSU is going to do is replace the warning track with Fieldturf which will not wash away like the crushed brick concoction. It also may allow for safer landings for those of you in the Left Field Lounge that choose to leap on the field after MSU wins a Super Regional, but don't quite get enough elevation and land head first on the warning track. (You know who you are)

Speaking of the Left Field Lounge, the chain link fence will be replaced with a more durable fence that will have some sort of wooden board under it to keep it from "ballooning out" and then the fence will be padded on the outside.

Some renovations that you may not see include knocking a wall out of the MSU clubhouse to provide more room for instruction and also, the dugouts will be expanded by six feet to allow for better egress. Railing will also be placed in front of the dugout as well. Another thing that will be upgraded will be the MSU bullpen which will have some sort of brick structure and also will have fieldturf as well.

Then there are some things that are on the docket. This includes renovating the press box and the luxury boxes, and according to MSU, the luxury boxes also take on water when it rains. I guess MSU is trying to have America's only baseball field/ natatorium in America. And who said that Larry Templeton didn't think outside the box? The seats will also have to be replaced as they are no longer manufactured, and if a seat breaks, oh well.

What are some things that MSU could do to make Dudy-Noble Field even better? Well, here's my take:

• Build a MSU baseball museum. This has been done before by several Major League teams. The Cardinals have one, and I know as a Cardinals fan, I get no greater sense of pride than when I go there and see all of the great Cardinals players and moments. MSU has a rich baseball history as well, and it should be celebrated. I think a lot of MSU fans do not realize this, and I think a museum would be a great way to educate people on this. It's also a great recruiting tool as well.
• Have more food options. No offense to the American Legion of Columbus or Maben Baptist Church, I mean, ya'll do a really good job running the concession stand, but there are just times when I want something other than a hot dog or a hamburger with nothing on them. For example, catfish. I remember there was a time when Penn's had a stand in the Left Field Lounge. I say bring them back. Also, bring back Lil' Dooey's and Papa John's.
• Renovate the stadium. That's pretty broad. But I'll narrow it down. First of all, renovate the concession stands. (First Baptist of Maben says Amen.) Along with it, renovate the ticket window into something attractive with more windows and then add a statue of Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro in front of the stadium. I have heard that they will add a brick facade to the outside of the stadium at some point in time- and that's a great start. And also take out the high school bleachers and add seats all the way down to the bullpens and add more luxury boxes. An HD scoreboard would be awesome- especially without feaux brick.
• Do more things to attract more fans- especially the students. The SEC games sort of sell themselves. You have two SEC teams, the team's better pitcher's pitch, the games have more riding on them, and they're on the weekend. The midweek games are often times more difficult. With good reason. Many times, MSU is playing Central Arkansas on a work day. Excuses aside, these are the games that need to be designated to go after the people who are there and live on very little sleep and junk food- college students. And MSU has plenty. Have promotions geared towards them like Greek Day- where everyone is encouraged to wear a toga, give out coupons to the Bulldog Deli, have concerts after the games. There's a ton of stuff to do. And then do things between innings. The only thing MSU does is have the chicken dance. And there's nothing more depressing than watching the MSU bullpen blow an eight run lead followed up by some polka. The video game home run derby is good. But do more things- like the dizzy bat race. I mean, what's more fun than watching some drunk guy from the Left Field Lounge hit on a Diamond Girl and then spin around and fall down on his face in front of 10,000 people? Go to any minor league game and look at the stuff that they do that is relatively simple to do.

I think the current athletic leadership at MSU is going in the right direction with Dudy-Noble Field and that excites me a lot. Hopefully, if they follow some of my suggestions, and make me the curator of the MSU baseball museum for a meager salary of 1.5 million dollars we can have more moments like this.

Here We Go Again

Pete Rose is fighting to get in the Hall of Fame. Again. Will he be finally be eligible?

This just seems so random to me for some reason. We have the Hall of Fame ceremonies, and I thought Rickey Henderson saying that Rickey was humbled would be the most shocking thing to come out of Cooperstown, and then all of a sudden, here comes Hank Aaron saying that Pete Rose, of all people should be enshrined here. And even more shocking to me is that Bud Selig is actually considering it. For years now, whoever the commissioner has been, whether it be Fay Vincent or Bud Selig, the party line is that they both supported the ban on Pete Rose because "A Bartlett Giamatti, who was the commissioner that banned Rose, and some say that his death was in large part because of the Rose ban stressing him so much, supported it." It was almost as if the commissioner's were supporting the ban on Rose almost as memorial or a tribute to Giamatti.

I think that there's a little more to this than meets the eye. And this just shows you how smart Aaron is, or at least someone that's in the Hall of Fame is smart in convincing Aaron to use his clout because I think Hank is using the current era to try to get Rose in. Why do I think that? Read this article where Aaron says that PED users should be allowed in the Hall, but with asterisks. As you probably know by now, players that used, or at least suspected of using PED's- perfromance enhancing drugs for those of you who aren't body builders- have sort of been unoffically banned by the Hall of Fame writers. Well, specifically, it's Mark McGwire for now, but later, people like Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, and etc. will become eligible eventually in the very near future. BUT they're still eligible. They've done nothing to be banned by baseball, and many of these players were not breaking any rules that were in place at the time. What Aaron is in a roundabout way saying, if the steroid guys are eligible, then Rose should be eligible.

Here is where Rose is different. If you go on a stadium tour, and they take you into the clubhouse, look on the wall. You will see a large poster sized sign that specifically says that if you bet on baseball, you are subject to permanent banishment. It's in English AND Spanish, I wouldn't be surprised if it's in Japanese now, to. This has been in place since 1920 after the infamous Black Sox scandal in the 1919 World Series. This sign is in EVERY Major League and Minor League clubhouse, from the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse to the Lansing Lugnuts clubhouse.

Now, don't get me wrong here. I love Pete Rose, the player. I actually did a report on Pete in Cub Scouts. He has more hits than anyone in Major League history. He has won World Championships. He belongs in the Hall of Fame as a player. I still hate Jim Gray for his classless interview in 1999 at the All-Century Team presentation when he tried to force Rose to admit to gambling for some unknown reason. Like he would all of a sudden admit it THEN. I also think that the players that used steroids should be in the Hall of Fame. Judge them with their peers who were also using steroids. Judge people like Jim Rice and Andre Dawson with their contemporaries I have often plead. I still feel that way.

But here's the thing. When Rose was betting on baseball, he was a manager. And yes, I know that he always bet on the Reds to win. A manager potentially has a LOT of control over a game. You can put a lineup out on the field that is in your favor of winning a bet by tanking a game. It's really easy to put up a pinch hitter who historically has had trouble against a certain pitcher, and it helps you win a bet. You can put in a relief pitcher in a situation that helps you win a bet in the same manner. You can tell your base runners to not run in certain situations. Now, I know Rose did none of this, however, you let him slide and you MIGHT have a manager that will do this in the future. It's a quality issue.

Now, as far as steroids, we suspect that they may have helped a player like a McGwire hit 70 home runs. BUT we don't have anything that we can objectively say, OK, you take these pills, and you hit x-amount more home runs. You can't get some lab rats or monkeys and inject them with steroids and have them play baseball and check their stats out before and after. And how do people explain guys like Tim Laker, Gregg Zaun- who had better power numbers AFTER the report was leaked, and Jose Guillen who also had better power numbers AFTER the report was leaked as well. No one ever talks about them. But they used steroids, and they sure as heck never came close to astronomical home run totals. It's unknown, and it always will be.

If you're keeping score at home, my stance is PED guys- let them in, Rose- keep him out.

Now, if Selig does decide to let Rose in- and it wouldn't really shock me, I think he was close a few years ago before Rose inexplicably started running his mouth, so I think there is some sentiment there. And honestly, if you put asterisks by any player that was suspected of using PED's on their plaque, I don't really have a problem with that either, although I doubt that will happen. See Roger Maris and the 162 game vs 159 game fiasco. BUT what I do have a problem Aaron's opinion is this- if you put asterisk's by the player's that used steroids, you better darn well put one on Pete Rose's plaque. I respect Aaron and his opinion, but there is definately a double standard there. But this is why I don't think the asterisk thing will ever fly- you're putting asterisks on players plaques that didn't break the rules that were in place at the time. You might as well go ahead and put one on Gaylord Perry's, Whitey Ford's, and Don Sutton's plaque as well. Heck, put one on Burleigh Grimes, a spitball pitcher, who throw the pitch legally and was grandfathered by baseball and was allowed to throw the pitch after it was outlawed. Where you do you stop the asterisks? You could put one on Hank Aaron's saying *He broke Babe Ruth's record for home runs, but he played more years as a hitter than the Babe, and in 162 game seasons, and therefore had more opportunities to break the record*. How do you like them apples, Hank? Ty Cobb's plaque could be entertaining- *Racist**Dirty Player**Attacked a man in the stands with no hands**Sold soul to the devil**See reverse side of plaque*.

AND something else, since this is Southern Fried Baseball after all, what about Shoeless Joe Jackson of South Carolina? If you're going to let Rose in, why not Shoeless Joe? He did the exact same thing- maybe worse since he was in a conspiracy to tank the World Series, I'll give Rose that. Although, I know Shoeless Joe kind of played dumb to an extent, since he was illiterate, I have to believe he knew what he was getting into, and he wanted the money. But since we're letting Rose in, why not Shoeless Joe?

Here's what I think will happen- as long as Rose keeps his fool mouth shut- I really think that Selig, with Aaron's blessing and endorsement- remember Aaron once played for the Milwaukee Brewers who were owned by- yep. Bud Selig. And Selig values Aaron's opinion- will finally open up the door to Pete Rose. But we'll see. I think if Selig was against it, he would just come out and say- No, Rose is still banned. End of story. But he's not doing that. In the end, I find it ironic that Charlie Hustle is having to be hustled by a former Atlanta Brave to get into the Hall of Fame.

Southern Fried Tidbits for the End of July

Craig Tatum- Former Hattiesburg High School and Mississippi State catcher, recently made his Major League debut for the Cincinnati Reds. Congrats to Craig!

The world's worst kept secret in the Mississippi Baseball Universe is that Jet Butler is trying to convert to catcher, at least part-time. He is now playing in the Cotton States League, a collegiate wood bat league in New Albany. I think this is valiant, but I think he returns to middle infield, at least for the rest of his MSU career.

Conner Powers- Current (for now, fingers crossed) MSU first baseman, and Los Angeles Dodgers draft pick, has won the Cape Cod League, the most prestigious wood bat collegiate league in America, home run derby which was at Fenway Park in Boston.

Speaking of Conner Powers and the draft, and also for those who are watching Ole Miss signee David Renfroe and MSU signee CC Watson among others, the deadline to sign is August 17.

Hanging Out With The Evil Empire

As many of you know, I was recently in New York City, and it was a perfect opportunity for me to fulfill something that I always wanted to do- go to Yankee Stadium and watch a game. (What? You were thinking I was going to say go see Mama Mia!?) First of all, understand that I have never been to New York before, but I have heard legendary stories. Mostly about buying cheap purses in Chinatown. (Those stories proved to be true, by the way.) Aside from that, I think New York is a place that you either love or you hate. I loved it. I think the reason for this is because I was able to learn to play by their rules- as best as I could. I'm hardly arrogant enough to describe myself as a hard core New Yorker. The biggest difference between New York and most places is the subway. It's really simple- if you can read a map, and coordinate numbers and letters with colors. And then there's subway etiquette- which I failed at miserably when I went to my first Yankees game when I rudely plowed down a woman in the subway. (Tourists, sigh.) But, baseball was involved. I was doing whatever it took to get to the house that those guys (Do your best New York accent when reading those guys for effect) in the above picture built.

The New Yankee Stadium is a palace. It's very similar dimension wise to the "old" Yankee Stadium, and it still features many of the prominant features. The short right field, which was originally designed for Babe Ruth himself, along with the second deck overhang is featured, as well as the classic Yankee Stadium white facade. My favorite part of the ballpark was Monument Park, and is a must visit for baseball fans. Monument Park is open before the game, and pictures are allowed and encouraged. Most teams retire numbers. The Yankees have a sanctuary for their greats in addition to retiring their numbers. The three prominant monuments are those of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and then former manager Miller Huggins in the middle. There are also prominant memorials for Mickey Mantle, and those that helped with the 9/11 tragedy among others. Most players simply have plaques on the back wall of Monument Park- players such as Don Mattingly, and Yogi Berra for example.


While the New Yankee Stadium harkens back to the past, it is still a very modern ballpark and has great sightlines, very good seating, and also has a couple of swanky clubs and restaurants including a Hard Rock Cafe for the commoners. The Yankees are known for their high ticket prices- hey, they have to find a way to pay for all those stars somehow, and gouging their fans is a logical way to do this- however, you can get bleacher seats for a mere 15 dollars. If you are a baseball fan and want quality entertainment in New York City, it doesn't get better than the 15 dollar bleachers in right field. They are one of the more rowdy bunches in all of baseball- they sound like the Cameron Crazies with their chants of Der-ek Je-ter. For those with families, a word of warning about the right field bleachers- there can be a fair amount of foul language. Not enough to offend the common man, but enough that you may not want small children to hear it. If you have a family with small children, you could also get upper deck seats for around 35 dollars a piece, which is still affordable for Major League Baseball. If you want to "do it right" and spend a lot of money and get close to the players- I spent 150 dollars to sit 20 rows behind first base, and enjoyed it, I recommend that as well. It's kind of up to you at Yankee Stadium. You can spend as little as 15 dollars or you can even sit behind home plate for almost 1,000 dollars a seat. Another that's really cool is to listen to the Yankee fans sing "New York, New York" at the end of the games.

It's really, really hard not to be in awe of the Yankees and what they have done. 26 World Championships, and then the unbelieveable players that have gone through there- Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Reggie, and now Jeter. And then there's all the players in between. And they let you know about them.

The games that I went to were both very memorable. I saw Andy Pettitte pitch against the Baltimore Orioles. It was one of the best played games that I have seen all year. It was a 2-1 Yankee win with several web gems, including Mark Texiera throwing out the go ahead run at the plate, and Jose Molina retrieving a wild pitch and throwing out Brian Roberts to save the game in the same inning. I marveled at Derek Jeter's range. TV doesn't do the man justice. He can get to balls that very few can without diving and then make an accurate throw. The game was won when Hedeki Matsui- who played for the Yomiuri Giants, Japan's version of the Yankees hit a walk-off home run to lead the Evil Empire to a 2-1 win. The next game I saw was against the Oakland A's and was rain delayed, but the rain subsided enough to play the game which started at about 9:40 PM EST. I got to see CC Sabathia pitch, and he struggled a little bit early, giving up three runs and appeared to be affected by the weather and wet conditions. He was constantly wiping his hand on his pants leg and threw almost all fastballs until the A's finally forced him to take the chance to throw breaking balls. Sabathia finally relented against his breaking ball phobia and shut down the A's. Meanwhile, Mark Texiera ignitied the Yankees with a ball that was launched into the second deck, and was later followed by a Jorge Posoda double that tied the game. The Yankees to batter the A's and eventually built a 6-3 lead and Yankee phenom, and possible future closer Phil Hughes pitched two uneventful, but impressive innings for his first career save.

Getting to Yankee Stadium is quite easy. Fly into your airport of choice. Take a taxi to your hotel in Manhatten. And then get onto the 4 train and stay on it until you get to Yankee Stadium. The subway station takes you to about 100 feet of the gates of the stadium, so you won't have to try to traverse the street of the Bronx. The subway runs constantly- unlike Atlanta, which created a very uncomfortable clown car situation a couple of years ago for myself and four of my other friends plus some random guy that tagged along. You may have sardine situation on the subway, though. But at least no one will have to sit on someone else's lap. If you are extremely claustrophobic and don't mind spending 40-50 dollars, there are plenty of taxi drivers that are easily identifiable by the signs that they are holding that say "Taxi".

Now, I know that there are some Mets fans out there, thinking, "Why doesn't Todd say anything about the Mets?" It's really simple- they weren't in town. I do want to go to a Mets game. I did visit Citi Field, and it is very nice. However, I do not want to judge until I watch an actual game there. I just want to be fair, and right now Citi Field gets an incomplete from me. I love the Mets- they had a AA team in Jackson for years, of course. Daryl Strawberry was one of my favorites.


At any rate, take about four days at some point in your life, go see what New York has to offer, and put aside any hatred you have for the Yankees for a few hours, and enjoy Ruth's new house.

What's on Deck

If you notice that there aren't very many posts going up in July, it's because I'm in New York City, and I have no idea what kind of Internet access I will have, and I don't own a laptop. I'm going on a Church Mission Trip, and all of the time is scheduled out and filled with stuff. So I apologize for that, but I do want ya'll to know what's coming up.

• Story on the Cotton States League, a wood bat league in Mississippi.
• An All-time Mississippi High School team- public and private players, I'm not biased towards one or the other.

Thank all of you for reading and the awesome support that ya'll have been giving me. It is much appreciated.

The All-Star Game

Carl Crawford saved the day for the American League, and I'm sure that there are some happy fans in Boston- as well as Johnathan Papelbon- because now the American League has homefield advantage.

As a Cardinals fan, I thought it was pretty cool to see all of the Cardinals greats like Lou Brock, Red Schoendist, Bob Gibson, Bruce Sutter, Ozzie Smith, and of course Stan Musial get highlighted this year. This was the first time in my life that I have seen an All-Star Game in St. Louis, and I hope the next one comes around a lot sooner.

To borrow a phrase from Ron Polk, I think the crowd put too much pressure on some guys to perform- namely Albert Pujols. I never really have believed that, and I still don't, but I definately think he was pressing. If he has one weakness, I would say that would be it- he sometimes presses on big time games.

While I have seen some All-Star Games that were more memorable, this edition was pretty good. One thing that stood out to me, and the President asked Tim McCarver this- and I thought it was a good question- was why does the American League win the All-Star Game every year?

I thought McCarver had some good answers. The most poignant being the American League is just better. I can buy that with the recent Interleague Play records. He did also say that he felt like the National League was catching up. But my thing about that is you also have National League teams winning the World Series four times in the last four years, and the games haven't been blowouts for the most part for the past couple of years. So, maybe it's just a statistical oddity. There have also been several long streaks by both leagues in the All-Star Game before, so maybe it has to do with a certain generation of players- Derek Jeter has never been on a losing team before in the All-Star Game. To me, I always know that whenever there is an All-Star Game, there is going to be someone who doesn't perform well. Tonight, it was Tim Lincecum and Heath Bell- both are first time All-Stars, well OK, this is Lincecum's first to actually play in. Maybe Manuel should have set up his pitching staff a little bit better- some of the more veteran players probably should have been moved back when the innings become more and more critical.

And this entry would not be complete without what I would change about the All-Star Game.

1. One of the biggest changes in recent All-Star history was the winner gets homefield in the World Series rule. I think Micheal Young had a good point- he got the game winning hit a couple of years ago, but otherwise his team had no bearing on the postseason, and he said something to the effect of he thought it was ridiculous that something that the Red Sox might do was determined by a guy on the Rangers. I concur. My solution- money talks. MVP gets 3 million. Everyone on the winning team gets 1 million. Losers get nothing- except maybe a t-shirt. Yes, I know that these players make millions already, but really, who among us wouldn't want more money?
2. Why is Roy Halladay wearing an unmarked batting helmet? Better yet, why is Roy Halladay batting period? OK, I know that this is a National League ballpark, but I don't think anyone would have a problem with a permanant DH in the All-Star Game. I'm sure the managers would be for it- it's hard enough to manage an All-Star roster without having to try to figure where all of the pinch-hitters for pitchers go. As a fan, I would be for it because I would rather watch Ryan Howard bat two-three times instead of Tim Lincecum once, or in this case someone like Carlos Pena instead of Roy Halladay. This also may help if a game goes into extra innings because then you could possibly throw a pitcher for a little bit longer than one inning, if the manager should choose to do so.

Overall, I thought the All-Star Game was a success- no one does an All-Star Game better than Major League Baseball- and I was happy to see Johnathan Papelbon do well- with some help from Carl Crawford. Brian McCann, the former M-Brave whose father also played for MSU, popped out once. And last but not least, congratulations to Carl Crawford for winning the MVP- well deserved.

Now it's off to the Pennant Races!

The Home Run Derby

First of all, congrats to Prince Fielder. You deserve it.
If I were you, I would go over to Hannegan's at Leclede's Landing and have some Mississippi Mud Pie. Great restaurant if you're ever in St. Louis.

That said, I enjoyed the Home Run Derby, I wanted Albert Pujols to win it, but I think he put too much pressure on himself, and yesterday against the Cubs, he didn't look like he was locked in, to me.

Alas, it was a good derby. Nothing like last year, but solid nonetheless.

But why does the Home Run Derby have to take three hours to do? Why does Major League Baseball have the thing designed so that the hitters look like they are about to pass out from fatigue? Why is it designed so that you may have to take more cuts two hours after your first round? Surely, there has to be a better way. Here are some changes that I would like to see in the Home Run Derby.

1. Make ESPN stop having Chris Berman and Joe Morgan announce the Home Run Derby. I don't think I really have to expound on this too much. It speaks for itself. Unfortunately, they speak, period. Although, I will say Berman did seem to limit his croaks of back, back, back, back...gone and his pointless annointing of nicknames to players- Winnie the Poohjols? Seriously? , although he couldn't help himseld with Nelson Cruz. "Should it be....Cruz around the world, Cruz around the park?- Or should it be none of the above Chris. JUST STOP! And maybe I've just finally learned to tune Joe Morgan out or Steve Phillips finally got sick of it and finally purchased a taser, but unless I missed it, I didn't hear a reference to Tony Perez, Pete Rose, or the fact that Joe played for the Cincinnati Reds. Surprisingly, the result was one of Morgan's better performances to date. Hopefully he'll take a hint, or Phillips will keep the taser charged.
2. Have three guys go for each league instead of four. This will trim some time off right there. And maybe save people like Brandon Inge some embarassment- although he could very well have had flashbacks of Adam Wainwright's slider the entire time. Yes, St. Louis has nice fans, but I'm willing to bet that many of them weren't just giving Inge an ovation for giving it the "old college try". The guy in the video striking out to end the World Series in 2006 for the Cardinals win- that's Brandon Inge.

3. The "lucky" players that make it to the finals all look like they've been drug around the stadium before their last at bat. Why not make it 10 outs in the first round, 5 outs in the second, and 5 outs in the final round?

4. Do you remember who won the Home Run Derby last year? If you said Josh Hamilton, you would be wrong. It was Justin Morneau, for you inquiring minds. But most people would have said that Hamilton won it because he hit 28 in one round, BUT since his home runs didn't carry over, he ultimately lost. Does this make sense to anyone? I mean, when it gets to the point where guys are tanking at bats, or at least considering it so that they can save energy because the home runs don't carry over, something needs to be changed. And how do you hit more home runs than anyone in the Derby, and still lose? I know the home runs carried over from the first round to the second, but why not to the finals to? If you have a monster round like Hamilton, reward the guy. He earned it. Besides, most people remember what he did than the guy who won the thing in the first place.

5. Allow players that don't make it to the All-Star game to participate in the Home Run Derby. The NBA does this with the slam dunk contest. I would have not had a problem at all with a Mark Reynolds- who I once saw hit a ball off of the tom-tom in dead center field at Turner Field, or Adam Dunn for that matter participate.

All of these are reasonable changes that I think would make the Home Run Derby better, and when I say reasonable, I'm not going to champion aluminum bats or having Byung-Hyung Kim serve up the pitches or anything else ridiculous. The fact of the matter is the Home Run Derby is a great event that goes on way too long and has a flawed system for determining the winner. I'd like to see what it could be with some of these changes, which I believe would make it way bigger than it already is.

Futures Game Things to Watch For

I love the Futures Game and it's one of the events that I always look forward to. This year in St. Louis, Jose Oquendo- the man who can play nine positions, and manage Puerto Rico in the WBC, will oppose Ozzie Smith- The Wizard of Oz.

Here are some guys to watch tommorrow-

Madison Baumgartner, pitcher San Francisco Giants. The Giants could have the next version of the Atlanta Braves big four with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Johnathan Sanchez and Baumgartner, who is a left hand pitcher and is a combined 9-2 with a 1.66 ERA between A and AA this year.

Kyle Drabek, pitcher Philadelphia Phillies. Yes, this is former Cy Young Award winner Kyle Drabek's son, who apparently is a chip off of the old block with a 9-1 record and 110 strikeouts in 108 innings between A and AA. Possible trade bait for Roy Halladay? We'll find out soon.

Mat Latos, pitcher San Diego Padres. Great frame at 6'6" 225, and has great numbers at 8-1 with 73 Strikeouts in 72.1 innings and an ERA of 1.37 between A and AA. This guy might get a look at the end of the year for the rebuilding Padres.

Brad Lincoln, pitcher Pittsburgh Pirates. USM fans may remember this guy from the University of Houston. His won loss record is hardly stellar at 2-6, but he has a nifty ERA of 2.69 between AA and AAA. Another guy who could get a look in September for a rebuilding team.

Brian Matusz, pitcher Baltimore Orioles. Watch out for the Orioles in the coming years, they're adding some talent, and this guy could be their ace in a few years. He's 6'5" 200 pounds and is left handed, and on top of that he has been dominating with an 8-2 record, 107 strikeouts in 93 innings, and an ERA of 1.65 between A and AA. He's been better in AA with an ERA of 0.34.

Tyler Flowers, catcher Chicago White Sox. I saw this guy absolutely launch a ball over the berm at Trustmark Park. He has 13 home runs, 43 RBI's and a .302 average at AA, and could be up just in time to replace A J Pierzynski. He's also 6'4" and 245.

Jason Castro, catcher Houston Astros. Former Stanford catcher has 9 home runs, 51 RBI's, and a .304 average between A and AA. He also may get a chance to learn from Ivan Rodriguez.

Pedro Alvarez, third baseman, Pittsburgh Pirates. Former Vanderbilt superstar is the Pirates third baseman of the future and has 17 home runs, 63 RBI's and is hitting .241 between A ball and AA. May get a long look at coming up in September and in spring training next year. Could be a very valuable left handed bat in the near future.

Chris Carter, first baseman, Oakland A's. Right handed first baseman with great size at 6'4" 225, and great stats with 13 home runs 61 RBI's, a .303 average, and 8 stolen bases at AA.

Brett Wallace, third baseman, St. Louis Cardinals. This guy is a natural hitter from Arizoza State. He has 11 home runs, 35 RBI's, and a .294 average between AA and AAA. He's also a left handed hitter who will likely replace Troy Glaus in the very near future. Assuming Glaus comes back, of course.

Jemile Weeks, second baseman, Oakland A's. Yes, this is Brewers infielder Rickie Weeks brother. He's certainly holding his own in the family with a .313 average, 7 home runs, and 25 RBI's in A ball in only 32 games.

Eric Young, second baseman, Colorado Rockies. This is "EY"'s son from Baseball Tonight and also a former Rockie second baseman. He may help the Rockies during the pennant stretch as he is at AAA and hitting a solid .294 with 5 home runs, 31 RBI's and an eye-popping 48 stolen bases.

Chris Heisley, outfielder, Cincinnati Reds. His numbers are some of the best of this year's group at .350 with 16 home runs, 53 RBI's and 15 stolen bases. Appropriately, he is from Messiah College.

Jason Heyward, outfielder, Atlanta Braves. The current M-Brave, who I mentioned a few times on this blog, is on this team and may be the Braves right fielder of the future. He's 6'4" 220 and has 10 home runs, 38 RBI's, and a .302 average.

Desmond Jennings, outfielder, Tampa Bay Rays. Typical Rays player- 6'2" 180 with 7 home runs, 41 RBI's, a .313 average, and 31 stolen bases in AA. The Rays will have the fastest outfield in baseball with BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, and Jennings.

Chia-Jen Lo, pitcher, Houston Astros. Tiawanese right handed relief pitcher has 48 strikeouts in only 37.2 inning.

Francisco Samuel, pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals. Dominican relief pitcher has 40 strike outs in 34 innings in AA.

Leyson Septimo, pitcher, Arizona Diamondbacks. A left handed relief pitcher who has 48 strikeouts in 39.1 innings in AA.

Junichi Tazawa, pitcher, Boston Red Sox. The latest big time pitcher from Japan that the Red Sox had to import has been holding his own in AA with an 8-5 record 79 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.79.

Jesus Montero, catcher, New York Yankees. From Vanezuela, is a 6'4" 225 pound backstop who has 13 home runs, 52 RBI's, and a .330 average and could be Jorge Posada's replacement.

Barbaro Canizares, first baseman, Atlanta Braves. Cuban defector has already played in four games this year in the Big Leagues and may be the Braves first baseman of the near future. At AAA, he's hitting .323 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI's.

Alcides Escobar, Shortstop, Milwaukee Brewers. He's a shortstop that is blocked by JJ Hardy right now, but I'm thinking that the Brewers can find a spot for him since he is hitting .296 and has 30 stolen bases at AAA.

Brett Lawrie, Second baseman, Milwaukee Brewers. This is one of several Canadians in the Future's Game. He has 9 home runs 44 RBI's, a .268 average and 14 stolen bases in A ball.

Alex Liddi, Third baseman, Seattle Mariners. This is the first Italian in the Futures Game, and he is tearing up A ball with 20 home runs 73 RBI's, and a .351 average. He also 7 stolen bases.

Luis Durango, Outfielder, San Diego Padres. Very similar to his Panamanian counterpart Omar Moreno, this is a leadoff type hitter who is hitting .288 with 28 stolen bases in AA.

Kyeong Kang, Outfielder, Tampa Bay Rays. This is a Korean, who's numbers don't really blow me away, but I think his name is pretty cool. He has 2 home runs, 22 RBI's and is hitting a repectable .285 in A ball.

Rene Tosoni, Outfielder, Minnesota Twins. Imagine this, another Canadian on the Twins who is going to be a solid big league player. His numbers are just that- solid-10 home runs, 51 RBI's, .278 average, and 6 stolen bases.

Johnathan Sanchez no-hits the Padres

I love a well pitched game, and I love no-hitters. Tonight, Johnathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants just threw a no-hitter against the hapless Padres. Sanchez was recently demoted to the bullpen, but moved back to the rotation and using a slider that was practically unhittable, mowed down 11 Padres batters, and was a Juan Uribe error away from a perfect game.

My favorite part- pitching Dave Righetti, who once threw a no-hitter himself for the Yankees in 1983, hugging Sanchez with tears in his eyes.

And the man who caught the no-hitter was none other than former Delta State catcher and New Albany native Eli Whiteside, who is just now making it back to the Big Leagues for the first time since 2005.

This was the first no-hitter for the Giants since John "The Count" Montefusco in 1979.

Frenchy Surrendured to Mets

I remember my very first Mississippi Braves game. There were some guys that I had heard of- Jay Powell, Micheal Rosamond, and Brian McCann, but the one guy that I just had to see was Jeff Francouer. As many of you know, Francouer struggled during much of his time in Pearl. In fact, the game I saw, he didn't get hit, and I think he struck out three times. But nonetheless, I had heard the urban legends from when he was a high school player in Georgia- tells of tape measure home runs, and a rocket launcher for an arm. And while Francouer failed to make contact when I saw him, you could definately tell that he had excellent bat speed. But one play stood out to me- a player for the Mobile Baybears hit a bloop single to right field very close to the line. The M-Braves had the outfield shaded to the left, and Francouer made an excellent effort to get a glove on the ball- few would have even gotten there, but then the Baybear player got greedy. The player made a wide turn and was about to head to second base when Francouer jumps to his feet, gets the ball and was about to the throw the ball to second when the runner stopped dead in his tracks as Francouer brought his arm back. The runner tried to scurry back to first- and then what became a very good baseball play became the incredible- right at the instant that the runner attempted to get back to first, Francouer's arm recoiled and in one motion turns and launches a missle to first that gunned down the runner. I would have clapped if I wasn't picking up my jaw from off of the floor. It wasn't just a Major League play, it was a Web Gem.

Before long, Francouer was in Atlanta and he was hitting an even .300 with 14 home runs and finishing third in the Rookie of the Year Award vote. It looked like the beginning of a long career with Francouer, the local boy, becoming the face of the franchise he pulled for all of his life. The next year, 2006 seemed like the first of many great seasons- 29 home runs, 103 RBI's, and a .260 Avg. Francouer followed that up with a 19 home run, 105 RBI season and a .293 Avg and a Gold Glove Award in 2007. And then Francouer mysteriously went from this:





To this:






In 2008, Francouer dropped dramatically to 11 home runs, 71 RBI's, and a .239 AVG., and a demotion to Pearl for the Fourth of July,which was referenced a couple of days ago on this blog, and beard for good luck. 2009 has only seen very slight improvement 5 home runs, 35 RBI's and a .250 Avg. The golden boy that Braves fans so loved a few years ago, has now been traded to the Mets for Ryan Church, and many of those same Braves fans are rejoicing.

So, what happened? My theory is that Francouer, who is still a very young player, simply got complacent with where he was in the game, and simply didn't work hard enough at it to continue to reach his maximum potential. One thing the average fan doesn't get to see is just how hard it is to play at the Major League level. There really is no off season. When it's the off-season, you have to work out, run, lift weights, and then on top of that, you have to work on your game. Of course, these players continue to work on those things during the season to. Playing at the Major League level is about constantly making adjustments to make yourself better. It is about staying one step ahead of the competition. Those that make the adjustments stay, and those that don't go to AAA. I began to suspect that something was amiss with the Braves and Francouer when he was sent down to AA last season to "work on his swing". It was also known that Francouer was not real happy with the move. I think the truth is the Atlanta Braves were sending Francouer a message to start working or go home. Unfortuantely, it was too late.

Maybe Francouer felt like he was untouchable, since he was 21 when he was annointed as the new face of the franchise. He even had a documentary made about his life when he was only 23, which was mainly high school high lights, and commentary from his wife, who basically admitted that she only hooked up with Francouer after she realized that he had a chance to be a Major League baseball player after launching a moon shot to win the Georgia State Baseball Championship. The documentary is full of unintentional comedy such as- a 23 year old going back to his roots and saying, "You know, most of the same teachers that are here now were here when I was in school." Uh, Jeff, that was FIVE YEARS AGO. But anyway, below is a picture of Jeff's Diamond Girl, appropriately pictured riding his back.










If Jeff Francouer fails to reach his potential in baseball, he will hardly be the first to do so, but it's no less sad to see it happen. If he can somehow learn to cut down on his strikeouts and be more selective at the plate- he has struck out at least 111 times in each of his full seasons in the Big Leagues and his highest walk total was 42. Over his career, Francouer has averaged 122 strikeouts and 33 walks a year. I also think that a change of scenery could potentially help him out as well, even though it is New York, which can be notoriously brutal. And I think the Atlanta Braves did the best thing for them- they have Brandon Jones and Jason Heyward on the horizon in the very near future, and Ryan Church, who Francouer was traded for is a solid player, but for Francouer's sake, I hope we see more jaw dropping plays- in the field and at the plate- than head-hanging moments like I had on the 4th of July last year when he grounded out to end the game.

Alex Cora Has Been Here Before

As many of you know, Alex Cora recently hit a foul ball off of ESPN sideline reporter and Kirk Herbstreit's girlfriend (wink, wink), Erin Andrews. This is concerning to many men, since Erin Andrews is one of/if not the hottest sideline reporters that ESPN has.

I feel bad for Cora because he is mainly going to be remembered as the guy that smoked Erin Andrew's chin off. But I guess that's an upgrade from being remembered as the third baseman laying prone for Miami in the 1996 College World Series after Warren Morris hit his walk-off home run.


Here's video evidence. Cora is the guy on the ground laying face down.

No More Wednesday Baseball?

College baseball seems to be an ever changing landscape. One of the latest changes is to limit the schedule to 56 games for the regular season dropping down to 52 next season, and a start date of February. Much to the players chagrin, this seems to coincide with Mardi Gras, or at least very close to it. If you're an SEC team, and we're going to focus on Mississippi State for this article, you have 30 conference games, which leaves 26 non-conference games. In the past, a typical week for an SEC baseball player would be to play a game on Tuesday, play a game on Wednesday, and then have a three game series against another SEC team. It's probably very similar for players throughout the nation, to. One thing to keep in the back of your mind when you're reading this- Mississippi State fans love(d) the Saturday doubleheaders that they used to play in the 80's and early 90's in the SEC, which are no more.

With all of this in mind Mississippi State, and I imagine other teams will follow suit if they haven't already, are going to start scheduling fewer games on Wednesday, and then early in the season, schedule what amounts to be four game series- a Friday game, a doubleheader on Saturday, and a Sunday game.

So, here's the breakdown:

30 SEC games, presumably 15 at home and 15 on the road.

3 games in Jackson- The Governor's Cup, a game against Southern Mississippi, and a game against Jackson State.

4 games against another major conference team on a weekend before SEC play.

3-4 games in either a pre-season tournament or against a major/mid-major team.

4 games to open the season in a round-robin tournament against 1-2 mid-major teams.

For those keeping score at home, we're at 40-41 games, which leaves 11-12 games left. In MSU's case, this is going to amount to a maximum of 3-4 games on Wednesday during the season.

My take- I like it. And there are several reasons why. Word from the MSU camp is that they are doing it so that their players will miss fewer classes. I'm sure the players appreciate that. I don't think that's the entire intention, though.

More money for schools, in this case MSU. I'm going to be a little bit lazy here, but I feel pretty confident in saying that MSU makes more money on Sunday baseball than they do Wednesday baseball games, without doing any research. Having experienced both myself, I feel pretty certain, with the exception of Mississippi State playing Southern Mississippi in Starkville, or something else extra special that would attract fans, that this is the case. There are several reasons for this. Most people are more willing to travel on the weekend than the work week typically. While a lot of people in the South do church activities on Sunday, there is going to be a certain segment of the attendance that are going to be people that say, "Hey, we're here anyway, let's catch the last game before we go home." During the midweek, if you actually choose to go to a game, the thought process is- "I need to leave work early, and I need to plan on getting home late". Doing that two nights in a row is going to be brutal on anyone, and the other option is to call in sick the next day, which a lot of people don't want to spend on Mississippi State vs. Samford. What the four game schedule is going to do is this- you will have a pretty good crowd on Friday, then most of the people will go to both games on Saturday- so now the school is getting two for one for the most part- and then you have your Sunday game which is essentially replacing a Wednesday game, and now you're getting a larger crowd for that game than you typically would had the game been on Wednesday. But money isn't everything here. There are some other good reasons, like this one.

Better competition for your fourth/midweek starter. I think this is as valuable as anything. How many times have we watched the regionals, and a good team will get in the losers bracket, and then they get in an elimination game and have to pitch their midweek guy in the most important game of the year against Arizona State, and the best team he has faced all year was Memphis. Go get em! The four game schedule is a perfect opportunity to get the midweek pitcher a chance to pitch agianst a high caliber opponent. If your midweek pitcher has pitched against a team like, say Texas during the regular season, and performed reasonably well, that's going to be something that the pitcher can potentially draw off of during the postseason, when he, and your team really needs it. Also, most teams don't have their rotations set in February, and this is a much better gauge of who should be in the weekend rotation. And there's one more very good reason for scheduling like this.

More time for the coaches to recruit players.There were several times that Nick Hardy became the stand-in first base coach for MSU. Why? Because some of the other coaches were out recruiting. Obviously, you can't be two places at one time. So, this is going to allow the coaches to coach the midweek games- which they really need to do, because sometimes those midweek games can determine whether you go to a regional or stay home, or even host. They're important. I also won't debate that recruiting is important as well. This schedule is going to allow the coaches to do their jobs better.

So, get ready for the for the four game series starting this spring. And now, you'll have more time to watch the Wednesday Night Baseball Game on ESPN. I'd say that's a win/win.

All-Star Game One Stop Shopping

I'm really fired up about the All-Star Game this year, mainly because it's in St. Louis. I was in the Gateway City earlier this year, and I can tell you that the town is fired up to.


2009 MLB All-Star Game St. Louis


Make you sure you check out the rosters section. It's pretty awesome to say the least. It gives you several options to look at the rosters, and then when you click on the players name, it gives you stats and video highlights from this year. Many of them involve the Washignton Nationals, so if there is someone who really, really hates the Nats for some reason, you'll really enjoy watching guys beat up on their hapless pitching staff.


Mississippi All-Star Connections:

American League- Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox Closer, and former Mississippi State closer.

National League- Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves Catcher, and former M-Braves Catcher. His father, Howie McCann, also played infield for Mississippi State.

Team USA Futures Game- Jason Heyward, current OF for the M-Braves.

The Evolution of Baseball from the 1998 to 2010

While watching Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, Dan Shulman asked Joe Morgan why we are seeing a return of the "stolen base" (code word for small ball) in baseball. Morgan's response was "Well, now that they've taken steroids out of the game, people are stealing bases". (paraphrase) To me, I felt like his response was poorly thought out, knee-jerk, and sensationalistic. In other words, par for the course for Morgan. But I'm sure he'll enjoy his back slaps at Cooperstown later in the year for the comment.

First of all, unless Morgan truly believes that Manny was the only guy in MLB still taking steroids, he is either naive, short-sighted, in denial, or has way more confidence in MLB's drug testing than anyone in the world should have. I'm sure he would say, "Hey, that's Manny being Manny."

But enough Morgan bashing- there's a whole 'nother blog for that. The question by Sulman is what I want to focus on because I thought it was a good question. And as you probably have figured out, I believe that steroids have very little, if any to do with it at all. I'm mainly basing that on the fact that I believe that many players are still using them. If my assumption is correct, then that throws Morgan's theory out the window.

So what's going on here? Why has the game changed, or at least why is there a perception of why the game has changed? Put yourself in a time machine and let's go back to 1998, the year that McGwire and Sosa battled for the Great Home Run Chase. And here are my answers to the question, and I say answers because I don't think it's just one thing.

• Pitching is better now, in general. When you arrive to 1998, one of the hottest topics in baseball that year was talk of "the lack of pitching". In 1998, there were very few pitchers that I would consider to be true front line aces. You had the trio in Atlanta- Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz, then you had Randy Johnson, Pedro, Curt Schilling, Kevin Brown, David Cone, Andy Pettitte and then some guys who I'm calling aces, but I'm being a little generous- Al Leiter, and Mike Mussina. You also had some guys who were pretty good but very young like Kerry Wood. Most of the "aces" then were guys like Andy Benes, who while he was a very good pitcher, really falls more into the "workhorse" category. Looking to 2009, we have Tim Lincecum, Brandon Webb, Roy Halladay, Chris Carpenter, Cole Hamels, Johan Santana, Dan Haren, Zack Grienke, Mark Beuhrle, CC Sabathia, Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander, and Cliff Lee. Then on top of that, look at the young pitching talent now- Stephen Strasburg can throw 103 for Heaven's sakes, and then there's David Price, Tommy Hanson, Josh Johnson, Chad Billingsly, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Cain, Rick Porcello, Scott Kazmir, Adam Wainwright, Joba Chamberlain, and Taylor Buchholz. What happened was in the late 90's, pitching was at such a premium, that baseball people realized, "Hey, you can make a ton of money and get to the Big Leagues quickly if you can pitch". Also, scouts started looking at guys like Micah Owings, a very good hitter in college, and developing players like him into pitchers because of the need. Also, baseball instuction in the area of pitching has come a LONG way since 1998, and pitchers are being trained better in high school and Little League, and we're starting to see the benefits of that. Better pitching leads me to my next point, becuase the offense responds to better pitching, how?

• Because the pitching is better, it's forcing teams to try to create more runs. And how do you do this? By playing small ball of course. Whenever a team goes into a game, normally, they know who the pitcher is that they are going to face. They also typically know how good or bad that pitcher is. Another thing that factors into the mindset of the game is who the team is pitching and how good he is. For example, if you have Johan Santana going up against Tim Lincecum, and you're a hitter or manager, your thought process going into the game has to be, "If we can score one or two runs, that might be enough today". That's to make the player's and the manager's mindset going into the game lean more heavily towards bunting, stealing, and doing things like hit and running. Contrast that to 1998 where you may be facing Steve Trachsel and you're pitching Kent Merker. In that case, the thought process is going to be, "We don't need to run ourselves out of innings, because there's a good chance that we're going to get some runs tonight, and we may very well need them."

• The rise of the five-tool player. Does anyone remember the 80's when the big thing was to be a 20/20 guy or a 30/30 guy? Anyone else remember when Jose Canseco broke the 40/40 barrier, and many people considered him to be the best all-around player in the game because of it? Considering Canseco's lack of defense, that's pretty laughable even now. Then Cecil Fielder made his grand return from the Hanshin Tigers in the NBL of Japan in 1991 and he crushed 51 home runs. Then the thought process became, "If you hit 40 home runs, why risk getting hurt running the bases?" That saw the rise of the power hitters, but then in the late 90's, a new term became vogue in baseball. "He's a five-tool player". As we all, know, the five tools are- Power, being able to hit for average, steal bases, have a strong accurate arm, and play very good defense. Because the five-tool players became very attractive, players began to try to hone their skills accordingly to get to the Big Leagues, and eventually get paid more. I think Albert Pujols is a good example of this. When he came into the Big Leagues, he was considered a guy who was going to hit for power and average, and had a pretty good arm, and so he was a third baseman. He also was considered to be average to below average defensively, and was going to be a slow runner. Over the years, what Pujols has done is continue to hit for power and average, still has pretty good arm strength, especially for a first baseman, but now, he has become a Gold-Glove caliber first baseman and now, he has 10 stolen bases to date. If this was 1998, I'm not sure that Pujols would worry so much about the pilfers. (Another word for stolen bases for those stuck in 1998.)

• The evolution of lead off hitters. Back in the 80's, leadoff hitters were pretty much ecpected to get on base and steal bases. Vince Coleman was probably the stereotype of this. Rickey Henderson was the premier leadoff hitter at that time- mainly because he could steal AND hit home runs. What happened in the 90's, the value of the leadoff hitter diminished to the point where guys like Coleman were toiling in AAA. Teams started to want guys that could steal bases and hit for power, like Henderson. Now, a guy like Ian Kinsler is the prototype. Someone who can hit 20 home runs and also steal 20 bases. Most teams are settling for someone who can hit 10 home runs. Because of this evolution, lead off hitters are starting to increse in value.

• The composite bat in college. When in doubt, blame Skip Bertman. 1998 was the height of Gorilla Ball, mainly because of the metal rocket launchers disguised as bats. What happened was MLB was having a hard time evaluating pitchers because they couldn't pitch inside. And the coaches, who call the games for almost all college pitchers unless a pitcher is exceptionally mature and has a high baseball IQ- refused to call pitches inside becuase it would get them beat. As a result pitchers, weren't learning how to pitch inside at the collegiate level, and it was hurting pitching at the professional level. While the composite bats are hardly dead, it has at least made college baseball more like, well baseball.

OK, but what do the numbers say?

Player's with 40 home runs 13 in 1998, 15 on pace to hit 40 in 2009

MLB average for team home runs 169 in 98, 168 in 09

MLB average for team ERA 4.43 in 98, 4.30 in 09

MLB average for team batting .266 in 98, .260 in 09

MLB average for team stolen bases 109 in 98, 104 in 09

Player's with 60 or more home runs 2 in 98, 1 on pace to hit 60 in 09

The disclaimer here is that the 2009 numbers I basically doubled or typed what the numbers were on pace to be since it is the midpoint of the season. I do think it would be interesting to revisit this at the end of the season because there are certainly some things that could change. Interestingly, though, the numbers are strikingly similar. And this could be because of the Baseball Law "Everything evens out in the end". I think what it suggests is that the rise of the stolen base and small ball is more about perception than reality. You have different players now, and in the late 90's you had two players McGwire and Sosa, and you could throw in Ken Griffey, Jr. who ended up with 56 in 1998, and then in later years Barry Bonds into the discussion, leading a highly publicized home run assault. Today, the only player that can even come close to challenging that home run record is Albert Pujols, and he's not even that close to McGwire's pace in 1998. Although, if he does indeed end up with 60 or so, that's only six off of Sosa's mark and that's only three off of what Sosa did the next year, and is far better than most people even in that day. Today, you are seeing players that have different skill sets, and better overall pitching, and I think it's leading to perception rather than reality.

The M-Braves 4th of July Extravaganza

We all have our Proud to be an American 4th of July traditions- grilling, shooting fireworks bought illegally from a stand on the side of the road, and watching Joey Chestnut dominate the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest all the while chanting USA! USA! USA! and then immediately talk about how disgusting the activity was once the contest is over- hypocrites. Well, my tradition for the past few years has been to watch the M-Braves and then watch their fireworks show immediately following the great American game of baseball. The above picture is a snippet of said show.

It was hard to top last year's game- much like the British in the Revolutionary War, the M-Braves hired two mercenaries- Matt Diaz, on a rehab assignment, and Jeff Francouer, who was on a "rehab" assignment after hitting a sizzling .210 or so for the Braves and needed to "work on his swing", which is code for needs a swift kick in the pants, to put it politely. Last year's game came down to the Mighty Francouer having a chance to win the game for the home team. Instead, he promptly grounded out to end the game. We should have known better- a mercenary with a French last name is not a good combination on the 4th of July. Alas, the M-Braves came back to win the Southern League Championship and vindicate their Indpendence Day short-comings.

This year, the Braves didn't bring in any mercenaries from Atlanta, but they did have Jason Heyward, one of the Braves top prospects. Heyward stands out in part because he is 6'4" 220 and looks like a Big Leaguer, but also because he has a beautiful swing that causes the ball to jump off of his bat- one of the balls he hit for a triple was hit hard enough to probably be a home run at Turner Field, and he also runs like a gazelle. The only question I have about Heyward is which need will he meet for the Braves- left field or first base? He has the abillity to play both and do well. I suggest you go to Pearl to watch Heyward now, because he won't be in Pearl for long. And for the record, Heyward made it to the Future's Game in St. Louis, which is the most prestigous All-Star game for minor leaguers.

One thing I always look forward to on the 4th of July is to see what the M-Braves festive costumes aka jerseys will look like. They are typically pretty hideous, unless you design uniforms for the University of Oregon, of course. This year was better than last, but still laughable. As you can see from the picture below, the unidentified M-Braves is hiding his face, and justifyably so.

The game itself was once again eventful. The first three innings took an hour and a half to play, which would have meant fireworks at 11:30. Thankfully, the last six innings went by rather quickly. And while the M-Braves won 8-6 over the Jacksonville Suns, there was one play that the entire stadium was talking about- it will go down as the Bermuda Pentagon. The Suns had runners on second and third and two outs. The M-Braves pitcher threw the ball and the Suns batter launched the ball into the night a distance of 60 feet and 6 inches. I know this because the ball landed on top of the pitchers slab on top of the mound and then shot directly towards home plate. Apparently the M-Braves shortstop failed to read the flow chart on page 215 of "the book"- you Mississippi State fans know what I'm talking about-which says that the shortstop has priority on all fly balls on the infield. And in the shortstop's defense, he may have told the first baseman to take it, but the first baseman clearly lost the ball in the lights, I suppose, and by the time the shortstop realized it- it was too late. It was definately a minor league caliber play to say the least. A player for the Suns also launched a ball over the batter's eye in center field, which is indeed a feat. Although, I must say that it seems like the ball carries well out in center field at the TP.

But of course, win or lose, as long as there are fireworks, everyone is happy. And I will say this on behalf of the M-Braves- they do it right. Everything that they have ever done is always first class, if you get a chance to go, take advantage of it, and enjoy it.

Born on the 4th of July

There have been many great things born on the 4th of July- America, George Steinbrenner, and now this blog. I hope I can live up to the lofty bar that has already been set. This blog is going to be about baseball. It's going to be just like a good ol' country buffet. I'm going to talk about Major League Baseball, some occasional minor league baseball things, a pretty good bit of college baseball, more specifically SEC/Mississippi related things, and Mississippi High School baseball. Sometimes, I'm going to talk about an issue related to baseball, sometimes it will focus on a specific player or coach. Sometimes it will focus on a team. Sometimes it will focus on an aspect of strategy- and I say this as a disclaimer, this blog is to entertain and discuss, not necessarily to hone your game. That said, anything that has to do with things like pitching, hitting, fielding, etc. will be researched to the fullest extent and any other viewpoint on the subject that I come across will be presented.

As you might have imagined, I am from Mississippi, and I'm proud of it. And yes, I've traveled around a little bit- and when I say travelled around, I'm not talking about as far north as Gatlinburg. I used to think that Mississippi was horrible, and the armpit of civilization. The funny thing is, I started to go to places like Missouri, Washington state, and etc, and I found out that I really liked Mississippi a lot. In fact, I think I love it more, and I realize just how forunate I am to live in Mississippi. And it's not because the places I visited were bad, it was because I realize just how good I have it. I am within driving distance of at least four Major League teams- the Braves, the Astros, the Rangers, and my personal favorite, the St. Louis Cardinals. I live about two hours from some of the best college baseball in the country. I've also learned to appreciate the charm of the high school teams in Mississippi as well. And I can't forget the M-Braves and the underrated minor league history that the state has. If I left, I would miss all of that. Especially the Governor's Cup in April.

I think Kirk Presley is a perfect example of what Southern baseball and what baseball in Mississippi is all about. Since 1975, no high school player from Mississippi has ever been drafted higher, and I consider Kirk Presley to be the Sandy Koufax of Mississippi. Kirk is the reason why I follow high school baseball in Mississippi. In case you're wondering, he is related to Elvis- he is a cousin- and did play at Tupelo High School, a superpower in Mississippi high school baseball, and I think that adds to his mystique. He led them to the state Championship in 1993. Presley also played High School football - he was the quarterback for Tupelo High's team, and helped lead them to a state Championship as well. And even better, he committed to Mississippi State out of high school, which is my alma mater. As a pitcher, he is the gold standard which I compare all other high school pitchers in the state against. He had a fastball that was routinely clocked at 93 MPH and he had a devastating curveball. If you need further evidence on the dominance of Kirk Presley, consider these stats:

Freshman year- 1-0 9K's and an ERA of 0.00

Sophomore year- 7-0 70K's and an ERA of 1.00

Junior year- 14-1, 3 saves 129 K's and an ERA of 0.39

Senior year- 15-0, 5 saves 161 K's and an ERA of 0.58

Career totals- 37-1, 8 saves 369 K's and an ERA of 0.58

If you still need convincing, Presley also threw seven no-hitters in his career, two of which were perfect games, and he had nine one-hitters. In his best game, he threw a pefect game and struck out 17 out of a possible 21 batters. He ended up being drafted by the New York Mets in the first round with the 8th pick overall.

Sadly, Presley's career was derailed by arm injuries, and while I wished that he had gone to MSU- it's hard to blame him for taking $900,000. That said, Presley still has and always will hold a special place in my heart and also has a special place in the heart of baseball in Mississippi.

This blog is a tribute to him, and his amazing talent on the field. He is the best baseball player I have ever seen in Mississippi, and I'm not sure that he will ever be topped.