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.