13 Dec

spotlight on …

Anthony Calarco, former Ole Miss standout and the 2025 Frontier League MVP, is playing in the Puerto Rican (Roberto Clemente) Winter League, hitting .233 with a pair of homers for Ponce. Calarco batted .347 with 24 homers, 116 RBIs, 34 doubles and 82 runs for Schaumburg in the indy Frontier League. The lefty-swinging first baseman had a huge series for the Boomers when they played the Mississippi Mud Monsters at Trustmark Park in early August. After four years at Northwestern, Calarco batted .274 with five homers in 48 games for Ole Miss in 2023. He played that summer in affiliated ball in the Texas system, then spent 2024 with Schaumburg. (Former St. Andrew’s High star Banks Tolley, who was also with Schaumburg in 2025 — hitting .313 with 12 homers — has re-signed with the club.) P.S. Ryan Rolison was not in limbo for long. The Ole Miss product was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox on Friday after being designated for assignment by Atlanta (see previous post). … Billy Hamilton, former Taylorsville High star, has swiped seven bases in 25 games in the Mexican Pacific League and is sitting at 860 bags for his long pro career that dates to 2009. Hamilton, 35, is batting .241 for Jalisco in his second season in the MPL. … Bobby Bradley, ex-Harrison Central standout, is currently on the reserve list with Mexicali in the Mexican Pacific League. The power-hitting first baseman, 29, batted .273 with just one homer in 16 games for the Aguilas after hitting one homer in 20 games for Tucson before changing teams. … Gorkys Hernandez, who played for the Mississippi Braves way back in 2009, is leading the Venezuelan Winter League in hitting at .377 through 46 games with Aragua. The 37-year-old Hernandez has a .471 OBP and 12 steals. … Rufus Lewis, a two-time All-Star in the Negro Leagues, was born on this date in Hattiesburg (or Johnstons Station, per other sources) in 1919. Lewis won Game 7 of the 1946 Negro League World Series for Newark.

11 Dec

short hops

With Atlanta’s signing of ex-San Diego closer Robert Suarez, ex-Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison has been squeezed off the Braves’ 40-man roster and designated for assignment. The Braves recently traded with Colorado to get the lefty Rolison, who was DFA’d by the Rockies last month. Rolison had a 7.20 ERA in 31 games last season as a 28-year-old rookie for the Rockies. It’s unclear if he’ll remain in the Braves’ system. … Jackson native and ex-big leaguer Stan Cliburn has stepped down as manager of the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs after seven seasons with the Atlantic League club. Cliburn went 458-447 with the Blue Crabs, making three playoff appearances and winning a manager of the year award. Cliburn, 68, has 2,083 minor league managerial victories, ranking 12th all time, per a league release. Cliburn said in the release that he will “pursue other challenges.” … No Mississippi products were selected in Wednesday’s Rule 5 draft of unprotected minor leaguers. (There had been speculation that Blaze Jordan, the ex-DeSoto Central High slugger, might be plucked out of the St. Louis system.) … Jackson Smith, a Mississippi College alum, re-signed with the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters. The right-hander posted a 3.06 ERA in 20 games (two starts) in 2025. … Former Mississippi Braves standout Vaughn Grissom has been traded again, going from Boston to the Los Angeles Angels. Grissom, an infielder, made little impact with the Red Sox after coming from Atlanta in the Chris Sale trade. … Ex-Biloxi Shuckers star Brice Turang has committed to play for Team USA in next spring’s World Baseball Classic. The slick-fielding second baseman batted .288 with 18 homers last season for Milwaukee. … Former Shuckers closer Devin Williams, who had a rough go with the New York Yankees in 2025, has moved to the Mets as a free agent and faces the unenviable task of replacing Edwin Diaz in their bullpen. P.S. Kyle Schwarber, returning to Philadelphia as a $150 million DH, has built his legacy on monster home runs, the so-called “Schwarbombs,” many of them game-changers. In an article in the November/December issue of Baseball Digest, Scott Lauber writes about two impactful homers Schwarber hit long before his MLB days, back in 2012, when he was playing in the Cape Cod League, the college summer circuit. His manager was Cooper Farris, the former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College coach. As the tale goes, Schwarber, coming off his freshman season at Indiana, was having a tough day in the Cape’s championship game, having made an error and struck out three times as the game reached the ninth inning. “Well, are we going to do something about it?” Farris asked Schwarber. “Yes, sir, I got this,” was Schwarber’s response. He homered in the ninth and again in the 10th as Wareham won the title. The next summer, again playing for Farris, Schwarber returned from a trip to Japan with Team USA, scrambled back to the Cape and went 4-for-4 with a homer in his first game, per the BD article. “Craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Farris said.

05 Dec

tagging up

A toast to the late Boo Ferriss on the occasion of what would have been his 104th birthday. Ferriss, born in Shaw in 1921, is deeply intertwined in the state’s baseball fabric, having played at Mississippi State for Dudy Noble, helped the Boston Red Sox reach the World Series in an abbreviated pro career and coached consistent winning teams at Delta State for 26 years. The Ferriss Trophy is given each year by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum to the best college player in the state. Ferriss, who is in the Red Sox’s Hall of Fame, would be more widely known outside of Mississippi had his MLB career not been curtailed by illness and injury. He won 21 games as a rookie for the 1945 BoSox and 25 for the ’46 World Series team. He won only 19 more games. As the coach at Delta State, where he earned ABCA Hall of Fame recognition, he not only won a ton of games and championships but also produced a sprawling tree of prep and college coaches. The DSU field is named for him, and the program still thrives. In addition to all that, Ferriss was the consummate gentleman, gracious to all. He died in 2016 and is buried in Shaw. … Interested to see how the signing of Cedric Mullins impacts Jake Mangum in Tampa Bay, which now has a glut of outfielders. Mullins is a center fielder, which is Mangum’s best position, though the ex-Mississippi State star played all three outfield spots as a rookie in 2025. Mangum, a switch-hitter, batted .296 and stole 27 bases but provided little power (three homers) in 118 games. In the field, he had 90 putouts, including some highlight-caliber catches, and two assists with no errors. He may well prove a nice trade piece during the winter meetings. … Northeast Mississippi Community College product Tyler Samaniego was traded by Pittsburgh to Boston on Thursday as part of a five-player deal. Just added to the Pirates’ 40-man roster last month, left-hander Samaniego has a career 3.82 ERA and pitched in Double-A last season. … Five players at state schools are ranked in the Top 100 in MLB Pipeline’s new 2026 MLB draft prospects list. MSU third baseman Ace Reese is No. 18; Oak Grove High outfielder Eric Booth Jr. is ranked 28th; Ole Miss righty Cade Townsend is 78th; Jackson Prep outfielder Kevin Roberts Jr. is No. 86; and Magnolia Heights third baseman Cole Prosek checks in at 97.

05 Dec

on such a winter’s day

On a cold, wet December day — on a desktop in a cozy room somewhere in Mississippi — a team of stars from the Magnolia State took on the 1961 New York Yankees. The squad of Mississippians was a pretty formidable bunch, but the Yankees, world champs in ’61, won the game 7-4. Whitey Ford got the W, Boo Ferriss — the 1946 Boston Red Sox ace from Shaw — took the loss. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle both doubled and homered for New York. For the Mississippi stars, Gee Walker, a Gulfport native who hit .353 with Detroit in 1936, went 2-for-5 with an RBI and also scored a run. The Yankees built an early 5-0 lead and held off a rally from the Mississippians as Luis Arroyo got the final six outs. All this took place on a desktop and took about 45 minutes. No replay reviews, no TV commercial breaks, no mound visits. The yucky weather outside was easily forgotten. Making such a seamhead fantasy possible is APBA Baseball, the venerable dice-and-board creation that assures the summer game is never out of season. It’s almost like having a time machine at your fingertips. You can replay games from seasons past, match great teams from different eras against each other — or create an all-time team of players from Mississippi and see how they fare as a unit. The individual player cards almost come to life; there is personality in their numbers. In this particular game, the Bronx Bombers were too good. Ford, a 25-game winner in ’61, scattered nine hits over seven frames and overcame a costly error. Elston Howard and Johnny Blanchard had big knocks in a 10-hit attack. George Scott, the 1975 Milwaukee version of the Boomer from Greenville, drove in Mississippi’s first run with a pinch single in the third inning, scoring Jackson native Chet Lemon (1979 Chicago White Sox), on with a leadoff triple. Byram’s Chad Bradford (2008 Tampa Bay) tossed two scoreless innings in relief for the Magnolia Staters, who pulled within 6-4 in the seventh on an RBI single by Ellisville native Buddy Myer (1926 Washington). Maybe a shakeup in the lineup would produce a better result for Mississippi: Harry Walker, Ellis Burks and Brian Dozier didn’t get off the bench. Put Claude Passeau on the bump and run it back. Maybe a best-of-5?

02 Dec

totally random

Today’s subject: Buddy Blair. Columbia native Blair, a decorated athlete in college, enjoyed a short but sweet big league career. As a 31-year-old rookie with the Philadelphia A’s in 1942, the lefty-hitting third baseman got a hit in his first game and another in his last game that same season. Blair (given name Louis) hit .279 for Connie Mack’s last-place A’s, with five homers, 66 RBIs, 26 doubles and 48 runs in 137 games. Over the next three years, he served in World War II in the Air Force. He returned to baseball in 1946 — but not to the big leagues. Blair was a player/manager from 1946-50 with Vicksburg in the Class B Southeastern League. In 1949 with the Billies, he won the only pro game he ever pitched. Blair, who died in 1996, was a three-sport star at LSU, lettering in basketball and track as well as baseball. He originally signed with the New York Yankees in 1936 and spent six years in their minor league system.

23 Nov

return engagement

It was a no-brainer that the Chicago Cubs would make a 2026 contract offer to Justin Steele. The more relevant news is that ex-George County High star Steele, coming off arm surgery, has begun throwing again and could be back in the team’s rotation next May, mlb.com reported. Steele, 30, went 3-1 with a 4.76 ERA in four games before going on the injured list last season. He won 16 games in 2023 and is 32-22, 3.30, for his five-year MLB career, which includes an All-Star Game nod. So of course the Cubs wanted the left-hander back in the fold. “He’s such a good competitor and everybody loves being around him,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy told mlb.com. Steele made $6.6 million last year and will get a nice bump in negotiations. P.S. Ole Miss product James McArthur signed a new $810,000 contract with Kansas City. The reliever missed all of the ’25 season after elbow surgery. He posted a 4.92 ERA with five wins and 18 saves for the Royals in 2024 and a had 4.63 as a rookie in ’23. … The news was not so good for ex-Ole Miss slugger Tim Elko, who has become a free agent after being non-tendered by the White Sox. Elko, 26, who made his MLB debut in 2025, recently had surgery to repair a torn ACL and could be sidelined several months. He hit .134 with four home runs in 23 MLB games this season and .292 with 26 homers in Triple-A. … Other 2025 MLB players with state ties who are current free agents: Tim Anderson (East Central CC); Adam Frazier (Mississippi State); Kendall Graveman (MSU); Nathaniel Lowe (MSU); Drew Pomeranz (UM); Hunter Renfroe (MSU); Chuckie Robinson (Southern Miss); Houston Roth (UM); Nick Sandlin (USM); Chris Stratton (MSU); Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central HS); and Jacob Waguespack (UM). … Ashton Lansdell, who played softball at Ole Miss last season, was the seventh overall pick (by Los Angeles) in the Women’s Professional Baseball League draft. Lansdell, a Georgia native, has played baseball in junior college and for the USA Baseball Women’s National team.

20 Nov

taking a flier

Atlanta, reportedly shopping for pitching this off-season, picked up former Ole Miss standout Ryan Rolison in a trade (for cash) with Colorado on Wednesday. Rolison, a 28-year-old left-handed reliever, doesn’t come with great MLB credentials. As a rookie last season, the injury-dogged Rolison had a 7.20 ERA in 31 games for the Rockies; he allowed 11 home runs in 42 1/3 innings. The Rockies designated him for assignment on Tuesday. Rolison, from Tennessee, won 16 games in two years as a starter at Ole Miss and was picked in the first round by Colorado in the 2018 draft. (Others taken in the first round in that draft include Casey Mize, Alec Bohm, Jonathan India, Brady Singer, Nolan Gorman and Brice Turang, all established big leaguers.) Injuries stalled Rolison’s advancement in the minors, where he has a 17-17 record and a 4.43 ERA over six seasons. P.S. USA Today/Sports Weekly ranks UM product Drew Pomeranz at No. 49 among the current free agent class. The veteran lefty reliever, 37, rejuvenated his career with the Chicago Cubs in 2025. … Ex-Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery made the All-Arizona Fall League team. The White Sox’s No. 1 prospect batted .366 in 12 games in the showcase loop.

19 Nov

transaction watch

Though Reed Trimble has had trouble staying healthy and on the field in his pro career, Baltimore officials have seen enough good stuff to add the ex-Southern Miss star to the 40-man protected roster. Tuesday was the deadline for MLB clubs to set their rosters before next month’s winter meetings and the Rule 5 draft for eligible minor leaguers. Tupelo native Trimble was the 65th overall pick in 2021 after a standout sophomore year at USM (.345, 17 homers, 72 RBIs). A swift, switch-hitting outfielder, the 25-year-old Trimble has a .251 career average and 61 stolen bases (in 61 attempts) in 226 games over five minor league seasons. He reached Triple-A in 2025 and hit .259 with five homers and eight steals in 30 games for Norfolk. … Former Northeast Mississippi Community College standout Tyler Samaniego was added to Pittsburgh’s 40-man. Drafted in 2021 out of South Alabama, the 6-foot-4 left-hander posted a 3.08 ERA in 20 games in Double-A last season and has a career 3.82, working almost exclusively in relief. … Ryan Rolison, a former first-round draft pick from Ole Miss, was designated for assignment by Colorado, moving off the 40-man roster. The lefty put up a 7.02 ERA in 31 games as a 28-year-old rookie in 2025. … Ex-DeSoto Central High slugger Blaze Jordan and former USM standout Tyler Stuart were among the rated prospects (by MLB Pipeline) who did not get 40-man roster protection and could be plucked by other MLB clubs. Jordan belted a career-high 19 homers in 2025, playing at Triple-A in both the Boston and St. Louis organizations. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander in Washington’s system, has a career 3.44 ERA. … Brandon Woodruff, ex-Mississippi State standout, accepted a $22 million qualifying offer from Milwaukee; he had previously declined a reported $20M option in his last contract. The right-hander bounced back from injury in 2025, going 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA for the Brewers but missing the postseason. He is 53-28, 3.10, in 142 career appearances with Milwaukee. … MSU alum Nathaniel Lowe was designated for assignment by Boston and is likely headed for free agency. The seven-year veteran hit .280 with two homers and 16 RBIs in 34 games for the Red Sox last year after being released by Washington. He batted .228 with 18 homers all told in 2025.

17 Nov

of local interest

On this date in 1992, MLB held an expansion draft for the new Colorado and Florida franchises to stock their rosters for the ’93 season. Four Mississippians were among the 72 players drafted from the other MLB organizations. Charlie Hayes, the former Forrest County AHS star, was the second pick — and No. 3 overall — by the Rockies, having been left “unprotected” by the New York Yankees. Pat Rapp, Southern Miss and Hinds Community College alum, was picked 10th overall by Florida and Greg Hibbard, a Mississippi Gulf Coast CC and Harrison Central High product, went two picks later to the Marlins. Mo Sanford, a former Starkville High phenom, was selected 62nd overall by Colorado. (Also picked in that draft were former Jackson Mets Chuck Carr, Tom Edens and Chris Donnels.) Hayes enjoyed his time in Colorado and Mile High Stadium, a hitter’s haven. He batted .305 with 25 homers and 98 RBIs in 1993 and hit 10 more bombs in the strike-shortened ’94 season. (He would wind up back with the Yankees in 1996 and earned a World Series ring.) Rapp went 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA for the Marlins in 1993 and would win 33 more games for the club over the next four years. (He did not pitch in the postseason when Florida won the 1997 World Series.) Hibbard, who won 57 games in six big league campaigns, never pitched for the Marlins; he was traded the day of the expansion draft to the Chicago Cubs. Sanford worked in 11 games for the ’93 Rockies, going 1-2, 5.30. That was his only year in their system. P.S. Southern Miss alum Nick Sandlin has rejected an outright assignment to the minors by Toronto (see previous post) and become a free agent. … Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High standout, plays on at age 35, now with Jalisco in the Mexican Pacific League. Former big leaguer Hamilton is batting .273 with three steals and 10 runs in 13 games in the winter league. He has been in pro ball since 2009, when Cincinnati drafted him in the second round. He finished last season in the Cubs’ minor league system. … Ex-Ole Miss star Chris Ellis leads the Dominican Winter League with six saves for Cibao; the erstwhile big league has a spotless ERA over eight games.

15 Nov

he is worthy

Ace is a status that must be earned. And Garrett Crochet did exactly that in his first season with Boston, which traded a boatload of prospects to get the Ocean Springs native from the Chicago White Sox last off-season. Crochet went 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA for a playoff team. In just his second year as a starter, he led the American League in quality starts, innings pitched and strikeouts. He finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Tarik Skubal, garnering four of the 30 first-place votes. The lefty also made the All-MLB first team. Crochet’s season — one of the best ever by a Mississippi-born pitcher — is worthy of the Cool Papa Bell Award, given here for the top performance by a Mississippian (native or school alum) in the big leagues. “He was phenomenal,” Craig Breslow, the Red Sox’s chief baseball officer, recently told mlb.com. “It’s what we had hoped he could be when we traded for him, but to see that actually materialize is great.” Crochet’s second-place finish in the Cy Young voting is the best by a Mississippi native. Weir’s Roy Oswalt placed third in 2004. Crochet was two wins shy of becoming the sixth Magnolia State native to win 20. That club includes Reb Russell (22 in 1913), Guy Bush (20 in ’33), Claude Passeau (20 in ’40), Boo Ferriss (21 in 1945 and 25 in ’46) and Oswalt (20 in both 2004 and ’05). … Other winners of AMB’s Bell Award: Brent Rooker, Justin Steele, Austin Riley, Tim Anderson, Corey Dickerson, Mitch Moreland, Brian Dozier, Desmond Jennings, Lance Lynn, Cliff Lee, Oswalt and Chris Coghlan. P.S. Nick Sandlin, former Ferriss Trophy winner out of Southern Miss, has been outrighted off the 40-man roster to Triple-A by Toronto. Sandlin, in his first year with the Blue Jays, had a 2.20 ERA in 19 games but ended the regular season on the injured list and missed the postseason. … It’ll be interesting to see if former USM pitcher Tyler Stuart and ex-DeSoto Central High slugger Blaze Jordan make the 40-man roster in their respective organizations. Both would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next month if they aren’t protected on the big league roster. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander, went 2-2 with a 4.29 ERA in 10 games in an injury-curtailed 2025 season in the Washington system. He has a career 3.44 ERA and has pitched in Triple-A. Jordan, St. Louis’ No. 18 prospect, belted a career-high 19 homers in 2025, playing in Triple-A in both the Boston and Cardinals systems. Still only 22 years old, the fifth-year pro hit .270 with 99 RBIs all told last season. … Madison Central High alum Braden Montgomery compiled some amazing numbers in the Arizona Fall League. The White Sox’s top prospect went 15-for-41 (.366) in 12 games for Glendale, with a homer, six doubles, a triple, 11 RBIs, 12 runs, three steals and 13 walks. His OBP was .527. A switch-hitting outfielder, Montgomery batted .270 with 12 homers and 68 RBIs over three minor league levels in his first pro season. (He was acquired by the ChiSox in the Crochet trade with Boston.) … Brandon Woodruff, the ex-Mississippi State standout from Wheeler, has until Nov. 18 to make a decision on the one-year/$22.025 million qualifying offer he received from Milwaukee. Woodruff, who has spent his entire pro career in the Brewers’ system, became a free agent after the World Series ended. … MSU’s 2026 signing class was ranked No. 8 by Baseball America. The feature signee is catcher Will Brick from Memphis; he ranks among the top 10 prep prospects on Perfect Game’s latest chart.