| 1996 | Oct | Nov | Dec | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sep |
10/31/97 - Here are the highlights from yesterday's Bulldog World Series doubleheader (each game was 5 innings):
Other notes:
10/30/97 - If you have checked out the official MSU baseball page you already know this, the baseball team will start each game of the MSU World Series at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I hope to be at each game and will post as much info as I possibly can. Come on out if you can. The games are free and it will give you a great opportunity to see how good this team is going to be.
10/28/97 - Hey fellow Bulldog fans, don't forget about this week's Bulldog World Series which starts this Thursday, weather permitting. There will also be one game Friday and Saturday. Not sure of the time, but I will find out.
10/28/97 - According to Baseball America, former Bulldogs Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Carlton Loewer and Jay Powell will be protected in the upcoming MLB expansion draft. They speculate that Jeff Brantley will be left unprotected because of his recent surgery and high salary ($2.8 million).
10/25/97 - Here is the All-Polk Baseball Team:
10/25/97 - You know how in the past Miss State never played any baseball games prior to any of the pre-season tournaments we were in. Look for that to change this coming baseball season. According to the 1998 baseball schedule, MSU plays eight games prior to the Winn-Dixie Showdown XII which is played in New Orleans. The MSU season starts Feb 17th (Tuesday, 3:00 p.m.) at home against South Alabama.
10/22/97 - South Panola HS's outstanding baseball player Nathan Bowden, who has strong Miss State ties, is getting a lot of looks from college recruiters and pro scouts because of his arm (87-89 mph fastball) and height (6-3).
10/21/97 - As I promised, here are several pictures from the Miss State Alumni Baseball Game.
The All-Polk Team; The Next Generation?; Players Photo #1; Players Photo #2.
Look for more as time permits.
10/20/97 - A good time was had by all who participated or watched the Miss State Alumni Baseball Game Sunday afternoon. (I will post pictures Tuesday morning.) Ron Polk was given a Rolex watch by his former players. The All-Time Ron Polk was announced. There were between 1,200-1,500 fans at the game. It was mentioned that Miss State has had 101 All-SEC Academic Players since this team was started by the SEC. The next highest number of players by an SEC team was 60. Just goes to show you a team can be successful on the field and in the classroom, but then we all know Miss State is becoming known for doing just this kind of thing in all three major sports.
10/19/97 - The baseball team played an intrasquad game Saturday. Sophomore pitcher Matt Ginter was impressive, pitching 4 strong innings, allowing 1 hit, 1 walk and no runs. He also struck out 6. Brett Wheeler continues to look good on his comeback trail. During the 2 innings I saw him pitch, he allowed 2 hits, no walks, no runs while striking out 1. His location, which was his strong point before he was injured, looked good. Although he did not get a hit in his 2 at bats, Rob Hauswald hit the ball solidly both times.
If this intrasquad game was an indication of what the Bulldogs are going to be like next season, look for them to run a lot more than you have ever seen before.
10/15/97 - This is not MSU related, but it is SEC college baseball related. Of all the players who were drafted in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Amateur Baseball Draft, only two (almost three) are attending an SEC school. Source: Baseball America:
10/13/97 - Click here to read a very good article by The Commercial Dispatch's Assistant Sports Editor Danny P. Smith.
10/12/97 - Although I only got to see half of the Maroon-White Baseball Game, I did get to see five of our best pitchers. Chris Reinike was throwing in the 90-91 mph range. Matt Ginter was throwing from 86 mph to 94 mph, although he was mostly in the 88-92 range. Jeremy Jackson hit a high of 90 mph, although he was mostly in the 87-88 range. Brett Wheeler looks much improved over last year. He seems to have added a little velocity, but it is his location that seems to have improved the most. Sorry, the scout only clocked Brett a couple of times and I couldn't read his Jugs gun. Hank Thoms was throwing an 85-86 mph fastball with a high of 88 (couldn't see the scout's gun but a few times when Hank was pitching).
Travis Chapman looked great defensively at shortstop. Rob Hauswald, although he didn't get a hit, appeared to be seeing the ball much, much better. In fact I was told he is 100%. Barry Patton and Brian Wiese both hit long homeruns during the game. Overall, the hitting look very good and the defense looked very solid.
10/11/97 - Collegiate Baseball rated Miss State's recruiting class the 24th best in the country. Other SEC schools in the top 30 were:
11th - Alabama
12th - LSU
17th - South Carolina
20th - Auburn
28th - Florida
29th - Arkansas
The highest rated school was UCLA. BTW, for all of you who believe you can't win national championships with Juco players, LSU signed 14 players; 7 high schoolers, 6 jucos and 1 transfer. Bertman does this year after year, proving you can win with talent, whether it is high school or juco talent. Talent is talent, period!
10/11/97 - Did you know Miss State will be only the second baseball program that will have skyboxes. The other school is Arkansas with a total of two. MSU will have at least 18 with a possibility of adding many more. It just depends on how much additional demand there is.
10/10/97 - The latest word from baseball practice: Practices have been very intense with everybody fighting for positions. No one has been given a job because they are a senior or junior. Coach McMahon is making each and every player earn his position. Here's what Jason Wilcutt said about the practices: "It's more intense and there's more hustle during practices, but it's fun."
Don't forget, the Maroon-White Game will take place this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field.
10/06/97 - Former Bulldog Adam Piatt was selected by the league managers as the 7th best pro prospect in the Class A Northwest League. He batted .292 with 13 home runs, 35 rbi and 19 stolen bases in 216 at bats. Here's what Baseball America said about him: Piatt came well-refined from Mississippi State University's College World Series team. And he brought a natural third baseman's body and a positive attitude with him. "He has a good arm and good range at third base," Portland manager Jim Eppard said. "He has a little pop in his bat. And he has a good head on his shoulders." Eugene's Jim Saul agreed, saying simply, "He wore us out."
10/06/97 - In case any of you are wondering what ever happened to former Bulldog signee Reid Cornelius (signed for $240,000, when this was a large amount, and never played for the Bulldogs); Reid won 17 games, the most by any minor league pitcher, this year for the Florida Marlins minor league system. He played at Portland, their Double A team, and Charlotte, their Triple A team.
10/06/97 - The eighth MSU alumni baseball game will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19th at Dudy Noble Field. Source: The Clarion-Ledger.
10/05/97 - For all of you who want to see this year's edition of the Diamond Dawg, they will be having the Bulldog World Series (a 3 game playoff which takes the place of the Banana Split Series) October 30th, 31st and November the 1st. Not sure about the times, 2 or 3 p.m. maybe. Make plans to be there. This year's edition has the makings of a CWS caliber team.
Also, the Maroon-White Intrasquad Game is next Saturday (Oct. 11th) at 1 p.m.
10/04/97 - Batesville, Arkansas catcher Lance Lamberth orally committed to MSU after visiting Arkansas and Ole Miss. Lamberth hit .380 and is a 1996 All-State selection and is regarded as the best catcher in Arkansas. He registered a 1.78 second throw time to second base in tryouts with the Phillies and he's considered a draft prospect. Seems he was really impressed with his visit to MSU and coach Jim Case.
10/03/97 - For all of you MSU Diamond Dawg fans who remember Burke Masters, just thought you would be like to know that Burke is studying for the priesthood at a seminary in Illinois.
10/02/97 - I noticed a message on Miss State's message board which said the Diamond Girl tryouts appeared to be buyouts because, as the writer was insinuating, the five girls selected were chosen because their families gave the most money to MSU. This statement is without a doubt one of the most ridiculous I have ever read.
First I want to tell you how the process worked this year:
1) On Wednesday, September 24 at 8:00 p.m. all the girls (there were 145 to 150 girls) that were interested in being a Diamond Girl showed up for a General Information Meeting at Humphrey Coliseum. At this meeting each girl filled out a personal information sheet. The only reference as to a girl's parents was a question that asked if she had any relatives that went to MSU. If so, she listed the name or names. There was no question about how much money her parent or relatives gave to MSU.
2) On Thursday, September 25 at 6:15 p.m. all the girls that were still interested (105 now) had to take a General Knowledge Baseball Test, which counted 1/3 of her grade. As you noticed about 40 to 45 girls decided not to show up for this part of the process because they did not want to take this test.
3) On Sunday, September 28 at 6:00 p.m. the girls, in groups of four, went through an interview process in front of a committee which consisted of a couple of baseball players and selected community members. This interview counted for the final 2/3 of the girls score. BTW, the first time the committee members knew who the girls were was 15 minutes before the interview process began.
Fifteen minutes. Not exactly a whole lot of time for the committee members to get together, look over the applications, find out who the family members of these girls are, then do research to find out how much they gave to MSU. Sounds kind of ridiculous to me, doesn't it to you? But, I didn't stop here. I wanted first hand knowledge, so I talked to a parent of one of the present Diamond Girls and one of the committee members.
First, I talked to the parent, a person I have known for over 17 years, in fact I call him a good friend, and I know that he is a very honest and good person. And as far as paying a lot of money to Miss State, he does give money but not a large sum. Certainly not enough to "buy a spot" for his daughter. He told me he hadn't even heard anything about buying a spot for his daughter. He said his daughter has never said anything of this nature to him. My asking him about it was the first he had heard of it. He wasn't even sure of the exact process she went through to get selected. It was her decision to try out and she was selected to the Diamond Girls because she earned it. BTW, she was not one of the five that was selected this year.
The next person I talked to was a committee member. This person told me the committee based their evaluation of each girl on four criteria: Appearance, personality, knowledge/interest, and time/willingness to work. That's all, they didn't check to see who the girls parents were. They based their decision solely on those four criteria.
One other thing about this post on MSU's message board. It said the girls waited all night to find if they were one of the five who were chosen. The committee members took their job seriously and wanted to be fair to each girl so they took all night to evaluate 105 girls (not 150 as was said on the message board). It was a very tough decision, but one that was based on the criteria I mentioned earlier and nothing else. To whoever posted the message on the message board, please get your facts straight before you post something on the MSU message board. The five girls that were selected didn't deserved your comments. Nothing else needs to be said.
