Mississippi Day Trip - M-Braves vs. West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, Aug. 30, 2009

Sometime back in June, while I was sitting on a sweltering, miserable plane ride, leaving Myrtle Beach and heading up to Northern Virginia, it had crossed my mind that I had tackled three of four Braves minor-league affiliates.  So I asked myself, why not go for all four, and strive for Mississippi, where the AA-Mississippi Braves played?

So despite the fact that my first attempt at hitting up Mississippi resulted in an epic fail due to too many morbidly obese people on the small aircraft, I gave it another shot this past Sunday, and successfully got to Jackson/Pearl to catch a game between our M-Braves and the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (AA-Seattle Mariners).

Upon arriving in Pearl, my first thought were "dang, it looks like every home here is a ranch (single floor)."  The airport was tiny, the homes were tiny, and the roads were two-laned and not so bustling.  I opted to just taxi it to the park, since it would cost me roughly the same to rent a car, but then have to deal with the hassle of driving myself, not being able to drink, and then having to re-fuel a single gallon before returning it, and shuttling back to the airport.  So the taxi drops me off at a Sam's Club and a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, and I'm thinking "wtf," but then I turn around, and I'm at Trustmark Park, home of our Mississippi Braves.

I guess all the business and residential areas nearby threw me off; Trustmark practically shares its parking lot with the Bass Pro Shops.  But I had arrived a tad early, so I had about 15 minutes to just walk around the outside of the park, and take in some of the sights of all the posters, and the reminders that the M-Braves were the reigning 2008 Southern League champions.

The M-Braves' scoreboard.  Notice the dark, ominous clouds in the skies, compared to the clear blue ones from just a moment ago.  This was the tempo of the weather on this day.  There was apparently rain in Pearl, about 20 minutes to my landing, and the skies kept indicating that there was more on the way.  I knew for a fact that there was nothing to be worried about - because I came prepared.  I had my goofy and tacky Myrtle Beach Pelicans rain poncho, in the event that there was any rain.  And in Dale Murphy's Law fashion, since I took the trouble to prepare, it would have to be a wasted effort; but I didn't mind, because I got to watch my full baseball game.  Unfortunately for me, Dale got the last laugh, because although the rain didn't hit Pearl, it sure hit Atlanta, and my flight back was delayed horribly.

Walking around the mostly-empty park, I couldn't help but notice the recessed area for the top-notch home plate seats.  I sat in one for a minute or two to get a perspective of the game from there, and I must say that I kind of liked it.  Anywhere in those first three rows of stadium-like seating gives a low and "level" perspective of pitcher to batter.

lol Francoeur on the dugout graphic.  I think it's about time for both Myrtle Beach and Mississippi to ditch their dated crush on Jeffy, and move on to someone else, perhaps?  This is the view of where my ticketed seat was for this game, and I realized that if I had to look over this the entire game, I'd probably go nuts.  So, as is the norm when I'm one of these baseball trips to a new place, I hardly sat anyway, and walked around a whole lot.

I should've gotten a ticket for the section over, where this could've been my view the entire game, and it would've been slightly cheaper.  Out of all the Braves MiLB parks, none give such an inclusive view to the dugout as Mississippi does.  So let this be a word of advice to anyone thinking about going to Mississippi - don't sit front row behind the dugout, because the wall is kind of high, and the view is hampered subsequently.  Prefer the shallow outfield depth, where you could watch the players in the dugout, better chance for foul balls, and in general just have a better view of the field.

Ryne Reynoso signing cards for a young fan.  Props go to Reynoso for being the first one out of the dugout, and signing absolutely everything that was put in front of him. 

Ernesto Mejia is a huge MFer.  I knew he was big when I saw him at Myrtle Beach and Potomac, but when he came out of the dugout, and was pretty close to me, I felt like I was looking up at Dikembe Mutombo or something.

The infamous Phillip Wellman, signing stuff for fans.  Like anyone who follows baseball, I can't ever think about Wellman without in the back of my head, remembering the famous tirade that became nationally exposed.  And my friend joked to me, that he hoped that he would do something similar when I was there.

As anyone who thinks they know a good one when they see one, I, like many people, wished to get an autograph from Jason Heyward, while he was still in the minors, before he made it to the bigs, and became ultimately unattainable.  I missed my chance when I went to Myrtle Beach, because he was shelved with injury, and was about to be promoted to Mississippi anyway.  Although I'm glad that I got to see the myth in person, I was forewarned by a few TCers, as well as some Mississippi regulars, that Heyward didn't really sign anything before any games.  After the game, is a different story, where he'll supposedly sign anything and everything, but that's after the game, the shower, the dressing/packing, and on his way out of the park.  This post-game time was not a luxury that I had, so I hung out near the dugout to just see if I would get lucky or something.

Well, as the pictures show, the information is true, and Heyward doesn't really do any signings.  In fact, he doesn't really acknowledge anyone either, despite how many people are calling for him, or just want to take a picture.  He eventually relented, and signed for the Little League team of the week or whatever, but he didn't sign for anyone else.  Freddie Freeman, who is on the bench, and mostly obscured in the second picture, was actually worse, didn't get off the bench, or hardly even look up at anyone.  A few people around me were getting irritated by the snubs, but at least they had the option to stick around if they were so determined.  I suppose with the hype that the two of them are getting, it might be a little overwhelming, and there is a double-standard that I can understand; if you sign for one, you have to sign for all, lest you look like a jerk.  And being who they are, there's bound to be a lot of "all" to have to sign for.

Now I don't know if these are just disgruntled fans, but this is actually the third time, in each home park, I've heard the local people speak negatively about Heyward and Freeman.  Basically, the same things I've heard in Rome and Myrtle Beach - they're great players, who are no doubt future major leaguers, but they've got some attitude problems.  The hype must be getting to their heads, and facts are facts - they might be piling up awesome numbers, but the teams aren't necessarily winning.  Rome had an atrocious season last year with them on the squad, and Myrtle Beach wasn't exactly tearing things up this season.  And the mid-season promotion to Mississippi hasn't exactly thrust the M-Braves out of the sub .500 ball they've been playing.  Personally, I'm not going to pass judgment on either just yet, because I know I'll be rooting for them and looking forward to their eventual path to the majors, but keep in mind it's not all roses and daisies with the fans, fickle as they may or may not be.

Kids will be kids, I guess.  Not that I'd hope everyone would be as quiet and respectful during the National Anthem like Mark Teixeira, but quite a few of these guys were chatting, and goofing off at this time.  But then again, I'm the one taking a picture with my free hand while the Anthem is going too.

Jose Ortegano took the hill for the M-Braves.  He had a good solid outing, pitching six, allowing only four hits, and one run, while striking out six.  He looked good, and had good poise, and didn't let the hits bother him, either.  The one run was mostly defense-related, too, it should be noted.

Despite the fact that he's deactivated due to the heel problem, Jason Heyward still has to do some first-base coach duties from time to time.

After two innings, I got tired of the Jeff Francoeur graphic, and started walking around.  It was turning out to be a really nice day, and I didn't want to be in the shade any longer.  I went into the right field seating area, and tried my luck for a foul ball or something - they weren't selling Official Southern League baseballs in the gift shop or anything, so might as well try to hoist my own.

Reason #7712 why it's the Minor Leagues for a reason - Concepcion Rodriguez strikes out swinging, but the pitch is wild.  So instead of breaking for first base which he would have easily taken, he's standing there pitying himself for striking out, and when he realizes that he should be running, is easily forced out at first, and is left pitying himself even more for his bonehead play.  In the end, it didn't matter, but this is usually the kind of stuff that in the majors, Dale Murphy's Law would dictate that the next guy would homer, and your team would lose by a run or something.

Aaannnnd, in the bottom of the third, it happened.  Matt Young slid home, and from a perspective that even Ray Charles could see, was safe by a mile.  Unfortunately, the home plate umpire begged to differ, and called Young out at the plate, prompting Phillip Wellman to explode out of the dugout like George Brett, and get right up in his face.  It took all of two seconds once Wellman arrived for the ump to eject him, but in the Wellman fashion, he didn't leave without quite a few words, and the tossing of his helmet.  No resin bag grenades, but it was still amusing to see a real-live Wellman tirade.

And speaking of Matt Young, much was made here about his diminutive stature.  Here are some examples of his David Eckstein-like size.  But unlike Eckstein, Young has so much more promise.  On the day, he went 1-for-2, and walked three times.  On top of that, he also stole three bases, and it was his second SB that set a new Mississippi club record, with his 41st steal of the season.  Two pitches later, he stole #42.

Mississippi's Braves girls.  Uhm, I'm going to have to say that I'm a little disappointed here.  Gwinnett and Myrtle Beach don't have any official Braves girls, but I'm going to go and make the rankings:

1. Atlanta
2. Rome
3. Myrtle Beach
4. Gwinnett
5. Mississippi

Yes, I am a chauvinistic pig.  Oink oink, mama.  (bonus points to anyone who can name that reference.)

Brandon Hicks, collecting one of his three hits on the day.  Who knows what will be in his future; I don't think he's going to stay in Mississippi throughout next season, and there's a little bit of a logjam in Gwinnett, as well as Yunel Escobar blocking the position in the bigs.  But I liked watching him play, as he demonstrated some decent range, and arm as well.

Towards the end of the game, I went to the grass Berm section to go see the fellas in the bullpen.  Here's Craig Kimbrel, who I've now seen at three levels of MiLB this season alone, goofing off.  He was apparently pushing trash through the chain-link fence towards his teammates.  They were having some interesting conversations, and since Lee Hyde was also there, it went back to UFC, like it had done back in Potomac.  I was tempted to talk to them about how the Green Power Ranger was trying to get into MMA, but I was afraid that since they're all younger than me, I was afraid they wouldn't know who the Power Rangers were, and I'd totally show my age and feel dumb, so I refrained.  After the game, Kimbrel signed a ball for me, which made me feel like the entire fan-experience wasn't wasted, which I appreciated.

One last thing to mention, is the guy in front of Kimbrel was Brent Butts, who came in relief in the sixth inning, and finished out the game.  That's right, he pitched himself an 3.0IP old-school save, despite the fact that the M-Braves won the game 6-1.

And that was my trip to Mississippi.  Despite the flight delays, I still made it home in time to see the second half of the Braves/Phillies game, and in the evening my DSL started working again, which brings us to now.  At least I got to see a Braves team win on Sunday, so it wasn't a total wash.