(#22) It was spring of 1979 and the Magnolia Academy Raiders were leading arch-rival Brandon Academy Rebels 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning on the road in Brandon. Magnolia ace right-hander Ricky Chisolm was on the mound. He was on cruise control, dominating the Rebels, pitching a 2-hit shutout, with no walks and … Continue reading Chisolm
Author: Diary of a Mad Baseball Coach (Rick Clarke)
My name is Rick Clarke. I'm an old, retired baseball coach with a lot of stories to tell.
This will be a fun blog. A little bit of this...a little bit of that. Great Mississippi baseball stories, especially about the players and teams at Magnolia Academy and Hinds Community (& Junior) College. And some funny stuff and lots of savvy observations.
Double No-No’s
(#20) (Most recent fine-tuning, October, 2024) In a 1994 doubleheader at Wesson (MS), Copiah-Lincoln‘s hard throwing right-hander Chris Weekly pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Eagles in game 1. In game 2, Hinds‘ hard throwing right-hander David Townsend returned the favor and pitched a complete game no-hitter of his own against the Wolfpack. That’s something you don’t see every day. … Continue reading Double No-No’s
Rags and the Map
(#21) (Most recent fine-tuning, October, 2024) We were playing Delgado Community College (NOLA) in the championship game of the 1989 Region 23 Tournament in Meridian. We were undefeated, so the Dolphins would have to beat us twice to advance to the Eastern District Tournament the following week. The winner of that four team, double elimination tournament would advance to the JUCO World Series in Grand … Continue reading Rags and the Map
Season of a Lifetime
(#19) During the 1989 season at Hinds, a converted side-winding closer named Mark Anders from Ouachita Christian High School in Monroe, Louisiana, pitched in 35 of our 54 games, won eleven games (11 wins and 2 losses), saved a HCC record nine games (a record broken by my son Josh twenty years later), had an earned run average of 1.75, … Continue reading Season of a Lifetime
The Great Do-Over
(#18) (Most recent fine-tuning, October, 2024) Hinds was hosting South Division rival Pearl River in the first game of a double header during the 1994 season. In the bottom of the second with the bases loaded, our leadoff hitter Andre Thompson hit a line drive down the right field line which landed about a foot foul; clearly foul, to everybody in the … Continue reading The Great Do-Over
Who’s on First?
(#17) When my son Jake was a kid, he came up with a funny spin on the famous Abbott and Costello routine, Who's on First? His cousin, Tyler Weir (pronounced "Where") was a senior catcher for Jackson Academy during the 2007 season. One of the Raider's top pitchers was a hard throwing right-hander named Brent … Continue reading Who’s on First?
Bo and Sam
(#16) We were in the Superdome in New Orleans years ago, watching an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. My friends, George McQuitter and Richard Kelly, were having a friendly argument about whether or not Bo Jackson could hit the video screen on the wall in the third deck … Continue reading Bo and Sam
Carrying the Torch
(#15) In our opening game in the 1994 NJCAA Division II World Series at USA Stadium in Millington, Tennessee, Hinds catcher Curtis Jones from Brandon High School, hit a home run to right center field that landed in the Olympic Torch behind the outfield wall. What are the odds of doing that? Olympic Torch in … Continue reading Carrying the Torch
The Longest Home Run
(#14) Hinds was playing national powerhouse Middle Georgia in the Delgado Community College Invitational Tournament in February of 1999 at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium, an old city park with a pulse in New Orleans. This was before the field was named in honor of long-time coaching legend Louis "Rags" Scheuermann. It is now "Rags" Scheuermann Field at … Continue reading The Longest Home Run
Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!
(#13) It was the comeback that made the yodeling stop! During the Spring Break of 2006, about a month before I would be suspended and stripped of my coaching duties, an ambush by the Pearl High School athletic director, principal and board, officially for insubordination, but really because I was the new guy who got … Continue reading Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!
Rick Clarke's Diary of a Mad Baseball Coach 