January 23, 2010
- Purchase "First Pitch/Meet the Team" tickets online now!
STARKVILLE, Miss. - A trio of former Mississippi State University baseball players that currently serve as professional baseball scouts will share the podium as guest speakers at the 13th annual "First Pitch/Meet the Team" baseball celebration Thursday, February 18 on the MSU campus.
Boston Red Sox scouts Dave Klipstein (MSU, 1979-82) and Jim Robinson (MSU, 1989-90) and Florida Marlins scout Joel Matthews (MSU, 1989-93) will serve as guest speakers and share the podium with head baseball coach John Cohen and master of ceremonies Jim Ellis for this year's baseball celebration.
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| Klipstein |
Tickets for the baseball celebration are $32 each and are available through the MSU Athletic Ticket Office (662-325-2600) in the Bryan Athletic Administration Building. "First Pitch" tickets can also be purchased online at the official MSU Athletics Department web site, www.MStateAthletics.com.
This year's "First Pitch" event will be held in the spacious Palmeiro Center adjacent to Dudy Noble Field. The baseball celebration begins at 6 p.m. with a buffet-style dinner in the Bryce Griffis Boardroom followed at 6:30 p.m. by the program and the formal introduction of the 2010 Mississippi State University baseball team. Following the program, Bulldog players will be available for autographs and fans will have an opportunity to tour the renovated baseball locker room and team area at Dudy Noble Field.
Klipstein, a member of MSU's 1979 and 1981 NCAA College World Series editions, currently serves in the professional scouting department of the Boston Red Sox. A native of Milwaukee, Wisc., Klipstein lettered at State from 1979-82. He played professional baseball after being drafted by his hometown team, the Milwaukee Brewers, and later began his career as a MLB scout with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Texas Rangers before joining the Red Sox organization in 2003. He currently makes his home in Keller, Texas.
Matthews and Robinson were teammates of MSU skipper John Cohen during their collegiate careers at Mississippi State.
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| Robinson |
Robinson played baseball at State from 1988-90 and has been a scout for the Boston Red Sox since 1999. The Chicago, Ill., native caught for MSU's 1989 SEC championship edition that won a school-record 54 games and for the State team that advanced to the 1990 NCAA College World Series. Following his junior campaign Robinson was drafted and signed by his hometown team, the Chicago Cubs, played professional baseball for four years and began his career as a scout in 1996.
Matthews, a native of Charlotte, N.C., played alongside Robinson and Cohen at MSU, redshirting his freshman year in 1989 and serving as a member of MSU's infielding corps as a second baseman from 1990-93. Following graduation at Mississippi State, he served briefly as an assistant baseball coach at North Carolina-Charlotte and then worked in the banking industry in North Carolina. He returned to baseball in 2000 as a professional scout with the Montreal Expos and since 2001 has served as a scout in the mid-Atlantic region with the Florida Marlins. He currently resides in Concord, N.C.
This year's program lineup joins an impressive array of featured speakers for MSU's "First pitch" event. That group includes former MSU baseball standouts Jeff Brantley, Will Clark, head coach John Cohen, Dave "Boo" Ferriss, Alex Grammas, Burke Masters, Jonathan Papelbon, Jay Powell, Nat Showalter, Bobby Thigpen and Dan Van Cleve, best-selling author and MSU alumnus John Grisham and former Los Angeles Dodgers manager and Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda.
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| Matthews |
The Bulldogs launch their 120th season of baseball Feb. 19 at Dudy Noble Field, entertaining first-time opponent Rhode Island in a three-game weekend series. Mississippi State opens its 33-game home schedule with a 13-game homestand that also includes a three-game series against Southeastern Louisiana (Feb. 26-28) and the three-day, six-game BankFirst Baseball Challenge (Mar. 5-7). The Bulldogs meet Big Ten foe Michigan State and Southeast Missouri State of the Ohio Valley Conference, coached by former Bulldog assistant Mark Hogan, in the double round-robin event, included in State's attractive 2010 baseball season ticket package available online and through the MSU Athletic Ticket Office.
Mississippi State is scheduled to begin its formal preseason team practice January 29.
Courtesy: mstateathletics.com
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