a place in history

Bill Selby could go deep. He smacked 14 home runs in his one season at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he is now the hitting coach. He belted a school-record 23 one year at Southern Miss. In the minor leagues, he hit 189 bombs. He went deep five times in his one season in Japan. And in his journeyman MLB career of 198 games, he clubbed 11 more. One of those homers is a significant footnote in baseball history. On July 14, 2002, Selby, playing for the Cleveland Indians, hit a walk-off grand slam against Mariano Rivera, the great New York Yankees closer. Drumroll, please: It was the first walk-off homer allowed by Rivera and one of only five hit to date against the future Hall of Famer, who debuted in 1995. Selby’s feat is noted in an excellent piece on Rivera (“Exit Sandman”) in the current (Sept. 23) issue of Sports Illustrated. P.S. Ole Miss alum Seth Smith celebrated Oakland’s American League West clincher on Sunday. Smith didn’t play Sunday or Saturday. He is 6-for-18 in his last 10 appearances but those have been sporadic. He’s at .248 for the year. … Former Itawamba CC star Desmond Jennings left Tampa Bay’s big 3-1 win over Baltimore with what was reported as a tight hamstring. He was initially listed as day-to-day. The AL wild card-leading Rays need Jennings in the lineup. … Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton, batting leadoff for Cincinnati, went 3-for-6 with two steals and two runs in an 11-3 win over Pittsburgh. The two teams are 2 back of St. Louis in the National League Central/wild card battle. … Ex-UM standout Chris Coghlan, auditioning to be Miami’s third baseman in 2014, made two errors in the second game of a doubleheader against Washington. The second boot came in the bottom of the ninth and allowed the game-winning run to score.