First Pitch Tickets On Sale At MSU; Season Ticket Sales Nearing 5,000 Mark
Former Mississippi State All-American and Major League Baseball manager Nat Buck Showalter, who in 1977 set the school single-season record with a .459 batting average, is the featured speaker. Showalter, a fifth-round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 1977, spent seven seasons as a first baseman/outfielder in the Yankees' minor league system from 1977 to 1983 before beginning his coaching career in professional baseball in 1984. He skippered three different major league clubs, the New York Yankees (1992 to 1995), the Arizona Diamondbacks (1998 to 2000) and the Texas Rangers (2003 to 2005) and was twice honored as the American League Manager of the Year.
Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served in the Griffis Boardroom on the south end of the Palmeiro Center beginning at 6:30 p.m. The 2007 Baseball Bulldogs will be on hand for an autograph session in the Palmeiro Center prior to the 7 p.m. start of the "First Pitch" program, which also includes a formal introduction of the 2007 Baseball Bulldogs.
Tickets for The First Pitch are $25 per person and available through the MSU Athletic Ticket Office (662-325-2600) in the Bryan Athletic Administration Building. Mississippi State opens its 2007 campaign Friday, Feb. 23 at 4 p.m., entertaining Murray State University at Dudy Noble Field.
Baseball season ticket sales continue at a brisk pace at State, with the MSU Ticket Office having processed orders for 4,531 season tickets through Feb. 12. MSU has eclipsed the 5,00 mark in baseball season ticket sales the past five seasons.