Mississippi Braves Tickets : The Braves Opened Their Inaugural Season In Trustmark Park With A Loss

The Mississippi Braves, or M-Braves as they are referred to locally, are a minor league baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson. The team is the Class AA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, and plays in the Southern League. The team is owned and operated by Liberty Media, which also owns the Atlanta Braves. Liberty purchased the Braves from Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting unit in 2007.

For 21 years, from 1984 to 2004, the Mississippi Braves were based in Greenville, South Carolina, and known as the Greenville Braves. Due to the condition of Greenville Municipal Stadium, and the failure to reach an agreement with the Greenville County council for a new ballpark, the team pursued relocation.

Before the 2004 season, the Braves announced their intentions to relocate to Pearl, Mississippi, after the season's conclusion.The Mississippi Braves first season began on April 18, 2005. The Braves opened their inaugural season in Trustmark Park with a loss against the Montgomery Biscuits.

The Mississippi Braves received some notoriety on June 1, 2007, when the team manager, Phillip Wellman, went on a tirade against the umpires during that night's game against the Chattanooga Lookouts at AT&T Field. He protested a series of unpopular calls by covering home plate with dirt.

Wellman then traced a significantly larger home plate around the actual home plate. He continued his tantrum by uprooting bases and throwing them, low-crawling across the infield like a soldier and hurling the rosin bag at an umpire as if it were a grenade.

Wellman concluded his tirade by making a hand gesture that hinted at throwing the third-base umpire out of the game, then blowing a farewell kiss to the crowd while taking a bow. Wellman received a three-game suspension as a result. The episode was broadcast on many sports syndications across the United States and Canada.

On September 13, 2008, the Mississippi Braves beat the Carolina Mudcats 3-2 in the 10th inning of the decisive Game 5 of the Southern League Championship Series. This was the Braves first championship since relocating to Mississippi and was the first Southern League title for Atlanta's Double-A franchise since 1997.

Making up Tuesday night's rained out series opener, the Mississippi Braves and Chattanooga Lookouts split a doubleheader on Wednesday at AT&T Field. The Braves (10-17) won game one 3-1, while the Lookouts (14-13) took the second 7-6 in ten innings.

Game one was a pitcher's duel. Scoreless going into the seventh and final frame, Tyler Pastornicky hit a three-run home run to put the Braves ahead 3-0, his first home run of the season. Randall Delgado (2-1) went the distance in the victory, giving up just two hits and an inconsequential seventh inning run.

In game two, Mississippi battled back from a 5-0 deficit in the sixth to tie the game, scoring all five runs with two outs. Chattanooga would retake the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but with two outs in the seventh, Tyler Pastornicky hit his second home run of the day and season to tie the game at 6. Alfredo Silverio would come through in the tenth though to plate Scott Van Slyke for a walk-off single, 7-6.

Rowdy Hardy took the game two loss, falling to 1-3 in 2011, despite a solid two-inning, two-hit performance. The winning run was unearned.Pastornicky finished the afternoon 4-9 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored.Game three of five will take place on Thursday at 6:15 PM CST. The Braves send Paul Clemens (1-0, 2.36) to the hill against Lookouts lefthander Michael Antonini (2-3, 3.03).