McMichael to speak at M-Braves

The Mississippi Braves announce that former Atlanta Brave Greg McMichael will be the special guest speaker at the Trustmark Bank All-Star Awards Luncheon at the Crystal Springs Ford Lincoln Mercury Café on Monday, July 9th.

Good tickets are still available for the luncheon, which is open to the public. Tickets for the event are $35 for fans and $25 for M-Braves season ticket holders.

McMichael was born in Knoxville, TN and attended the University of Tennessee before his professional career began with the Burlington Bees of the Midwest League in 1988. After getting drafted by the Indians in '88, he spent three year's in Cleveland's organization. The Braves signed McMichael as a free agent prior to the 1991 season and in 1992 he was a member of the Greenville Braves team that won 100 games. He went 4-2 with an ERA of 1.36 while with the G-Braves.

McMichael broke into the big leagues in 1993 and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Mike Piazza. McMichael got more votes than Jeff Conine and Pedro Martinez, to name a few. The next highest vote-getting pitcher was Kirk Rueter who was tied for seventh.

McMichael starred for the Braves through his first three years in the majors and went 7-2 with an ERA of 2.79 through 67 games in Atlanta's World Series Championship season in 1995.

In all he spent eight full seasons in the majors going 31-29 with an ERA of 4.22 in over 450 career major league games. He starred for the Braves from '93-'96 before moving on to play for the Mets, Dodgers, and Athletics from '97-'99. McMichael returned to Atlanta in 2000 and appeared in 15 games that year.