Royal Flashback

When Adam Frazier and Hunter Renfroe reflect upon their college days at Mississippi State University, they think about Southeastern Conference rivalries, friendships forged during bus trips and dorm room videogame competitions, and the ever-present haze of meat on the grill being tended by tailgating fans in the Left Field Lounge at Dudy Noble Field. 

For a memorable spring in 2013, Frazier and Renfroe got a bonus whiff of success, when the aroma of burgers, sausages and ribs in Starkville, Miss., gave way to welcome-to-Omaha luncheons over steaks at the College World Series. The Bulldogs advanced to the finals before losing to UCLA. But the pleasant memories far outweigh any negative fallout from the experience. 

More than a decade later, Frazier, Renfroe and former MSU teammate Chris Stratton have reunited on a Kansas City Royals team that’s a surprising second in the American League Central. As the 2024 College World Series begins today in Omaha, they’re feeling a tad nostalgic.

“We all grew up together,’’ Frazier said. “You're 18 years old at that time and you spend three or four years of your life growing up and becoming adults. We created a lot of memories and did a lot of winning together.’’

After slow starts, they’ve all had their moments. Renfroe has six homers and 26 RBI and recently strung together a nine-game hitting streak before going on the injured list with a bone bruise in his left foot. Frazier hit a ninth inning homer to beat the Angels 2-1 on May 10 and made a spectacular catch and double-play throw from right field against Detroit two weeks later. And Stratton has struck out 27 batters in 29 innings out of the Kansas City bullpen.

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The three teammates have helped perpetuate a rich tradition at Mississippi State, which has sent 67 players to the majors through the years. Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro -- “Thunder and Lightning’’ -- were a compelling enough tandem to warrant an “SEC Storied’’ documentary on ESPN, and Jeff Brantley, Bobby Thigpen, Jonathan Papelbon, Mitch Moreland and Brandon Woodruff are among the erstwhile Bulldogs who appeared on All-Star rosters.

Add Nathaniel Lowe, Brent Rooker, Graham Ashcraft, Jordan Westburg, Dakota Hudson, J.P. France and Justin Foscue to the mix, and 10 former Mississippi State players have appeared in the majors this season. That doesn’t even include Woodruff and Kendall Graveman, both of whom are rehabbing from shoulder surgery.

“I grew up going to Mississippi State games, especially football games with my family,’’ said Stratton, who was born and raised 70 miles from Starkville in Elvis Presley’s hometown of Tupelo, Miss. “My mom went there, and my brother was already there. I probably would have gone to school there even if baseball hadn’t been a thing.

“I knew all about the history. I was fortunate enough to play with the Giants when I started my career. Will Clark was around a lot, so I got to speak with him a ton, and we reminisced about the times when we played at State.’’

According to a 2014 New York Times story, the town of Starkville received the moniker “Stark Vegas’’ in the late 1980s. “The term began regionally as a casual insult to describe a town perceived as a backwater. The joke was that Starkville, home of cowbell-clanging fans, was not exactly Las Vegas,’’ wrote the Times. Then Adidas arrived and facilitated a rebranding in 2009, and the outside world gradually became more appreciative of Starkville’s charms. The “Visit Starkville’’ Website lauds the town for its “unique blend of history, college sports, culture, natural beauty, and community spirit.’’

Renfroe’s introduction to Mississippi State came as a freshman in the baseball dorm, where all the incoming players quickly bonded amid an atmosphere of neighborliness.

“I don’t know about the ‘Vegas’ part,’’ Renfroe said. “Starkville is in the middle of nowhere. It was just a small town with a bunch of country boys, and that basically made it home. Everybody left their doors open and went from room to room to talk and hang out, and we would go to the lake together and that kind of thing.’’

After Stratton signed with the Giants as the 20th pick in the 2012 draft, Frazier and Renfroe helped the Bulldogs make some magic in the spring of 2013. Frazier, MSU’s shortstop, batted .352 as a junior and set a single-season school record with 107 hits. Renfroe, who began his career in Starkville as a catcher before shifting to the outfield, hit .345 with 16 home runs as a junior and was a consensus first-team All-American.

Mississippi State posted a 51-20 record and sailed through the Starkville Regional and Charlottesville Super Regional before losing 3-1 and 8-0 to UCLA in the best two-of-three CWS finals.

“I knew we were going to be good the next year, so it was pretty hard to leave school,’’ Stratton said. “It was a tough one to swallow, sitting in low-A ball and rooting for the guys and wishing we could have gotten over that hump.’’

Time moved on for them all. Renfroe signed with San Diego as the 13th pick in the 2013 draft and has gone on to hit 183 homers for seven clubs. Frazier, selected by Pittsburgh in the sixth round of the same draft, was a National League All-Star at second base in 2019 and has made stops in San Diego, Seattle, Baltimore and now Kansas City in a whirlwind second act to his career.

Amid all that moving, adjusting and adapting, Starkville remains the unifying force in their lives. Frazier, Renfroe and Stratton are part of an ongoing text chain of about 20 former Mississippi State teammates. In 2021, they celebrated in unison as the Bulldogs returned to Omaha and won the school’s first and only College World Series. This year, they commiserated as a group when MSU was eliminated by Virginia in the NCAA Regionals.

Renfroe and most of his fellow “country boys’’ have gone their separate ways. But they’re linked by a lifelong devotion to the maroon and white, and the memories they created in one of college baseball’s most idyllic and iconic settings.

“To be able to go to that school and be part of the history of the school is incredible to me,’’ Renfroe said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.’’