Mississippi Today

Few baseball fans recall Hughie Critz, but his grandchildren surely do

Published

2 months ago

August 23, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Rick Cleveland – 2024-08-23 06:00:00

Few baseball fans recall Hughie Critz, but his grandchildren surely do

Old photographs of Hugh “Hughie” Melville Critz, during his professional baseball playing days as a New York Giants second baseman. The image is part of a mni-museum dedicated to Critz by one of his granddaughters in Greenwood, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Critz also played Major League baseball for the New York Giants in the 1930s. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

The Baseball Encyclopedia tells us Hugh Melville “Hughie” Critz was born in Starkville in 1900 and died in Greenwood in 1980 at the age of 79.

It tells us Critz was a wee man, standing just 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing but 147 pounds, that he played second base and batted .268 over a 12-year career with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants.

Baseball’s “bible” also tells us Critz hit .322 for the Reds as a rookie in 1924, that he finished second in the National League’s Most Valuable Player voting in 1926, and that he helped the Giants win the National League pennant and then the World Series in five games over the Washington Senators in 1933.

Clearly, Hughie Critz excelled as a baseball player and was one of the finest Major Leaguers Mississippi has ever produced. He was a dependable hitter during baseball’s “dead ball” era, but he was better known as perhaps the best fielding second baseman in all of baseball. He also was known as a clever and speedy baserunner and was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

Baseball memorabilia honoring the Major League career of Hughie Critz at the home of his granddaughter Jenny Payne Gardner in Greenwood, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Critz played for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

But there’s so much about Critz that baseball’s bible does not tell us, so much that any Mississippi baseball fan — or any lover of Mississippi history, period — should know. And for all that you would need to visit the Greenwood home of Jenny Payne Gardner, one of Critz’s four grandchildren who houses the unofficial Hugh Melville Critz baseball museum in her den.

The place is full of treasures, including a pair Hughie’s size 7 baseball cleats, which seem freshly shined but still have the residue of infield dirt on and about the steel spikes.

Says Jenny Gardner, “I wasn’t about to clean that dirt off. Would you?”

Certainly not.

An old newspaper clipping showcasing Cincinnati ball players and baseball cleats worn by Hughie Critz, pictured upper right in clipping. The memorabilia is part of a family member’s museum collection in his honor, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 in Greenwood. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

The unofficial Hughie Critz museum also houses trophies, plaques, scrapbooks, photos, most of his Major League contracts, autographed baseballs, news clippings. Peruse the scrapbooks and you learn so much about the man no lesser an authority than Baseball Hall of Fame charter member Honus Wagner, a shortstop himself, called “the greatest infielder I have ever seen.”

Wagner was speaking after watching Critz help the Giants defeat the Washington Senators four games to one in the 1933 World Series. That World Series featured two Mississippi State graduates playing second base: Critz for the Giants and Buddy Myer of Ellisville for the Senators. And that World Series ended appropriately with Critz turning a double play for the final outs.

We can learn so much from those scrapbooks such as how Critz, who hit only 38 Major League home runs, once hit two in one game to beat the great Dizzy Dean and the St. Louis Cardinals’ famed Gashouse Gang. There’s plenty more:

About how Critz never planned to play baseball for anything other than fun and didn’t play on the Mississippi State team until his junior year of college. His father, Hugh “The Colonel” Critz, had captained one of State’s earliest baseball teams and years later would be the college’s president. The father suggested the son go out for baseball. The son did. Hughie not only made Coach Dudy Noble’s team, he was elected team captain, just as his father had.
About how, in 1927, Critz was a late holdout, an All-Star second baseman asking for a three-year contract worth $50,000. The Cincinnati Redlegs were offering a one-year contract for $10,000. (Compare that to today when Houston Astros second baseman Marcus Semien makes $25 million per season.)
About how Cincinnati baseball fans strongly protested Hughie’s 1930 trade to the New York Giants, so much so that a Cincinnati newspaper columnist penned a letter to Hughie headlined “A Farewell to Critz” in which he wrote: “You’ve shown Red fans and the fans of the National League the best baseball they’ve ever seen at second base. You’ve been a bright spot in many a dark game and in several dark seasons…”
About how the legendary Giants manager John McGraw believed Critz was the last piece of a World Series puzzle for his club, which proved prescient when the Giants won it all in 1933.
About how in spring of 1934, the Giants paid tribute to Critz by playing a spring training game in Greenwood against the Cleveland Indians. A sellout crowd of 6,500 cheered Critz and his world champion teammates. Greenwood stores closed for the afternoon and schools let out for Hughie Critz Day. The Giants won 5-1.

Jenny Payne Gardner with memorabilia collected over the years of her grandfather, Hughie Critz, who played Major League baseball in the 20s and 30s, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Gardner has created a mini-museum dedicated to Critz in her Greenwood home. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

There’s so much more to the Hughie Critz story. After his graduation from State in 1920, Critz had no plans to continue in baseball. His chosen profession was in the cotton business and he moved to Greenwood to become a cotton broker, just in time for a farm depression that sent cotton prices plummeting.

He was playing a little semi-pro baseball on the side, and when his Greenwood team joined the Class D Mississippi State League, he quit the cotton business and excelled as a hard-hitting third baseman. Modern baseball fans might be shocked to learn that the Greenwood team’s owner sold Critz to the Memphis Chicks for a sum of $2,000. Critz agreed to the sale on the condition that he receive half of the sales price. Funny thing: Critz had to lend the owner his share of $1,000 back so the franchise could survive. Critz eventually got his money and the Chicks got one of the greatest players in franchise history.

Critz excelled as a shortstop for the Chicks and moved to Class AA Minneapolis in 1923. He made his Major League debut as a second baseman with the then-Cincinnati Redlegs 100 years ago, getting two hits in the first Major League game he ever saw. Furthermore, those two hits were against Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, winner of an incredible 378 Major League games.

Funny thing: Hughie Critz never talked much about baseball with his four grandchildren: Jenny Payne Gardner, Julie Pillow Crosthwait of Brandon, Durden Pillow Moss of Jackson and Robert Leslie “Bob” Pillow of Ridgeland. They knew him as as a doting grandfather, who had long since retired as a baseball player and who owned a car dealership in Greenwood and a nearby cotton plantation. His grandchildren didn’t call him Grandpa or Gramps or Papa. No, they simply called him Hughie.

Mississippi native Hughie Critz played Major League Baseball in the 1920s and 1930s. Shown are lifetime passes in appreciation of his dedication and meritorious service. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

Bob Pillow remembers a lazy Saturday afternoon 60 years ago, sitting with Hughie, listening to Dizzy Dean and Peewee Reese on the “Game of the Week,” when out of the blue Ol’ Diz started talking about the great second baseman from Mississippi, Hughie Critz. Bob Pillow couldn’t believe his ears.

“Did you hear that, Hughie!” he excitedly asked his grandfather.

“Yes, I did,” Hughie said, and then went back to napping.

“He was such a kind and humble man,” Bob Pillow said. “He was a great storyteller and a prankster, too. He sure did love his grandchildren, I’ll tell you that.”

They loved him back. Still do. Says Durden Moss, “My fondest memory is probably just sitting in his lap and him drawing me little pictures of animals and then letting me draw for him. For me it sparked a life-long love of art and becoming an artist myself.”

Says Julie Crosthwait, “It’s funny what you remember. I remember lying in bed with him and watching and listening to Lawrence Welk. He’d massage my feet and then I’d massage his. He was such a sweet, sweet man.”

Jenny Gardner, keeper of the unofficial Hughie Critz museum, tears up when talking about her grandfather who died 44 years ago.

“When I get to heaven, I want to see Hughie first,” she says. “I’ll get around to everyone else, mind you, but I want to see him first.”

Old photograph of Hugh “Hughie” Melville Critz, who stood all of 5’8″ and weighed around 150lbs, played Major League baseball for the New York Giants in the 1930s and Cincinnati Reds in the 1920s. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Senate panel weighs how much — or whether — to cut state taxes

Published

5 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Taylor Vance – 2024-11-04 15:42:00

A group of state senators on Monday grappled with how much to slash state taxes or if they should cut them at all, portending a major policy debate at the Capitol for next year’s legislative session.

The Senate Fiscal Policy Study Group solicited testimony from the state government‘s leading experts on budget, economic and tax policies to prepare for an almost certain intense debate in January over how much they should trim state taxes while balancing the need to fund government services.

Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood whose committee has jurisdiction over tax policy, told Mississippi Today that he wanted senators to have basic facts in front of them before they help decide next year if Mississippi should cut taxes.

“We’re getting a tax cut the next two years whether we do anything or not,” Harkins said. “I just want to make sure we have all the facts in front of people to understand we have a clear picture of how much revenue we’re bringing in.”

Mississippi is already phasing in a major tax cut. After a raucous debate in 2022, lawmakers agreed to phase in an income tax cut. In two years it will leave Mississippi with a flat 4% tax on income over $10,000, one of the lowest rates in the nation.

However, the top two legislative leaders, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann who oversees the Senate and House Speaker Jason White, have both recently said they want legislators to consider new tax cut policies.

Hosemann, the Republican leader of the Senate, has publicly said he would like to see the state’s grocery tax, the highest of its kind in the nation, reduced, though he hasn’t specified how much of a reduction or how long it would take for the cut to be implemented.

White, a Republican from West, said last week that he would like to see the state’s 4% income tax phased out and have the state’s 7% grocery tax cut in half over time.

“We are hoping to construct a tax system that, yes, prioritizes certain needs in our state, but it also protects and rewards taxpayers,” White said last week.

But it’s difficult to collect accurate data on the state’s grocery tax, and state lawmakers must grapple with a laundry list of spending needs and obligations based on testimony from state agency leaders on Monday.

Mississippi currently has a 7% sales tax, which is applied to groceries. The state collects the tax but remits 18.5% back to cities. For many municipalities, the sales tax is a significant source of revenue.

If state lawmakers want to reduce the grocery tax without impacting cities, they could pass a new law to change the diversion amounts or appropriate enough money to make the municipalities whole.

State Revenue Commissioner Chris Graham said the Mississippi Department of Revenue, the agency in charge of collecting state taxes, does not have a mechanism in place for accurately capturing how much money cities collect in grocery taxes. This is because the tax on groceries is the same as non-grocery items.

However, Graham estimates that the state collects roughly $540 million in taxes from grocery items.

The other problem lawmakers would have in implementing significant tax cuts is a growing list of spending needs in Mississippi, a state with abject poverty, water and sewer and other infrastructure woes and some of the worst health metrics in the nation.

Representatives from the Legislative Budget Office, the group that advises lawmakers on tax and spending policy, told senators that lawmakers will also be faced with rising costs in the public employee retirement system, the Medicaid budget, public education, state employee health insurance, and state infrastructure projects.

State agencies, including the employee retirement system, also requested $751 million more for the coming budget year.

“That’s the billion dollar question, I guess,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg, said. “How we’re able to fund basic government services?”

Harkins and Hopson said the committee would likely meet again before the Legislature convenes for its 2025 session on January 7.

A House committee on tax cuts has also been holding hearings, and White in September held a summit on tax policy.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Already dire lack of affordable housing for low-income Mississippians on verge of worsening

Published

9 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Simeon Gates – 2024-11-04 11:00:00

In Mississippi, where there’s already a dearth of 50,000 or more affordable homes for extremely low-income residents, that number could grow in the next five years.

Housing units available under the federal Low Income Tax Credit program could lose their affordability by 2030 –a number estimated nationwide to be 350,000 with 2,917 in Mississippi, alone; 496 in the state already have.

The federal program responsible for most of the nation’s affordable housing is expiring.

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit, introduced as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, provides for developers to buy, build and restore low-income housing units. Under the deal, the housing only needs to stay low-rent for 30 years. Construction began in the early 1990s.

Some LIHTC housing will remain affordable due to other subsidies, nonprofits, state law and individual landlords.

“I think the low-income housing tax credit has done everything that it can to address the need for affordable housing around the state,” said Scott Spivey, executive director of the Mississippi Housing Corporation, a state office that administers the program and works with the state government and those in the affordable housing industry to create and support affordable housing

Spivey supports the proposed Affordable Housing Credit and Improvement Act, a federal bill that would expand upon the low-income housing tax credit in several ways, including giving developers more credit for certain projects for low-income households and changing tenant eligibility rules.

The bill was introduced in the House and the Senate last session, and is co-sponsored by Mississippi Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker and in the House by Reps. Mike Ezell, and Michael Guest. As of this spring, both bills are in committee.

While housing has become a major issue for Americans, getting legislation passed has been challenging. “Everybody knows that housing is an issue, but it gets caught up with everything else…and it kind of gets lost in the shuffle,” said Spivey.

This issue is especially important in Mississippi, where demand for housing is high across all incomes.

“All the market studies that we see that come with the applications tell us that there’s a huge need for affordable housing across the state at all the income bands” said Spivey.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, almost a third of Mississippi renters are extremely low income; 65% of them are severely cost burdened, meaning they spent more than half their income on rent. The majority of these households are seniors, disabled people, single caregivers of young children, people enrolled in school, or other.

Director of Housing Law at the Mississippi Center for Justice, Ashley Richardson said housing problems worsened after Mississippi stopped participating in the federal rental assistance program in 2022.

MCJ’s work on housing includes a statewide eviction hotline, investigating instances of housing discrimination, and more.

Richardson praised the LIHTC program, but echoed Spivey’s concerns. “Even with the affordable housing we do have in Mississippi, we are still at a lack,” she said.

The National Housing Preservation Database estimates Mississippi is short 52,421 affordable and available rental homes for low-income people. The National Low Income Housing Coalition puts the figure at 49,478.

Richardson wants the state to deal with issues like providing more tenant protections and rental assistance. There’s also a need to improve homes that are rundown or in poor condition, and many housing nonprofits are running out of funding.

Spivey said people should talk to their property managers and learn about their rights. MHC’s website has resources for homebuyers and renters.

As the housing crisis goes on, there are options for people struggling to find and keep affordable housing and an effort to take action at the federal and state levels.

Some aspiring low-income homeowners may qualify for Habitat for Humanity, a program that builds homes for families in need. Families who qualify work on the homes alongside volunteers, pay an affordable mortgage and receive financial literacy education.

New applicants must meet the qualifications, including a good debt-income ratio, 125 hours of sweat equity and taking classes on financial literacy, home repairs, and being a good neighbor.

Merrill McKewen, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Capital Area, emphasized the importance of housing to individuals and communities.

“There are untold studies that have been done that, you’ve gotta have a safe, decent, affordable place to live. The children are better students, the parents are better employees…it grounds you to a community that you can contribute to and be a part of. It is the American dream, to own a home, which is what we’re all about,” she said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Mississippi Election 2024: What will be on Tuesday’s ballot?

Published

10 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-11-04 10:00:00

Mississippians will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5, to elect federal and state judicial posts and some local offices, such as for election commissioners and school board members.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. To find your polling place, use the secretary of state’s locator, or call your local county circuit clerk.

The following is a list of the candidates for federal and judicial posts with brief bios:

President

Kamala Harris, current vice president and Democratic nominee for president. Her running mate is Tim Walz.
Donald Trump, former president and current Republican nominee. His running mate is J.D. Vance.
Robert Kennedy Jr. remains on the ballot in Mississippi even though he has endorsed Trump. His running mate is Nicole Shanahan.
Jill Stein is the Green Party candidate. Her running mate is Rudolph Ware.
Five other candidates will be on the Mississippi ballot for president. For a complete list of presidential candidates, see the sample ballot.

U.S. Senate

Ty Pinkins is the Democratic nominee. He is a Rolling Fork native and attorney, representing, among other clients, those alleging unfair working conditions. He served 21 years in the U.S. Army, including combat stints, other overseas deployment and posts in the White House,
Roger Wicker is the Republican incumbent senator. He resides in Tupelo and has served in the U.S. Senate since late 2007 after first being appointed to fill a vacancy by then-Gov. Haley Barbour. He was elected to the post in 2008. He previously served in the U.S. House and as a state senator. He is an attorney and served in the United States Air Force.

House District 1

Dianne Black is the Democratic nominee. She is a small business owner in Olive Branch in DeSoto County.
Trent Kelly is the Republican incumbent. He was elected to the post in a special election in 2015. He previously served as a district attorney and before then as a prosecuting attorney for the city of Tupelo. He is a major general in the Mississippi Army National Guard.

House District 2

Bennie Thompson is the Democratic incumbent. He was first elected to the post in 1993. Before then, he served as a Hinds County supervisor and as alderman and then as mayor of Bolton.
Ronald Eller is the Republican nominee. He grew up in West Virginia and moved to central Mississippi after retiring from the military. He is a physician assistant and business owner.

House District 3

Michael Guest is the Republican incumbent and is unopposed.

House District 4

Mike Ezell is the Republican incumbent first being elected in 2022. He previously served as Jackson County sheriff.
Craig Raybon is the Democratic nominee. Raybon is from Gulfport and began a nonprofit “focused on helping out the community as a whole.”

Central District Supreme Court

Jenifer Branning currently serves as a member of the state Senate from Neshoba County.
Byron Carter is a Hinds County attorney and previously served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Armis Hawkins.
James Kitchens is the incumbent. He has served on the state’s highest court since 2008.
Ceola James previously served on the Court of Appeals.
Abby Gale Robinson is a Jackson attorney. She previously was a commercial builder.

Southern District Supreme Court

Dawn Beam is the incumbent, having been first appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. Phil Bryant and later winning election to the post. She is a former chancellor for the Hattiesburg area.
David Sullivan is an attorney in Harrison County and has been a municipal judge in D’Iberville since 2019. His father, Michael, previously served on the state Supreme Court.

Northern District Supreme Court seats

Robert Chamberlin of DeSoto County is unopposed.
James Maxwell of Lafayette County is unopposed.

Court of Appeals 5^th District seat

Ian Baker is an assistant district attorney in Harrison County.
Jennifer Schloegel is a Chancery Court judge for Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties.
Amy St. Pe is a Municipal Court judge in Gautier.