Remember the Mississippi Braves : How a Minor League Team Helped Fuel Atlanta’s Baseball Resurgence

The Atlanta Braves hosted an affiliated minor league baseball team, the Mississippi Braves, in central Mississippi for almost two decades. However, in 2024 the Braves announced that they would be moving their Southern League team out of Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi to Columbus, Georgia, where the team rebranded as the Columbus Clingstones. Though the Mississippi Braves’ time is done in Pearl, their impact is still felt. Remember the Mississippi Braves: How a Minor League Team Helped Fuel Atlanta’s Baseball Resurgence chronicles the team’s history at Trustmark Park.

Packed with insight from more than three dozen former M-Braves players, managers, coaches, and staff—many of whom are still making their mark with the Atlanta Braves—the volume weaves together personal interviews, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and vivid recollections of life in Double-A baseball. It situates the team within the longer history of minor league play in Mississippi, tracing the business decisions, civic partnerships, and baseball personalities that laid the groundwork for the Braves’ arrival at Trustmark Park. In doing so, it reveals the deep emotional and cultural connections that developed between local fans and the Atlanta organization, connections that shaped baseball fandom throughout the Southeast.

Richly illustrated with exclusive photos, the volume highlights standout players who passed through Mississippi on their way to national prominence—including fan favorites Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, and Charlie Morton; All-Stars Austin Riley, Dansby Swanson, and Spencer Strider; and rising talents Michael Harris II, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Drake Baldwin. Alongside these on-field stories are tributes to the staff members whose dedication made M-Braves baseball a cherished part of Mississippi’s sporting identity. Celebratory, meticulously researched, and emotionally resonant, Remember the Mississippi Braves preserves a vital chapter of Southern baseball history for fans, scholars, and future generations.