Kilgore's Jess Todd moved up to triple-A

JESS TODD Somewhere between San Antonio and Corpus Christi on Saturday evening, Jess Todd received an important phone call.

It wasn't the call to come up to Major League Baseball and join his home organization, the St. Louis Cardinals, but it was an important next step.

Todd has been moved up from the Cardinals' double-A affiliate in Springfield, Mo., to the franchise's triple-A team in Memphis, the Memphis Redbirds. He arrived in Memphis on Sunday, just in time, as mom Kim explained, to get out of a taxi and see the stadium filled, 17,500 strong, to see the Redbirds.

"He said he asked them if it was always like this, that many fans," Kim Todd explained, "and he was told that it was."

Triple-A Memphis, who had to place a pitcher on the injured list for the remainder of the season, is just one step away from the big leagues for Jess, a 2004 Kilgore High School graduate whose career has soared like a 757 since he transferred from Navarro College to the University of Arkansas.

Todd became the Razorbacks' main attraction last spring, even setting a record for strikeouts in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, and then was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round last June.

ONE STEP AT A TIME, BUT THE STEPS ARE FAST — Kilgore's own Jess Todd (inset, and left, as an Arkansas Razorback) was recently moved by the St. Louis Cardinals up from their double-A team in Springfield, Mo., to their triple-A team in Memphis, Tenn, just one step away from Major League Baseball. Todd, a righthanded pitcher and a 2004 Kilgore High School graduate, was drafted by the Cardinals last summer and has been on a whirlwind ever since, moving from Palm Beach, Fla., to Springfield earlier this year and now to Memphis. He is the son of Tom and Kim Todd of Kilgore. He began with the Cardinals' team in New York, and before long found himself at the single-A franchise in Palm Beach, Fla., where he's began this year.

Todd pitched there just 20 innings before he was bumped up to double-A Springfield, where he became a fan favorite. On a recent poll on the Springfield Cardinals' website asking fans to name their favorite player, Todd trailed just one other player.

He was on a road trip with Springfield last weekend, and between San Antonio and Corpus when he was notified to be on a plane and headed for Memphis on Sunday morning. He only had what few clothes and items he had packed in a small bag for the road trip, and was caught off-guard — again — by the promotion. Earlier in the year, when he moved up from Palm Beach to Springfield, he had to leave his truck in Florida after his parents had just brought it down for him. His girlfriend is bringing Jess his items this week.

"The season finishes up in the first part of September," Kim Todd said, "and he's really not sure how much he'll pitch, or even whether he'll be a starter or come in for relief. He's thrown about 123 innings so far this year, and he's thinking he may not get to pitch that much, with less than a month left in the season."

The move to triple-A was unexpected but a morale-lifter for her son, Kim said.

"When he wasn't named to the Olympic team last month," she explained, "he was kind of down. Everybody really thought he'd make it, and he was pretty bummed out. But he was really excited about the move to Memphis, and we're happy for him."

Jess is staying for the time being in a hotel off Beale Street, and the field where the Redbirds play is only eight tenths of a mile from him. "He walks to work," his mom said.

The Kilgore News Herald is pleased to help locals keep up with Kilgore-area athletes. Anyone who has an update on an athlete from here, be it professional or college, should contact sports editor Mitch Lucas at (903) 984-2593.