On This Date: Ex-College Hoopsters Make Their Mark on July 31 MLB Games

July 31st, 2016 - 7:48

Extra! Extra! Read all about memorable major league baseball achievements and moments involving former college basketball players! Baseball is portrayed as a thinking man's game but only 4% of active MLB players earned college diplomas. Nonetheless, numerous ex-college hoopsters had front-row seats to many of the most notable games, transactions and dates in MLB history.

Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a July 31 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 31

  • RHP Mike Adams (played basketball for Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1996-97) traded by the San Diego Padres to the Texas Rangers in 2011.

  • Milwaukee Braves 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading scorer in 1945-46) belted four homers off four different pitchers plus a double against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954, setting a MLB record for most total bases in a game (18) standing until broken by RF Shawn Green in 2002.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year letterman for Allegheny PA) contributed seven hits against the Cincinnati Reds in a 1970 twinbill sweep.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LF Carson "Skeeter" Bigbee (Oregon letterman in 1915) banged out four hits against the New York Giants in the opener of a 1917 doubleheader.

  • St. Louis Cardinals SS Alvin Dark (LSU and USL letterman in mid-1940s) went 4-for-4 against the New York Giants in a 1957 contest.

  • St. Louis Cardinals CF Taylor Douthit (California letterman from 1922 through 1924) collected five hits and scored four runs in an 18-5 pounding of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1928.

  • In the midst of eight straight scoreless relief appearances, Baltimore Orioles LHP Mike Flanagan (averaged 13.9 ppg for UMass' freshman squad in 1971-72) notched the final of his 167 MLB wins. Earlier in the 1991 campaign, Flanagan amassed 10 consecutive contests where he failed to yield an earned run.

  • Houston Astros INF Gene Freese (West Liberty WV captain of 1952 NAIA Tournament team) stroked a pinch single against the Cincinnati Reds in 1966 before going 0-for-21 during the last two months of his 12-year MLB career.

  • LHP Johnny Gee (captain of Michigan's 16-4 team in 1936-37) absorbed his first defeat since returning to the New York Giants in 1946 after a year's retirement.

  • Cleveland Indians 1B Mike Hargrove (Northwestern Oklahoma State letterman) scored five runs in a 16-11 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1983.

  • Chicago Cubs LF Monte Irvin (played for Lincoln PA 1 1/2 years in late 1930s) manufactured four hits and five RBI against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1956 game.

  • Chicago Cubs SS Don Kessinger (three-time All-SEC selection for Mississippi from 1961-62 through 1963-64 while finishing among nation's top 45 scorers each season) closed out the month with five consecutive multiple-hit contests in 1970.

  • San Diego Padres LHP Dennis Rasmussen (sixth-man for Creighton averaged 5.1 ppg from 1977-78 through 1979-80) yielded more than three runs for the only time in his last 15 starts of the 1988 campaign.

  • Chicago White Sox LF Gary Redus (J.C. player for Athens AL and father of Centenary/South Alabama guard with same name) registered two hits in his fifth consecutive contest in 1987.

  • Boston Red Sox rookie RHP Don Schwall (All-Big Seven Conference second-team selection as sophomore in 1956-57 when leading Oklahoma in rebounding) hurled the middle three innings for the A.L., yielding the only run, in a 1-1 tie in the second of two All-Star Games in 1961. St. Louis Cardinals 1B Bill White (played two years with Hiram OH in early 1950s) of the N.L. and Detroit Tigers RF Al Kaline of the A.L. were the only All-Stars with two safeties. Five years later with the Philadelphia Phillies, White went 5-for-5, including four extra-base hits, and chipped in with five RBI in the opener of a 1966 doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  • Securing his fifth victory of the month, Boston Red Sox RHP Sonny Siebert (team-high 16.7 ppg for Mizzou in 1957-58 as All-Big Eight Conference second-team selection) hurled a one-hitter at California in 1970.

  • Washington Senators rookie RHP Monte Weaver (played center for Emory & Henry VA in mid-1920s) secured his eighth victory of the month in 1932.

  • Chicago Cubs OF Cy Williams (Notre Dame forward in 1909-10) clobbered a three-run homer to chase New York Giants Hall of Fame RHP Christy Mathewson (played for Bucknell at turn of 20th Century) in the opener of a 1915 doubleheader.

  • San Diego Padres RF Dave Winfield (starting forward for Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) went 5-for-5 with four RBI and scored four runs in a 1979 outing against the Atlanta Braves.

  • Boston Braves 3B Chuck Workman (All-MIAA first-five selection for Central Missouri State as sophomore and junior in mid-1930s) blasted two homers against the New York Giants in the nightcap of a 1945 twinbill.

  • Washington Senators LHP Tom Zachary (Guilford NC letterman in 1916) tossed a three-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers in 1924.