On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on July 2 MLB Games

July 2nd, 2015 - 7:54

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 2 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 2

  • Milwaukee Braves 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) homered in his fourth consecutive contest in 1955.

  • Detroit Tigers rookie 1B Dale Alexander (starting center in mid-1920s for Milligan TN) collected two homers and six RBI in a 10-4 win against the St. Louis Browns in 1929.

  • St. Louis Browns rookie RF Red Badgro (first-five pick on All-Pacific Coast Conference team in 1926-27 as USC's MVP) went hitless for the only time in an 18-game game span from mid-June to mid-July in 1929.

  • INF Jack Barry (letterman for Holy Cross in 1908) purchased from the Philadelphia Athletics by the Boston Red Sox in 1915.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Donn Clendenon (four-sport letterman with Morehouse GA) went 4-for-4 against the San Francisco Giants in 1964.

  • OF Larry Doby (reserve guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA titlist) signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1947, becoming the first black player in the A.L. and second in MLB history.

  • Texas Rangers rookie 1B Mike Hargrove (Northwestern Oklahoma State letterman) went 4-for-4 against the Minnesota Twins in 1974.

  • LF Frank Howard (two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection when he led Ohio State in scoring and rebounding in 1956-57 and 1957-58), CF Don Lock (led Wichita State in field-goal percentage in 1956-57 and 1957-58) and teammate Ken McMullen hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the sixth inning to power the Washington Senators to a 10-4 victory over the New York Yankees in 1966. Lock went 5-for-5.

  • Chicago Cubs 3B Davey Lopes (NAIA All-District 15 selection for Iowa Wesleyan averaged 16.9 ppg as freshman in 1964-65 and 12.1 ppg as sophomore in 1965-66) delivered a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Montreal Expos in 1986.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers LF Wally Moon (averaged 4.3 ppg with Texas A&M in 1948-49 and 1949-50) went 4-for-4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960.

  • A two-run pinch homer by RF Bill Nicholson (Washington College MD guard for two years in mid-1930s) propelled the Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-1 win against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952.

  • Detroit Tigers RHP Joe Niekro (averaged 8.9 ppg and 3.8 rpg for West Liberty WV from 1963-64 through 1965-66) had his no-hit bid ended in the ninth inning in a 5-0 triumph against the New York Yankees in 1970. Fifteen years later, Niekro posted his 200th career victory when the Houston Astros edged the San Diego Padres.

  • New York Giants RHP Roy Parmelee (letterman for Eastern Michigan in 1924-25 and 1925-26) tossed a 1-0 shutout to beat the St. Louis Cardinals' Dizzy Dean in the nightcap of a 1933 doubleheader. Teammate Carl Hubbell hurled an 18-inning whitewash for the Giants in the opener.

  • Boston Red Sox LHP Gary Peters (played for Grove City PA in mid-1950s) fired the second of back-to-back shutouts in 1970.

  • In 1983, OF Gary Redus (J.C. player for Athens AL and father of Centenary/South Alabama guard) ripped a leadoff homer for the second consecutive game against the Atlanta Braves. Seven years later as a Pittsburgh Pirates 1B, Redus extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 straight outings in 1990.

  • Chicago White Sox C Leo Tankersley (TCU letterman in 1922-23 and 1923-24) appeared in his lone MLB game (against St. Louis Browns in 1925).

  • San Diego Padres OF Will Venable (All-Ivy League first-team selection as junior and second-team choice as senior averaged 9.3 ppg under Princeton coach John Thompson III from 2001-02 through 2004-05) whacked a decisive two-run pinch homer against the St. Louis Cardinals in the top of the 11th inning in 2015.