On This Date: Former College Hoopers Generating MLB Headlines on April 13

April 13th, 2022 - 7:55

Extra! Extra! As a new season gains steam, you can read news about memorable major league baseball achievements, moments and transactions involving former college basketball players. Numerous ex-college hoopers had front-row seats to many of the most notable games and dates in MLB history.

Ivy League hoopers Bill Almon (Brown) and Tony Lupien (Harvard) made MLB news on this date. Ex-college hoopers Tommy Herr (Delaware), Wally Moon (Texas A&M) and Lee Smith (Northwestern State) generated headlines for the St. Louis Cardinals on this date. Baseball is portrayed as a thinking man's game but only 4% of active MLB players earned college diplomas. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is an April 13 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

APRIL 13

  • Montreal Expos SS Bill Almon (averaged 2.5 ppg in half season for Brown's 1972-73 basketball team ending school's streak of 12 straight losing records) stroked four hits in a 5-4 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980.

  • In his first MLB game in 1954, Detroit Tigers 2B Frank Bolling (averaged 7.3 ppg for Spring Hill AL in 1950-51) belted a homer off Baltimore Orioles P Don Larsen.

  • San Diego Padres RF Tony Gwynn (All-WAC second-team selection with San Diego State in 1979-80 and 1980-81) and two teammates establish a MLB record by each hitting a homer as the first three batters in the bottom of first inning of their 1987 home opener against San Francisco Giants RHP Roger Mason (multiple-year letterman in late 1970s for Saginaw Valley State MI).

  • St. Louis Cardinals 2B Tommy Herr (hooper with Delaware's freshman team in 1974-75) went 3-for-3 and scored three runs in a 1985 contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  • Boston Red Sox C Duane Josephson (led Northern Iowa in scoring in 1962-63 and 1963-64 under coach Norm Stewart) opened the scoring with a second-inning, two-run homer off Denny McLain in a 5-3 victory against the Washington Senators in 1971.

  • 1B Tony Lupien (Harvard hoops captain in 1938-39) awarded on waivers from the Boston Red Sox to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1944.

  • St. Louis Cardinals CF Wally Moon (averaged 4.3 ppg with Texas A&M in 1948-49 and 1949-50) swatted a homer against the Chicago Cubs in his first at-bat en route to becoming 1954 N.L. Rookie of the Year.

  • INF-OF Tony Phillips (New Mexico Military juco hooper in 1977-78 as teammate of eventual Drake All-American Lewis Lloyd) traded by the Detroit Tigers to the California Angels in 1995.

  • Detroit Tigers RHP Jeff Robinson (two-time NAIA All-District 3 hoops honoree in early 1980s left Azusa Pacific CA as school's No. 9 all-time scorer) hurled a four-hit shutout against the Minnesota Twins in 1989.

  • St. Louis Cardinals closer Lee Smith (averaged 3.4 ppg and 1.9 rpg with Northwestern State in 1976-77) set MLB record for most career saves in 1993 (mark subsequently broken).

  • Chicago White Sox DH Jim Thome (played junior-college hoops for Illinois Central in 1988-89) smacked a homer in his fourth consecutive contest in 2006.

  • RHP Jim Wilson (hoops letterman for San Diego State's 1942 NAIA Tournament participant) purchased from the Milwaukee Braves by the Baltimore Orioles in 1955.

  • California Angels RF Dave Winfield (starting forward with Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) collected 15 total bases and six RBI on three homers, a double and single in a 15-9 verdict over the Minnesota Twins in 1991.