On This Date: Ex-College Hoopsters Make Mark on September 17 MLB Games

September 17th, 2015 - 6:36

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 September 17 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

SEPTEMBER 17

  • Cincinnati Reds CF Ethan Allen (Cincinnati basketball letterman in 1924-25 and 1925-26) accumulated four hits in an 8-7 setback against the New York Giants in the nightcap of a 1927 doubleheader.

  • New York Yankees C Benny Bengough (Niagara letterman from 1916-17 through 1918-19) went 3-for-3 for the second time in 17 days in 1926.

  • Cleveland Indians SS Lou Boudreau (leading scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) supplied four hits against the Washington Senators in 1949.

  • Baltimore Orioles CF Al Bumbry (Virginia State's runner-up in scoring with 16.7 ppg as freshman in 1964-65) banged out four hits against the New York Yankees in 1984.

  • Chicago Cubs RHP Ray Burris (two-sport standout in Southwestern Oklahoma State Hall of Fame) won his fifth straight start in 1975.

  • Arizona Diamondbacks 1B Tony Clark (San Diego State's leading scorer in WAC games in 1991-92) homered twice in back-to-back games against the Colorado Rockies in 2005.

  • C Gene Desautels (letterman for Holy Cross in 1929 and 1930) awarded on waivers from the Cleveland Indians to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1945.

  • Houston Astros RF Cameron Drew (averaged 15.4 ppg and team-high 8.9 rpg as sophomore in 1983-84 before becoming NECC first-team selection in 1984-85 when leading New Haven CT in scoring and rebounding) collected two of his three MLB hits, including a triple, against San Francisco Giants P Rick Reuschel in 1988.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers C Joe Ferguson (played in 1967 NCAA playoffs with Pacific) jacked two homers against the Atlanta Braves in 1979.

  • Philadelphia Athletics RF Walt French (letterman for Rutgers and Army) contributed three hits in a game for the second day in a row in 1925.

  • New York Giants 2B Frankie Frisch (Fordham captain) smacked a decisive homer in the 10th inning of a 5-4 decision over the Cincinnati Reds in 1926.

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoop scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) homered in third consecutive contest, sixth out of last seven games and eighth out of last 11 outings.

  • Baltimore Orioles 3B Wayne Gross (led Cal Poly Pomona in assists in 1974-75) cracked a grand slam against the New York Yankees in 1984.

  • New York Giants RHP Jim Hearn (Georgia Tech letterman in 1941-42) hurled a shutout against the Chicago Cubs in 1952.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman squad in 1953-54) tossed his 11th shutout of the 1963 campaign, a modern MLB record for a lefthander.

  • Cleveland Indians rookie 3B Jack Kubiszyn (All-SEC first-team guard as senior averaged 18.3 ppg for Alabama from 1955-56 through 1957-58) provided a career-high three hits against the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a 1961 twinbill.

  • New York Giants CF Hank Leiber (played for Arizona in 1931) provided three extra-base hits and five RBI against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1936.

  • The longest hitting streak of the 1940 season ended at 21 games when Philadelphia Phillies rookie RF Danny Litwhiler (member of JV squad with Bloomsburg PA in mid-1930s) went hitless against the Cincinnati Reds.

  • Philadelphia Phillies 1B Tony Lupien (Harvard captain in 1938-39) went 4-for-4 against the New York Giants in the opener of a 1944 doubleheader.

  • Cleveland Indians 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) manufactured four hits in back-to-back games in 1930.

  • New York Yankees 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) supplied a go-ahead homer in the 11th inning of a 5-3 win against the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (guard for Washington College MD two years in mid-1930s) went 4-for-4 with four RBI against the New York Giants in the nightcap of a 1947 twinbill.

  • Detroit Tigers OF Jim Northrup (second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder for Alma MI in 1958-59) homered in both ends of a 1971 doubleheader sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.

  • Montreal Expos OF Curtis Pride (led William & Mary in steals three times and in assists twice from 1986-87 through 1989-90), born with 95% hearing disability, stroked his first MLB hit in 1993 (pinch two-run double against Philadelphia Phillies).

  • Philadelphia Phillies SS Don Rader (Oregon letterman in 1912) registered a career-high three hits in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1921.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B Wayne Terwilliger (two-year letterman for Western Michigan in late 1940s) cracked a two-run homer in the seventh inning to account for decisive blow in a 3-2 triumph at Brooklyn in 1950.