On This Date: Ex-College Hoopsters Make Their Mark on July 5 MLB Games

July 1st, 2016 - 21:49

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 5 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 5

  • California Angels 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) homered in his third consecutive contest in 1966.

  • In his MLB debut, Philadelphia Athletics RHP Jack Coombs (captain and starting center for Colby ME) hurled a shutout against the Washington Senators in 1906.

  • Cleveland Indians OF Larry Doby (reserve guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA titlist) became the first African-American player in the A.L., striking out as a pinch-hitter against the Chicago White Sox in 1947.

  • San Francisco Giants 3B Darrell Evans (member of Jerry Tarkanian-coached Pasadena City CA club winning 1967 state community college crown) furnished three extra-base hits in a 1979 game against the Atlanta Braves.

  • Boston Red Sox C Rick Ferrell (played forward for Guilford NC before graduating in 1928) amassed four hits against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 1936 game.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 2B Frankie Frisch (Fordham captain) tied a N.L. record with 16 chances in a 6-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds in 1930.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RHP Bob Gibson (Creighton's leading scorer and rebounder in 1955-56 and 1956-57) belted his first of 24 MLB career homers (off Los Angeles Dodgers' Johnny Podres in 1961).

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoop scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) went 4-for-4, including four runs, two homers and five RBI, against the St. Louis Browns in a 1935 contest.

  • Baltimore Orioles RHP Dick Hall (averaged 13.5 ppg from 1948-49 through 1950-51 for Swarthmore PA Southern Division champions in Middle Atlantic States Conference) hurled a four-hit shutout against the Washington Senators in 1961.

  • In 1965, New York Yankees LHP Steve Hamilton (All-OVC selection was Morehead State's leading scorer and rebounder in 1956-57 and 1957-58) yielded his only earned run in a span of 21 relief appearances from the end of May to late July.

  • Cleveland Indians RHP Oral Hildebrand (Butler All-All-American in 1928-29 and 1929-30) hurled a shutout against the Chicago White Sox for one of his five victories this month in 1934.

  • Washington Senators LF Frank Howard (two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection in 1956-57 and 1957-58) hammered two homers against the Boston Red Sox in the opener of a 1969 doubleheader.

  • New York Yankees LF Charlie Keller (Maryland three-year letterman from 1934-35 through 1936-37) cracked two homers against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 1941 game.

  • Detroit Tigers SS Harvey Kuenn (played five games for Wisconsin in 1951-52) provided the game's only tally with an 11th-inning homer against the Cleveland Indians in the nightcap of a 1954 twinbill.

  • Philadelphia Athletics LHP Pete Naktenis (Duke letterman in 1934-35), yielding 10 earned runs in first 1 2/3 innings, lost his lone MLB decision (16-2 rout by Boston Red Sox in opener of 1936 doubleheader).

  • New York Yankees CF Irv Noren (player of the year for California community college state champion Pasadena City in 1945) collected a pair of homers and five RBI against the Philadelphia Athletics in the nightcap of a 1954 twinbill.

  • New York Yankees RHP Cecil Perkins (All-WVIAC selection in 1961-62 with Salem International WV) lost his lone MLB decision and start (against Minnesota Twins in 1967).

  • In the midst of winning seven straight decisions in 1986, New York Yankees LHP Dennis Rasmussen (sixth-man for Creighton averaged 5.1 ppg from 1977-78 through 1979-80) tossed a three-hit shutout against the Chicago White Sox.

  • In 1953, Philadelphia Phillies RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's second-leading scorer in 1945-46 and 1946-47) blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0, for his 28th consecutive complete game.

  • Chicago Cubs RHP Lee Smith (averaged 3.4 ppg and 1.9 rpg for Northwestern State in 1976-77) lost fourth straight game as a starter in 1982 before making his final 927 MLB appearances as a reliever.

  • Detroit Tigers RF Champ Summers (led SIUE in scoring in 1969-70 after doing same for Nicholls State in 1964-65) socked a decisive homer in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 3-2 win against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1979.

  • In 1969, Montreal Expos 2B Gary Sutherland (averaged 7.4 ppg with USC in 1963-64) stroked four hits in an outing against his original team (Philadelphia Phillies).

  • Cincinnati Reds CF Evar Swanson (played all five positions for Knox IL) supplied four hits against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1930 contest.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LHP Bob Veale (scored 1,160 points for Benedictine KS from 1955-56 through 1957-58) won his fifth straight start with a two-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs in 1968. The whitewash capped off a streak of seven starts where Veale allowed fewer than three earned runs.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 1B Bill White (played two years for Hiram OH in early 1950s) collected three homers and a double in a 1961 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

  • Boston Red Sox C Sammy White (All-PCC Northern Division first-five selection for Washington in 1947-48 and 1948-49) knocked in five runs against the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a 1959 twinbill.

  • In 1998, Tampa Bay Devil Rays LF Randy Winn (Santa Clara backcourtmate of eventual two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash in 1993-94) became the 3,000th career strikeout victim of Roger Clemens.