On This Date: Ex-College Hoopsters Make Their Mark on June 20 MLB Games

June 20th, 2016 - 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.

Former small-college hoopers Dick Siebert (Concordia-St. Paul MN/Minnesota) and Bobby Winkles (Illinois Wesleyan/Arizona State) guided major universities to College World Series championships on this date in the 1960s. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a June 20 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 20

  • Boston Red Sox 1B Dale Alexander (starting basketball center in mid-1920s for Milligan TN) contributed four hits in a 9-5 win against the Cleveland Indians in 1933.

  • LF Howie Bedell (averaged 3.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg for West Chester PA in 1955-56) traded by the Milwaukee Braves to the St. Louis Cardinals for P Bobby Tiefenauer in 1963.

  • Montreal Expos RHP Ray Burris (two-sport standout in Southwestern Oklahoma State Hall of Fame) tossed a three-hit shutout against the Philadelpia Phillies in 1983.

  • RHP Bob Chlupsa (led Manhattan in rebounding in 1965-66 and 1966-67) traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the San Diego Padres in 1972.

  • 1B Tony Clark (San Diego State's leading scorer in WAC games in 1991-92) clobbered two of Detroit's team-record eight homers in the Tigers' 18-6 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays in 2000.

  • Hall of Fame C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s) collected four of the Philadelphia Athletics' 26 hits in an 18-11 decision over the Chicago White Sox in 1932.

  • Lone MLB triumph for RHP Paul Edmondson (averaged 12.4 ppg and 6.6 rpg with Cal State Northridge from 1962-63 through 1964-65) came in his debut in 1969 when he hurled a two-hitter for the Chicago White Sox against the California Angels.

  • Detroit Tigers rookie 1B Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoop scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) went 4-for-4 against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 1933 contest.

  • RHP Ed Halicki (NAIA All-American third-team choice in 1971-72 when leading Monmouth in scoring with 21 ppg after setting school single-game rebounding record with 40 the previous season) awarded on waivers from the San Francisco Giants to the California Angels in 1980.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (played for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) homered twice against the Cincinnati Reds in a 1959 game.

  • New York Yankees LF Charlie Keller (three-year letterman with Maryland from 1934-35 through 1936-37) homered in his fourth consecutive contest in 1941. Two years later, Keller connected for a circuit clout in both ends of a 1943 twinbill split against the Washington Senators.

  • San Francisco Giants OF Harvey Kuenn (played briefly for Wisconsin in 1951-52 after competing on JV squad previous season) collected five hits against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1964 contest.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (Washington College MD guard for two years in mid-1930s) smacked two homers against the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a 1943 doubleheader.

  • In 1961, Baltimore Orioles rookie RF Earl Robinson (three-time All-PCC second-team selection for California under coach Pete Newell from 1955-56 through 1957-58) ripped first MLB homer, which was among his three hits against the Minnesota Twins.

  • New York Yankees 3B Red Rolfe (played briefly with Dartmouth in 1927-28 and 1929-30) registered three extra-base hits against the Chicago White Sox in a 1939 game.

  • Baltimore Orioles 1B Norm Siebern (member of Southwest Missouri State squads capturing back-to-back NAIA Tournament titles in 1952 and 1953) stroked three extra-base hits and scored four runs against the Washington Senators in a 1965 game.

  • Eleven-year MLB 1B Dick Siebert (Concordia-St. Paul MN hooper in 1929 and 1930) coached Minnesota to his second of three College World Series championships with the Gophers by outlasting Southern California, 2-1, in 10 innings in 1960.

  • Chicago Cubs SS Roy Smalley Jr. (one of top scorers for Drury MO in 1942-43 an 1943-44) supplied three extra-base hits off Johnny Sain in a 4-3 triumph against the Boston Braves in a 1950 contest.

  • RHP Lee Smith (averaged 3.4 ppg and 1.9 rpg with Northwestern State in 1976-77) preserved the California Angels' 3-2 verdict over the Kansas City Royals in 1995, setting a MLB mark with his 18th save in 18 opportunities (record subsequently broken).

  • Boston Red Sox 3B Jim Tabor (Alabama letterman in 1936-37) jacked two homers against the Philadelphia Athletics in the opener of a 1943 twinbill.

  • Former MLB manager Bobby Winkles (All-College Conference of Illinois first-team selection led Illinois Wesleyan in scoring with 12 ppg as senior in 1950-51) coached Arizona State to his third of three College World Series championships with the Sun Devils by trouncing Tulsa, 10-1, in 1969.