On This Date: Former College Hoopers Made News in May 11 MLB Contests

May 11th, 2021 - 7:58

Extra! Extra! While fans other than Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves wait to attend games en masse, you can read news 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 hoopers had front-row seats to many of the most notable games, transactions and dates in MLB history.

Former Texas A&M hoopers Beau Bell and Wally Moon supplied significant offensive performances as National League outfielders on this date. Ditto ex-Santa Clara hoopers Bruce Bochte and Randy Winn in the American League. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a May 11 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 11

  • Cincinnati Reds LF Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) cracked two homers against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1952 game.

  • St. Louis Browns RF Beau Bell (two-year hoops letterman for Texas A&M in early 1930s) went 4-for-4 in a 7-5 win against the Washington Senators in 1937.

  • OF-1B Bruce Bochte (starting forward for Santa Clara's 1970 NCAA playoff team) traded by the California Angels to the Cleveland Indians in 1977.

  • Cleveland Indians SS Lou Boudreau (leading scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) went 4-for-4 against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 1950 contest.

  • Hall of Fame C Rick Ferrell (Guilford NC hooper in mid-1920s) traded by the St. Louis Browns to the Boston Red Sox in 1933.

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoop scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) socked a homer in his third consecutive contest in 1935.

  • New York Mets 2B Tommy Herr (hooper with Delaware's freshman team in 1974-75) whacked a homer among his four hits in a 6-2 win against the San Francisco Giants in 1991.

  • Frank Howard (two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection when leading Ohio State in scoring and rebounding in 1956-57 and 1957-58) hammered two homers for the Washington Senators but they weren't enough to prevent a 6-5 defeat at Seattle in 1969.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman hoops squad in 1953-54), continuing his comeback from a circulatory ailment in his left index finger, hurled a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants in 1963.

  • INF Vance Law (averaged 6.8 ppg for Brigham Young from 1974-75 through 1976-77) contributed a 10th-inning squeeze bunt to give the Chicago Cubs a 1-0 victory against the San Diego Padres in 1988.

  • OF Danny Litwhiler (member of JV hoops squad with Bloomsburg PA in mid-1930s) traded by the Boston Braves to the Cincinnati Reds in 1948.

  • Washington Senators OF Don Lock (Wichita State field-goal percentage leader in 1956-57 and 1957-58 under coach Ralph Miller) banged out four hits against the California Angels in a 1966 outing.

  • St. Louis Cardinals LF Les Mann (Springfield MA hooper in 1913 and 1914) lashed two homers against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1923 contest.

  • New York Yankees SS Gene Michael (Kent State scoring leader with 14 ppg in 1957-58) generated his fifth two-hit outing in first seven games of the month in 1973.

  • In the midst of a career-high 24-game hitting streak in 1957, St. Louis Cardinals LF Wally Moon (averaged 4.3 ppg with Texas A&M in 1948-49 and 1949-50) homered in four consecutive contests. Moon assembled a 20-game hitting string later in the season.

  • Boston Red Sox 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane hoops letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) manufactured four hits against the Cleveland Indians in a 1934 contest.

  • Chicago Cubs CF Dave Robertson (one of two reserves on North Carolina State's first basketball team in 1911) knocked in six runs in 1921 outing against the Philadelphia Phillies.

  • Philadelphia Phillies rookie LF Ted Savage (Lincoln MO scoring average leader in 1955-56) stroked four hits against the Chicago Cubs in a 1962 contest. Nine years later, Savage was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Kansas City Royals in 1971.

  • Utilityman Roe Skidmore (scored 41 points for Millikin IL in game against Illinois College on 1-28-66) purchased from the St. Louis Cardinals by Houston Astros in 1974.

  • Boston Red Sox 3B Jim Tabor (Alabama hoops letterman in 1936-37) knocked in five runs against the New York Yankees in a 1941 game.

  • Philadelphia Phillies CF Cy Williams (Notre Dame forward in 1909-10) contributed three homers and seven RBI against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1923 outing.

  • RF Dave Winfield (starting forward with Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972), citing a no-trade clause in his contract with the New York Yankees, refused to report to the Angels after being traded in 1990. Five days later, he accepted the deal.

  • RF Randy Winn (Santa Clara backcourtmate of eventual two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash in 1993-94) whacked a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning to give Tampa Bay a 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in 2002, snapping the Devil Rays' 15-game losing streak.