On This Date: Former College Hoopers Made News in May 23 MLB Contests

May 23rd, 2021 - 8:30

Extra! Extra! If still stuck at home stemming from Oval Office mixed messaging on masking, you can read news in your office 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 Allegheny PA hoopers Glenn Beckert and Bob Garbark each banged out four hits as MLB players on this date while ex-Michigan State hoopers Don Gross, Dick Radatz and Robin Roberts registered regal pitching performances. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a May 23 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 23

  • RHP Mike Barlow (Syracuse basketball substitute from 1967-68 through 1969-70) shipped by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975 to complete an earlier trade.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Frankie Baumholtz (MVP in 1941 NIT and first player in Ohio University history to score 1,000 career points) contributed four hits against the Milwaukee Braves in a 1953 contest.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year hoops letterman for Allegheny PA) collected four hits for the second time in a four-game span in 1971.

  • Philadelphia Athletics 3B Buddy Blair (Louisiana State hoops letterman from 1932-33 through 1934-35) banged out a career-high four hits in a 4-3 win against the Boston Red Sox in 1942.

  • RHP Ray Burris (hooper for Southwestern Oklahoma State) traded by the Chicago Cubs to the New York Yankees for P Dick Tidrow in 1979.

  • 3B Alvin Dark (hoops letterman for LSU and USL in mid-1940s) went 3-for-3 against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1958 en route to hitting safely in his first 11 games with the Chicago Cubs.

  • Cleveland Indians LHP Chubby Dean (reserve guard for Duke in 1936) won his first three starts in 1943, compiling a 1.35 ERA over 26 2/3 innings.

  • Baltimore Orioles LHP Mike Flanagan (averaged 13.9 ppg for UMass' freshman hoops squad in 1971-72) tossed a two-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers in 1978.

  • INF Howard Freigau (Ohio Wesleyan hooper) traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs in 1925.

  • Boston Red Sox C Bob Garbark (four-year hoops letterman graduated from Allegheny PA in 1932) went 4-for-4 against the St. Louis Browns in a 1945 outing.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RHP Bob Gibson (Creighton's leading scorer and rebounder in 1955-56 and 1956-57) fanned 16 Philadelphia Phillies batters in a 3-1 victory in 1970.

  • Cincinnati Reds LHP Don Gross (Michigan State freshman hooper in 1949-50) fell one out short of his fourth consecutive complete-game victory in 1957.

  • In the midst of hitting safely in 33 of his first 37 MLB games in 1936, Brooklyn Dodgers rookie 1B Buddy Hassett (hooper for Manhattan teams winning school-record 17 consecutive contests in 1930 and 1931) smacked his initial homer.

  • Commencing a career-high 16-game hitting streak, St. Louis Cardinals 2B Tommy Herr (hooper with Delaware's freshman team in 1974-75) reached base five times (two singles and three walks) in a 1981 contest against the New York Mets.

  • New York Yankees LF Charlie Keller (three-year hoops letterman with Maryland from 1934-35 through 1936-37) cracked three extra-base hits against the Boston Red Sox in a 1941 game.

  • In 1911, New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (Bucknell hooper at turn of 20th Century) defeated the Cincinnati Reds for the 18th consecutive time.

  • INF Dan Monzon (Buena Vista IA hooper in mid-1960s) traded by the Minnesota Twins to Montreal Expos in 1974.

  • New York Yankees 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) drilled two homers against the Texas Rangers in a 1975 contest.

  • RHP Curly Ogden (competed as hoops center for Swarthmore PA in 1919, 1920 and 1922) purchased from the Philadelphia Athletics by the Washington Senators in 1924.

  • Kansas City Royals LF Lou Piniella (averaged 2.5 ppg and 1.4 rpg for Tampa as freshman in 1961-62) went 4-for-4 in a 4-3 win against the Washington Senators in 1969.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Elmer Ponder (Oklahoma hoops letterman in 1913-14 and 1915-16) tossed a five-hit shutout against the Brooklyn Robins in 1920.

  • Chicago Cubs SS Paul Popovich (hoops teammate of Jerry West for West Virginia's 1960 NCAA playoff team) went 3-for-3 and knocked in the decisive run with a double off Tug McGraw in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 2-1 victory against the New York Mets in 1972.

  • Boston Red Sox rookie RHP Dick Radatz (center on Michigan State's freshman hoops squad in 1955-56) registered a save en route to A.L.-leading total of 24 in 1962.

  • New York Yankees rookie LHP Dennis Rasmussen (sixth-man for Creighton averaged 5.1 ppg from 1977-78 through 1979-80) secured his first MLB victory, yielding only two hits and fanning 10 Seattle Mariners batters over eight innings in 1984.

  • Baltimore Orioles RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's runner-up in scoring in 1945-46 and 1946-47) fired a two-hitter (both by light-hitting SS Eddie Brinkman/.224 career batting average) in a 6-0 victory over the Washington Senators in 1963.

  • LHP Paul Splittorff (runner-up in scoring and rebounding for Morningside IA in 1967-68) toiled 11 shutout innings for the Kansas City Royals before they edged the Minnesota Twins, 1-0, in 15 frames in 1981.

  • Minnesota Twins DH Jim Thome (played junior-college hoops for Illinois Central in 1988-89) smacked two homers in a 2011 game against the Seattle Mariners.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 1B Bill White (two-year hooper for Hiram OH in early 1950s) collected four hits and five RBI against the San Francisco Giants in a 1961 game. The next year, White went 4-for-4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 1962 contest.

  • Bobby Winkles (Illinois Wesleyan scoring leader in 1950-51) stepped down as manager of the Oakland A's in 1978 although they were leading the A.L. Western Division.