On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make Mark on April 20 MLB Games

April 20th, 2019 - 7:20

Extra! Extra! Read all about memorable major league baseball achievements, moments and transactions involving former college basketball players! Numerous ex-college hoopers had front-row seats to many of the most notable games and dates in MLB history. Former college hoopers Joe Adcock (LSU), Dick Gernert (Temple) and Bill Nicholson (Washington College MD) belted multiple homers in MLB games on this date.

Baseball is portrayed as a thinking man's game but only 4% of active MLB players earned college diplomas. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is an April 20 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

APRIL 20

  • Cincinnati Reds LF Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) jacked two homers against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the nightcap of a 1952 twinbill.

  • Cincinnati Reds 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 St. Louis Cardinals in a 1948 game.

  • In his first appearance in 1956, Brooklyn Dodgers RHP Roger Craig (forward with North Carolina State's 1949-50 freshman hoops team) fired a four-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  • Boston Red Sox 1B Dick Gernert (Temple hoops letterman in 1948-49) smashed three homers in a doubleheader sweep of the Washington Senators in 1953.

  • In his MLB debut in 1923, pinch-runner Hinky Haines (Penn State hoops letterman in 1919-20 and 1920-21) scored the tying tally on Babe Ruth's ninth-inning, game-winning two-run double in the New York Yankees' 4-3 win against the Boston Red Sox.

  • Washington Senators RF Chuck Hinton (played multiple sports for Shaw NC before serving two years in U.S. Army in mid-1950s) went 4-for-4 against the New York Yankees in a 1963 contest.

  • New York Giants RHP Walt Huntzinger (All-Ivy League forward with Penn in 1921-22) didn't allow an earned run in 8 1/3 innings en route to registering his first MLB victory (2-1 against the Boston Braves in 1924).

  • Chicago Cubs 3B Davey Lopes (NAIA All-District 15 selection for Iowa Wesleyan averaged 16.9 ppg as freshman in 1964-65 and 12.1 ppg as sophomore in 1965-66 before transferring with his coach to Washburn KS) went 5-for-5 and walked twice in a 17-inning game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986.

  • A single by Kansas City Royals RF Jerry Martin (Furman's second-leading scorer in 1969-70 and third-leading scorer in 1970-71) was the only hit Detroit Tigers P Milt Wilcox surrendered in an 8-0 shutout in 1982.

  • In 1981, Philadelphia Phillies RF Bake McBride (averaged 12.7 ppg and 8.1 rpg in 21 games for Westminster MO in 1968-69 and 1969-70) provided his third two-double outing in a six-game span.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (Washington College MD hooper in mid-1930s) blasted two homers, including a grand slam, and supplied six RBI in a 7-4 win at St. Louis in 1947.

  • In 1961, 2B Mel Roach (averaged 9.3 ppg for Virginia in 1952-53) tied the score with the Philadelphia Phillies by ripping a two-out, three-run pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning and the Milwaukee Braves went on to prevail, 7-6, in 11 frames.

  • Minnesota Twins RHP Mike Smithson (teammate of Tennessee All-American Ernie Grunfeld averaged 1.9 ppg and 1.6 rpg under coach Ray Mears in 1974-75 and 1975-76) won his first three starts in 1987.

  • Cleveland Indians rookie 2B Riggs Stephenson (Alabama hoops letterman in 1920) accounted for multiple hits in each of first six MLB outings in 1921.

  • RHP Kent Tekulve (freshman hooper for Marietta OH in mid-1960s) traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1985. Two years earlier, Tekulve permitted his only earned run in first 17 relief appearances of the 1983 campaign.

  • 2B Wayne Terwilliger (two-year letterman for Western Michigan averaged 5.6 ppg in his final season in 1947-48) collected an eighth-inning single for the Washington Senators' lone safety in a 7-0 loss against the Philadelphia Athletics in 1954.

  • Boston Red Sox C Sammy White (All-PCC Northern Division first-five selection for Washington in 1947-48 and 1948-49) stroked three doubles against the Washington Senators in the nightcap of a 1953 doubleheader.

  • New York Yankees RF Dave Winfield (starting forward for Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) doubled in his fifth straight game in 1986.

  • Tampa Bay Devil Rays CF Randy Winn (Santa Clara backcourtmate of eventual two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash in 1993-94) supplied an extra-base safety in his sixth consecutive contest in the midst of eight multiple-hit outings in a 10-game span in 2002.