On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make Mark on May 11 MLB Games

May 11th, 2019 - 7:43

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 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 had 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.