On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make Mark on May 7 MLB Games

May 7th, 2019 - 7:29

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. Two former Michigan small-college hoopers - Freddy Spurgeon (Kalamazoo) and Matt Thornton (Grand Valley State) - manufactured significant MLB performances on this date, joining ex-University of Michigan hooper Leon Roberts.

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 a May 7 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 7

  • Baltimore Orioles DH Al Bumbry (Virginia State's runner-up in basketball scoring with 16.7 ppg as freshman in 1964-65) provided four hits for the second time in a four-game span in 1975.

  • INF-OF Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt hoops letterman in 1918) traded by the Brooklyn Robins to the Cincinnati Reds in 1931.

  • LF David Justice (Thomas More KY assists leader in 1984-85 while averaging 9.3 ppg) jacked two homers while going 4-for-4 to help the Cleveland Indians erase a 9-1 deficit and defeat the Tampa Devil Rays, 20-11, in 1999. The next year, Justice provided three extra-base hits and five RBI against the Toronto Blue Jays in a 2000 contest.

  • In 1946, Philadelphia Athletics 1B Bruce Konopka (Southern California hoops letterman in 1940-41) collected his third extra-base pinch-hit the first week of the month.

  • Detroit Tigers SS Harvey Kuenn (played briefly for Wisconsin in 1951-52 after competing on JV hoops squad previous season) contributed four hits against the Chicago White Sox in a 1955 outing.

  • Boston Braves LF Les Mann (Springfield MA hooper in 1913 and 1914) notched multiple-hit games in his first five outings of the month in 1920.

  • 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane hoops letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) hit safely in first 14 starts of the 1934 campaign with the Boston Red Sox before he was blanked by the Detroit Tigers.

  • RHP Jack Ogden (Swarthmore PA hooper in 1918) traded by the Cincinnati Reds with Leo Durocher to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1933.

  • Seattle Mariners RF Leon Roberts (grabbed one rebound in four basketball games for Michigan in 1970-71 under coach Johnny Orr) collected six RBI in 9-7 win against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1978. The next year, Roberts contributed three extra-base hits in a 12-4 victory against the New York Yankees in 1979.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 2B Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) amassed multiple-hit outings in 13 of first 19 games in 1951.

  • RHP Hal Schumacher (St. Lawrence NY hooper) combined with New York Giants teammate Carl Hubbell to toss back-to-back shutouts in a 1932 doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds.

  • Cleveland Indians rookie 3B Freddy Spurgeon (Kalamazoo MI hooper in 1921-22) went 4-for-4 against the Chicago White Sox in a 1925 game.

  • Chicago White Sox LHP Matt Thornton (averaged 5.8 ppg and 2.4 rpg for Grand Valley State MI from 1995-96 through 1997-98) fanned five Toronto Blue Jays in two innings as he went unscored upon in 10 relief appearances during the month in 2010.

  • 1B-OF Preston Ward (second-leading hoops scorer for Southwest Missouri State in 1946-47 and 1948-49) tripled after three teammates walked to spur the Brooklyn Dodgers to a 9-5 victory at Chicago in 1948.

  • New York Giants 1B Bill White (two-year hooper with Hiram OH in early 1950s) homered in his first MLB at-bat in 1956 (against St. Louis Cardinals).