On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on April 24 MLB Games

April 24th, 2020 - 9:17

Extra! Extra! Amid COVID-19 season postponement, you have time to read news 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 Alabama hoops lettermen Riggs Stephenson and Jim Tabor supplied significant MLB games with their bats on this date. Former in-state hooper Marv Breeding (Samford) also made "offensive" news. 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 24 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

APRIL 24

  • San Diego Padres SS Bill Almon (averaged 2.5 ppg in half a season for Brown's 1972-73 basketball team ending school's streak of 12 straight losing records) contributed four hits for the second time in four days in 1978.

  • Philadelphia Phillies LF Morrie Arnovich (Wisconsin-Superior hooper in early 1930s) went 4-for-4, including three doubles, in a 7-3 win against Brooklyn in 1937.

  • Cleveland Indians LHP Rick Austin (member of Washington State's freshman basketball team in 1965-66) held opposition scoreless in his first six relief appearances in 1971.

  • Chicago White Sox 1B Zeke Bonura (best basketball forward for Loyola LA in late 1920s and early 1930s) belted two homers in a 10-4 win against the Detroit Tigers in 1935.

  • Baltimore Orioles rookie 2B Marv Breeding (Samford hooper in mid-1950s) went hitless for the only time in his first 12 MLB games.

  • Boston Braves SS Dick Culler (#9 jersey retired by High Point for Little All-American in 1935 and 1936) went 4-for-4 in an 8-6 win against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers rookie SS Ben Geraghty (Villanova hoops letterman from 1933-34 through 1935-36) supplied his fourth straight multiple-hit game in 1936.

  • Oakland Athletics rookie 3B Wayne Gross (led Cal Poly Pomona in assists in 1974-75) went 4-for-4 with four RBI against the Chicago White Sox in the nightcap of a 1977 doubleheader.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman hoops squad in 1953-54) tied a MLB record by striking out 18 batters in a nine-inning game at Chicago in 1962.

  • Toronto Blue Jays RHP Dave Lemanczyk (averaged 4.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg for Hartwick NY teams compiling 51-21 record from 1969-70 through 1971-72) tossed a one-hitter against the Texas Rangers. It was one of three shutouts for him in 1979.

  • LF Danny Litwhiler (member of hoops JV team with Bloomsburg PA in mid-1930s) collected four of 22 hits by the Boston Braves and chipped in with four RBI in a 14-5 victory over the New York Giants in 1947. Johnny Mize, who later had a basketball arena named after him at Piedmont College GA, socked three successive homers for the Giants. Five years earlier with the Philadelphia Phillies, Litwhiler went 4-for-4 against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942.

  • Kansas City Athletics 2B Jerry Lumpe (member of Southwest Missouri State's 1952 NAIA Tournament hoops championship team) provided his fifth multiple-hit game in as many outings to start the 1960 campaign en route to compiling a .471 average while hitting safely in his first 13 contests of the season.

  • San Diego Padres RHP Roger Mason (multiple-year hoops letterman in late 1970s for Saginaw Valley State MI) didn't allow an earned run through his first nine relief appearances in 1993.

  • New York Yankees SS Gene Michael (led Kent State in scoring with 14 ppg in 1957-58) contributed a career-high four RBI against the Minnesota Twins in 1971.

  • Washington Senators rookie CF Irv Noren (player of year for California community college hoops state champion Pasadena City in 1945) went hitless for the only time in his first 13 MLB starts in 1950.

  • Oakland Athletics CF Billy North (played hoops briefly for Central Washington in 1967-68) stole three bases against the Chicago White Sox in the nightcap of a 1977 twinbill.

  • Kansas City Royals 3B Bob Oliver (All-Valley Conference basketball choice for American River Community College CA in 1962) belted two homers for the second time in a four-game span in 1970.

  • RHP John Pyecha (led Appalachian State in scoring, rebounding and field-goal shooting in 1951-52 and 1954-55) lost his only MLB pitching appearance with the Chicago Cubs in 1954.

  • New York Yankees 3B Red Rolfe (played hoops briefly with Dartmouth in 1927-28 and 1929-30) ripped two homers against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 1940 game.

  • New York Giants RHP Hal Schumacher (multiple-sport athlete for St. Lawrence NY in early 1930s) and Hall of Fame teammate Mel Ott each socked two homers against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1934 game.

  • Baltimore Orioles RF Ken Singleton (Hofstra freshman hoops squad in mid-1960s) smacked two homers against the California Angels in 1979 in the midst of seven multiple-hit outings in an eight-game span.

  • 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) hurled a four-hit shutout against the Seattle Mariners in 1985.

  • Chicago Cubs LF Riggs Stephenson (Alabama hoops letterman in 1920) clubbed three doubles for the second time in a six-game span in 1932.

  • Boston Red Sox rookie 3B Jim Tabor (Alabama hoops letterman in 1936-37) tallied four hits for the first of four times in a 30-game span to early June in 1939.

  • 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) yielded his only run in 12 relief appearances during the month in 2012.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates CF Bill Virdon (Drury MO hooper in 1949) went 4-for-4 against the New York Mets in a 1964 game.

  • Boston Red Sox SS Billy Werber (first Duke hoops All-American in 1929-30) went 4-for-4 against the Washington Senators in a 1934 contest.

  • San Diego Padres RF Dave Winfield (starting forward for Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) collected four hits and five RBI against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 1975 outing.