On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on August 22 MLB Games

August 15th, 2020 - 8:00

Extra! Extra! Unless you're a cardboard cut-out, you can read news 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 All-PCC hoopers Red Badgro (Southern California) and Jackie Robinson (UCLA) supplied significant hitting performances in MLB games on this date. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is an August 22 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

AUGUST 22

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Dale Alexander (starting basketball center in mid-1920s for Milligan TN) delivered four hits in a 9-6 win against the Boston Red Sox in 1931.

  • San Diego Padres SS Bill Almon (averaged 2.5 ppg in half a season for Brown's 1972-73 team ending school streak of 12 straight losing records) went 4-for-4 against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1979 game.

  • St. Louis Browns rookie RF Red Badgro (first-five pick on All-Pacific Coast Conference team in 1926-27 as USC's MVP) banged out four hits in a 10-0 victory against the New York Yankees in 1929.

  • In midst of a career-long eight-game hitting streak, Atlanta Braves rookie SS Rob Belloir (three-year hoops letterman led Mercer in free-throw percentage as senior in 1968-69 while averaging 19 ppg) registered four RBI (including two-run triple) in 9-5 win against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LF Carson "Skeeter" Bigbee (Oregon hoops letterman in 1915), playing in his third straight extra-inning game against Brooklyn, went 6-for-11 in a 22-inning marathon in 1917.

  • Washington Senators 1B 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, including decisive blow in the top of the 10th inning, against the Minnesota Twins in 1970.

  • Chicago White Sox RHP Bart Johnson (averaged 30.5 ppg for Brigham Young's freshman squad in 1967-68) secured his team-high 14th save in a two-month span in 1971.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers RHP Clyde King (started two basketball games for North Carolina in December 1944 under coach Ben Carnevale) won both ends of a 1951 doubleheader as a reliever against the St. Louis Cardinals.

  • RHP Jim Konstanty (Syracuse hooper in late 1930s) awarded on waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees in 1954.

  • In 1973, OF Joe Lahoud (New Haven CT hoops letterman in mid-1960s) launched a ninth-inning, pinch-hit grand slam to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 4-3 lead but they wound up losing against the California Angels, 5-4, in 10 innings.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (hooper for Washington College MD in mid-1930s) socked a game-winning homer in the bottom of the 11th inning in a 5-4 decision over the Cincinnati Reds in 1942.

  • St. Louis Cardinals C Don Padgett (freshman in 1934 with Lenoir-Rhyne NC excelled in multiple sports) provided four hits against the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 1939 contest.

  • In the midst of a 10-game hitting streak closing out the month, Chicago Cubs 2B Paul Popovich (averaged 3.3 ppg for West Virginia's 1960 NCAA playoff team) pounded a three-run homer in a 6-5 win against the Cincinnati Reds in 1973.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates RF Dave Robertson (one of two reserves on North Carolina State's first basketball team in 1911) contributed four hits and four RBI in a 10-8 win against the Boston Braves in 1921.

  • INF Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) contributed five hits in the nightcap of a 1951 doubleheader to spark the Brooklyn Dodgers to their 14th straight victory against the St. Louis Cardinals.

  • In 1964, Cleveland Indians rookie RHP Sonny Siebert (team-high 16.7 ppg for Missouri in 1957-58 as All-Big Eight Conference second-team selection) tossed his first of 21 shutouts in a 12-year MLB career.