On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on July 1 MLB Games

June 30th, 2020 - 12:01

Extra! Extra! If spittin' mad regarding COVID-19 season postponement and prolonged negotiations commencing campaign, you have to 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 hoopers Frank Howard (Ohio State), Buddy Myer (Mississippi State) and Irv Noren (Pasadena City Community College) each supplied multiple extra-base hits in a single game for the Washington Senators on this date. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a July 1 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 1

  • Chicago Cubs rookie 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year basketball letterman for Allegheny PA) belted two homers against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 1965 game.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LF Carson "Skeeter" Bigbee (Oregon hoops letterman in 1915) collected four hits against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1919 contest.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers RHP Roger Craig (forward with North Carolina State's 1949-50 freshman hoops team) collected his sixth straight win in 1956 (4-1 nod over Philadelphia Phillies).

  • In 1943, Chicago White Sox LF Guy Curtright (two-time All-MIAA selection led Northeast Missouri State in scoring each of four seasons in early 1930s) set a MLB rookie record (subsequently broken) with a 26-game hitting streak as a 30-year-old newcomer in his only season as a regular.

  • Boston Red Sox C Gene Desautels (Holy Cross hoops letterman in 1929 and 1930) contributed three hits and four runs against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 1938 game.

  • Cleveland Indians CF Larry Doby (reserve guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA hoops titlist) walked five times in a 19-inning, 4-3 victory against the St. Louis Browns in 1952.

  • C-OF Joe Ferguson (hooper for Pacific's 1967 NCAA playoff team) traded by the Houston Astros with cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1978.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 2B Frankie Frisch (Fordham hoops captain) scored four runs for the first of two times in a three-game span in 1930.

  • In his first game back following four years serving in the U.S. military during WWII, Detroit Tigers LF Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoops scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) pounded a homer against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 1945 contest.

  • 2B Howdy Groskloss (five-sport participant voted most outstanding Amherst MA athlete of first half of 20th Century) scored the Pittsburgh Pirates' first run in a 4-1 win against the Boston Braves in 1931 but had his only hitless outing in a 12-game span from June 27 to July 11.

  • Washington Senators LF Frank Howard (two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection in 1956-57 and 1957-58 when leading Ohio State in scoring and rebounding) homered in both ends of a 1969 doubleheader sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

  • Cleveland Indians LF "Sweet" Lou Johnson (Kentucky State hoops teammate of legendary coach Davey Whitney averaged 5.7 ppg and 2 rpg in 1951-52) whacked back-to-back homers against the Minnesota Twins in 1968.

  • Cleveland Indians CF Kenny Lofton (Arizona's leader in steals for 1988 Final Four team compiling 35-3 record) provided three hits and three stolen bases against the Milwaukee Brewers in a 1998 game.

  • Boston Red Sox 3B Buddy Myer (Mississippi State hoops letterman in 1923-24) supplied multiple hits in seventh consecutive contest, including three extra-base safeties in the opener of a 1928 twinbill against the Washington Senators. Eleven years later as a 2B with the Senators, Myer went 4-for-4 against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 1939 contest.

  • Atlanta Braves rookie RHP Gary Neibauer (collected 13 points and 9 rebounds in 16 games for Nebraska in 1964-65 under coach Joe Cipriano) won his first MLB decision after hurling a 1-2-3 top of the 10th inning against the Cincinnati Reds in 1969.

  • Washington Senators CF Irv Noren (hooper of year for California community college state champion Pasadena City in 1945) collected a homer and two doubles but his output wasn't enough to prevent a 1951 doubleheader loss against the Philadelphia Athletics. The extra-base hits triggered a streak of four games in a row with three safeties.

  • RHP Elmer Ponder (Oklahoma hoops letterman in 1914 and 1916) traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Chicago Cubs in 1921.

  • St. Louis Cardinals rookie C Dave Ricketts (three-year starter led Duquesne in scoring senior season with 17.9 ppg in 1956-57) contributed a career-high three hits against the New York Mets in a 1967 game.

  • OF Dave Robertson (one of two reserves on North Carolina State's first basketball team in 1911) traded by the Chicago Cubs to Pittsburgh Pirates in 1921.

  • Montreal Expos RF Ken Singleton (Hofstra freshman hoops squad in mid-1960s) homered in both ends of a 1973 doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  • LHP Paul Splittorff (runner-up in scoring and rebounding for Morningside IA in 1967-68) retired in 1984. His 166 victories in 13 seasons are the most in Kansas City Royals history.