On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on June 18 MLB Games

June 18th, 2020 - 7:51

Extra! Extra! If spittin' mad regarding COVID-19 season postponement and prolonged negotiations commencing campaign, you have time 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.

Three former MLB players or manager who played college hoops - Ohio State's Marty Karow (alma mater), Minnesota's Dick Siebert (Concordia-St. Paul MN) and Arizona State's Bobby Winkles (Illinois Wesleyan) - coached schools to College World Series championships on this date in a four-year span in the mid-1960s. Meanwhile, ex-OSU hoopers Steve Arlin and Jim Geddes each were in midst of impressive MLB pitching performances on this date. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a June 18 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 18

  • Philadelphia Phillies rookie LF Harry Anderson (averaged 7.7 ppg and 8.9 rpg for West Chester PA basketball squad in 1951-52) provided the game-winning hit with a fifth-inning grand slam in a 7-6 win against the Chicago Cubs in 1957.

  • San Diego Padres RHP Steve Arlin (played two basketball games for Ohio State in 1964-65 under coach Fred Taylor) fired a two-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1972. In his next start five days later, Arlin tossed a one-hitter in 4-1 decision over the San Francisco Giants.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates RF Clyde Barnhart (hooper for Shippensburg PA predecessor Cumberland Valley State Normal School prior to World War I) contributed five RBI against the Boston Braves in a 1923 game.

  • Cincinnati Reds rookie RF Frankie Baumholtz (MVP in 1941 NIT and first player in Ohio University history to score 1,000 points in a career) collected four hits and 1B Babe Young (Fordham letterman in 1935-36) contributed a pair of three-run homers to support teammate Ewell Blackwell's no-hitter against the Boston Braves in 1947.

  • Cincinnati Reds 3B Gene Freese (West Liberty WV hoops captain of 1952 NAIA Tournament team) went 7-for-8 in a 1961 doubleheader sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies.

  • Chicago White Sox RHP Jim Geddes (averaged 2.7 ppg for Ohio State from 1967-68 through 1969-70 under coach Fred Taylor) held the California Angels hitless for 4 2/3 innings but walked six in his 1973 debut. In his next appearance, Geddes held the Texas Rangers scoreless in 4 1/3 innings in the opener of a July 4 doubleheader.

  • 1B Dick Gernert (Temple hoops letterman in 1948-49) whacked the only homer for the Boston Red Sox while tallying 17 runs in the seventh inning of a 23-3 rout of the Detroit Tigers in 1953. C Sammy White (All-PCC Northern Division first-five selection for Washington in 1947-48 and 1948-49) tied a MLB single-inning record by scoring three runs during the explosive frame. White finished the fray with four hits and four runs scored.

  • Brooklyn Robins 3B Wally Gilbert (hoops captain played for Valparaiso from 1918-19 through 1920-21) went 4-for-4 and scored three runs in an 8-7 win against the New York Giants in the opener of a 1929 doubleheader.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoops scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) whacked two homers against the New York Giants in a 1947 contest.

  • In 1963, San Francisco Giants C Tom Haller (backup forward for Illinois in 1956-57 and 1957-58 under coach Harry Combes) homered in his third consecutive contest.

  • Cleveland Indians RHP Oral Hildebrand (Butler hoops All-American in 1928-29 and 1929-30) hurled back-to-back shutouts in 1933, giving him five whitewash performances in less than a two-month span. Four years later with the St. Louis Browns, Hildebrand hurled a two-hit shutout against the Washington Senators in 1937.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (hooper for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) homered twice against the Chicago Cubs in a 1954 game.

  • Former Boston Red Sox INF Marty Karow (Ohio State hoops letterman in 1925) coached his alma mater to 1966 College World Series championship by defeating Oklahoma State, 8-2.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers RHP Clyde King (started two basketball games for North Carolina in December 1944 under coach Ben Carnevale collected his fourth victory as a reliever in fewer than three weeks in 1945.

  • In 1962, Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman hoops squad in 1953-54) outdueled St. Louis Cardinals RHP Bob Gibson (Creighton's leading scorer and rebounder in 1955-56 and 1956-57). It marked the third time Koufax won a game, 1-0, on a Tommy Davis homer.

  • Chicago Cubs LF Hank Leiber (Arizona hooper in 1931) smacked two homers against the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 1941 contest.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Davey Lopes (NAIA All-District 15 selection for Iowa Wesleyan averaged 16.9 ppg as freshman in 1964-65 and 12.1 ppg as sophomore in 1965-66 before transferring with his coach to Washburn KS) stole four bases against the Montreal Expos in a 1978 game.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (Washington College MD hoops guard for two years in mid-1930s) smashed two homers against the Cincinnati Reds in the nightcap of a 1944 twinbill.

  • Spoiling the MLB debut of Hall of Fame RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's second-leading scorer in 1945-46 and 1946-47), the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0, in 1948.

  • Montreal Expos RHP Bill Sampen (MacMurray IL MVP in 1984-85 when averaging team-high 14.9 ppg) won his fourth straight decision in 1991.

  • Eleven-year MLB 1B Dick Siebert (Concordia-St. Paul MN hooper in 1929 and 1930) coached Minnesota to his third of three College World Series championships with the Gophers by defeating Missouri, 5-1, in 1964.

  • Arizona Diamondbacks rookie 2B Junior Spivey (redshirted his only semester at Northwestern Oklahoma State on hoops scholarship before transferring to KS junior college) stroked five hits in a 14-5 thrashing of the Houston Astros in 2001.

  • In 1986, San Diego Padres RHP Tim Stoddard (starting forward opposite All-American David Thompson for North Carolina State's 1974 NCAA champion) slugged his first and only MLB homer. He appeared in another 128 games but never had another at-bat.

  • Cincinnati Reds 3B Billy Werber (first Duke hoops All-American in 1929-30) went 5-for-5 against the Boston Braves in the opener of a 1939 doubleheader.

  • Former MLB manager Bobby Winkles (All-College Conference of Illinois first-team selection led Illinois Wesleyan in scoring with 12 ppg as senior in 1950-51) coached Arizona State to his second of three College World Series championships with the Sun Devils by humbling Houston, 11-2, in 1967.