On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on June 19 MLB Games

June 19th, 2020 - 8:18

Extra! Extra! If spittin' mad regarding COVID-19 season postponement and ineffectual 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.

Former small-college hoopers Dale Alexander (Milligan TN) and Larry Biittner (Buena Vista IA) each went 4-for-4 in a MLB game on this date while small-school counterparts Donn Clendenon (Morehouse GA) and Bill White (Hiram OH) both had outstanding offensive outputs as N.L. first basemen. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a June 19 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 19

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Dale Alexander (starting basketball center in mid-1920s for Milligan TN) had a 29-game hitting streak snapped by the New York Yankees in 1932. Two years later, Alexander was with the Boston Red Sox when he went 4-for-4 against the Cleveland Indians in the opener of a doubleheader.

  • Cleveland Indians RHP Jim Bibby (Fayetteville State NC backup hooper and brother of UCLA All-American Henry Bibby) tossed a four-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers in the nightcap of a 1977 twinbill.

  • Chicago Cubs 1B Larry Biittner (runner-up in scoring and rebounding for Buena Vista IA in 1966-67) went 4-for-4 in the nightcap of a 1976 doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves.

  • New York Mets 1B Donn Clendenon (four-sport letterman with Morehouse GA) contributed three extra-base hits against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1971 game.

  • Philadelphia Athletics LHP Chubby Dean (reserve guard for Duke in 1936) hurled five innings of scoreless relief against the Cleveland Indians in a 1938 contest. Dean won his previous two relief appearances and compiled a 1.72 ERA in five games during the month.

  • New York Giants OF Hoot Evers (starter for Illinois in 1939-40) climaxed a four-run, ninth-inning rally with a pinch-hit homer against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers C Joe Ferguson (hooper in 1967 NCAA playoffs with Pacific) provided a game-winning, pinch homer in the bottom of the 10th inning in a 5-3 win against the Montreal Expos in 1980.

  • Nine-year MLB INF Jerry Kindall (averaged 6.9 ppg for Minnesota as junior in 1955-56) coached Arizona to his first of three College World Series championships with the Wildcats by upending Eastern Michigan, 7-1, in 1976.

  • Washington Senators 2B Buddy Myer (Mississippi State hoops letterman in 1923-24) notched at least three hits for the fourth time in six-game span in 1935.

  • San Diego Padres 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) smacked two homers against the San Francisco Giants in a 1986 outing.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers LF Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) ripped two homers against the Chicago Cubs in a 1954 contest.

  • Baltimore Orioles RHP Tim Stoddard (starting forward opposite All-American David Thompson for North Carolina State's 1974 NCAA champion) yielded his only run in an 11-game stretch of relief appearances in 1979.

  • Detroit Tigers C Birdie Tebbetts (Providence hooper in 1932) manufactured three hits for the third time in a four-game span in 1940.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RHP Ray Washburn (led Whitworth WA in scoring when named All-Evergreen Conference in 1958-59 and 1959-60) hurled a two-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a 1966 doubleheader.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 1B Bill White (two-year hooper for Hiram OH in early 1950s) knocked in five runs in a 1963 contest against the New York Mets.