On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on June 4 MLB Games

June 4th, 2020 - 9:32

Extra! Extra! If spittin' mad regarding COVID-19 season postponement, 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 Cincinnati hoopers Ethan Allen and Sandy Koufax provided MLB headlines on this date. Ex-SEC hoopers Joe Gibbon (Mississippi), Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt) and Riggs Stephenson (Alabama) also supplied significant MLB performances on this date. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a June 4 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 4

  • Chicago Cubs LF Ethan Allen (Cincinnati basketball letterman in 1924-25 and 1925-26) went 4-for-4 in an 8-5 win against the New York Giants in 1936.

  • Chicago Cubs RF George Altman (hooper appeared in 1953 and 1954 NAIA Tournament with Tennessee State) notched his sixth straight multiple-hit game in 1961.

  • RHP Elden Auker (All-Big Six Conference first five selection with Kansas State in 1931-32), supported by an inside-the-park homer from player/manager Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s) during a 10-run third inning, earned the triumph in an 18-9 decision over the Philadelphia Athletics.

  • Seattle Mariners RHP Jim Beattie (Dartmouth's top rebounder in 1974-75 when selected team MVP and honorable mention All-Ivy League) tossed a two-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers in 1982.

  • Chicago White Sox 1B Zeke Bonura (best basketball forward for Loyola LA in late 1920s and early 1930s) scored four runs and banged out three hits for the second of three times in a five-game span in 1936.

  • 1B Tony Clark (San Diego State's leading scorer in WAC hoops games in 1991-92) selected by the Detroit Tigers in first round (2nd pick overall) in 1990 amateur draft. Sixteen years later with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Clark cracked two homers among his four hits against the Atlanta Braves in a 2006 contest.

  • Cleveland Indians CF Larry Doby (reserve guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA hoops titlist) hit for the cycle against the Boston Red Sox in a 1952 outing.

  • Atlanta Braves 3B Darrell Evans (member of Jerry Tarkanian-coached Pasadena City CA club winning 1967 state community college crown) knocked in five runs in a 9-3 win against the New York Mets in 1972.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 3B Howard Freigau (Ohio Wesleyan hooper) collected four hits, four stolen bases and five RBI in a 12-5 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1924.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LHP Joe Gibbon (two-time All-SEC forward for Ole Miss was nation's second-leading scorer as a senior in 1956-57) hurled his final MLB shutout (four-hitter against New York Mets in opener of 1967 twinbill).

  • Pinch-hitter Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt hoops letterman in 1918) hammered a two-out, bases-loaded triple in the ninth inning to spark the Cleveland Indians to an 11-10 verdict over the St. Louis Browns in 1925. Four years later after having his career-high 25-game hitting streak snapped in the final contest of May, 1B Hendrick collected two homers and six RBI for the Brooklyn Robins in an 11-8 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals in the nightcap of a 1929 doubleheader.

  • RHP Jim Konstanty (Syracuse hooper in late 1930s) signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1956 after he was released by the New York Yankees.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman squad in 1953-54) became the fourth hurler to toss three no-hitters, blanking the N.L.-leading Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0, in 1964.

  • 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) collected three hits and three stolen bases against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 1974 game.

  • Cleveland Indians 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane hoops letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) manufactured four hits in a 10-2 win against the Boston Red Sox in 1931.

  • Chicago White Sox OF Gary Redus (J.C. hooper for Athens AL and father of Centenary/South Alabama guard with same name) ripped a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers in 1988.

  • New York Giants RHP Hal Schumacher (multiple-sport athlete for St. Lawrence NY in early 1930s) secured his fourth shutout in less than a month en route to a total of seven whitewashes in 1933.

  • Cleveland Indians 3B Riggs Stephenson (Alabama hoops letterman in 1920) went 4-for-4 against the Detroit Tigers in a 1922 contest. Eight years later as a Chicago Cubs LF, Stephenson amassed five hits, four runs and four RBI against the Boston Braves in a 1930 outing.

  • Cleveland Indians 1B Jim Thome (played junior-college hoops for Illinois Central in 1988-89) smacked a pair of homers for the second time in five-game span in 2002.

  • 1B-OF Preston Ward (second-leading scorer for Southwest Missouri State in 1946-47 and 1948-49) traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 10-player swap in 1953.

  • California Angels 3B John Werhas (Southern California's leading scorer in 1958-59 and 1959-60) whacked a pinch-hit homer against the Minnesota Twins in a 1967 game.

  • In 1986, New York Yankees RF Dave Winfield (starting forward with Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) homered twice in an 11-0 victory over the California Angels in support of RHP Joe Niekro (averaged 8.9 ppg and 3.8 rpg for West Liberty WV from 1963-64 through 1965-66), who hurled a no-hitter for 7 2/3 innings before yielding a safety.

  • In the midst of five consecutive complete-game triumphs, St. Louis Browns LHP Tom Zachary (Guilford NC hoops letterman in 1916) tossed a five-hit shutout against the Chicago White Sox in 1926.