On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on May 24 MLB Games

May 24th, 2020 - 7:03

Extra! Extra! If spittin' mad about 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.

Eventual Big 12 Conference members Baylor (Ted Lyons), Kansas State (Elden Auker) and Texas A&M (Davey Johnson) boasted former hoopers who made MLB news on this date. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a May 24 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 24

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Dale Alexander (starting basketball center for Milligan TN in mid-1920s) whacked two homers in an 8-7 defeat against the Chicago White Sox in 1930.

  • RHP Elden Auker (All-Big Six Conference first five hoops selection with Kansas State in 1931-32) pitched the first night game in St. Louis in 1940 when Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame P Bob Feller defeated the Browns, 3-2.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year hoops letterman for Allegheny PA) went 4-for-4 in a 4-3 win against the Cincinnati Reds in the nightcap of a 1967 twinbill.

  • Subbing for Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame 1B Ernie Banks, Leo Burke (averaged 9.2 ppg for Virginia Tech in 1952-53 and 1953-54) went 3-for-3 with two extra-base hits against the Cincinnati Reds in the nightcap of a 1964 doubleheader.

  • Philadelphia Athletics C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University hooper in early 1920s) went 4-for-4 against the Washington Senators in a 1929 game. Eight years later with the Detroit Tigers, Cochrane collected four hits against the Senators in a 1937 contest.

  • St. Louis Cardinals CF Taylor Douthit (California hoops letterman from 1922 through 1924) went 4-for-4 against the Cincinnati Reds in the nightcap of a 1931 twinbill.

  • Philadelphia Phillies rookie 2B Denny Doyle (averaged 2.7 ppg for Morehead State in 1962-63) banged out four hits against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1970 outing. The next year, Doyle's two-run homer gave Philly a 2-1 victory against the Cincinnati Reds in 1971.

  • Davey Johnson (averaged 1.7 ppg with Texas A&M in 1961-62) replaced Tony Perez as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1993.

  • Chicago White Sox RHP Ted Lyons (two-time All-SWC first-team hoops selection for Baylor in early 1920s) surrendered 24 hits in going the distance in a 21-inning, 6-5 defeat against the Detroit Tigers in 1929. In 1946, 45-year-old Lyons relinquished the mound to become manager of the White Sox. In his last 28 appearances, he hurled complete games.

  • St. Louis Browns rookie RHP Dave Madison (Louisiana State hoops letterman from 1939-40 through 1942-43) didn't yield a run in his first eight relief appearances in 1952.

  • New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (Bucknell hooper at turn of 20th Century) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 24 consecutive times until losing to the Cards, 3-1, in 1909.

  • Atlanta Braves rookie RHP Ron Reed (Notre Dame's leading rebounder in 1963-64 and 1964-65) won his sixth straight start in 1968.

  • 1B Howie Schultz (Hamline MN product played and coached professional basketball) awarded on waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Cincinnati Reds in 1948.

  • In the midst of five straight starts yielding fewer than three earned runs, Pittsburgh Pirates LHP Bob Veale (scored 1,160 points from 1955-56 through 1957-58 for Benedictine KS) tossed a three-hit shutout against the Montreal Expos in 1970.

  • San Diego Padres OF Will Venable (All-Ivy League first-team selection as junior and second-team choice as senior averaged 9.3 ppg under Princeton coach John Thompson III from 2001-02 through 2004-05) supplied four hits and scored three runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2015 contest.

  • 1B-OF Preston Ward (second-leading scorer for Southwest Missouri State in 1946-47 and 1948-49) contributed a triple and homer in helping the Pittsburgh Pirates snap an 11-game losing streak with a 15-1 romp over the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955.