On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on May 25 MLB Games

May 25th, 2020 - 21:23

Extra! Extra! If spittin' made 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.

Former hoopers from small Southern colleges Fayetteville State NC (Jim Bibby), Morehouse GA (Donn Clendenon), Guilford NC (Rick Ferrell), Hampden-Sydney VA (Bobby Humphreys), William Carey MS (John Stephenson) and Nicholls State LA (Champ Summers) 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 25 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 25

  • RHP Jim Bibby (Fayetteville State NC backup basketball player and brother of UCLA All-American Henry Bibby) and Pittsburgh Pirates teammate Jim Winn tied a MLB record by combining to walk seven consecutive batters in the third inning of a 1983 game against the Atlanta Braves.

  • New York Yankees LF Bob Cerv (ranked fourth on Nebraska's career scoring list in 1949-50 when finishing career) cracked a grand slam against the Baltimore Orioles in a 1956 game.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Donn Clendenon (four-sport letterman with Morehouse GA) capped a streak of five multiple-hit games in succession with four safeties against the Chicago Cubs in a 1965 contest.

  • Hall of Fame C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University hooper in early 1920s), after socking a third-inning homer for the Detroit Tigers against the New York Yankees in his final official at-bat, incurred a skull fracture in three places when beaned by a 3-1 pitch in the fifth in 1937. The player-manager never returned to active duty as a player. In 1950, Cochrane was named general manager of the Philadelphia Athletics.

  • In 1960, St. Louis Cardinals 1B George Crowe (four-year letterman from 1939-40 through 1942-43 for Indiana Central after becoming the first high school player named the state's "Mr. Basketball") clobbered a MLB career-record 11th pinch-hit homer.

  • In 1928, St. Louis Cardinals CF Taylor Douthit (California hoops letterman from 1922 through 1924) endured his only hitless contest in a 28-game span to early June.

  • California Angels 2B Denny Doyle (averaged 2.7 ppg for Morehead State in 1962-63) delivered his fifth three-hit performance of the month in 1974.

  • Boston Red Sox 1B Walt Dropo (Connecticut's first player ever to average 20 points for a season with 21.7 in 1942-43), en route to becoming 1950 A.L. Rookie of the Year, drove in six runs (four with grand slam) in a 15-12 verdict over the St. Louis Browns.

  • Washington Senators C Rick Ferrell (forward for Guilford NC before graduating in 1928) stroked three doubles against the St. Louis Browns in a 1938 outing.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RHP Bob Gibson (Creighton's leading scorer and rebounder in 1955-56 and 1956-57) hurled his third shutout of the month in 1969.

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoops scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) went 4-for-4, including two homers, against the New York Yankees in a 1938 game.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (hooper for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) homered twice off the San Francisco Giants' Mike McCormick in a 1959 contest.

  • Washington Senators RHP Bobby Humphreys (four-year hoops letterman graduated from Hampden-Sydney VA in 1958) had his streak of eight straight scoreless relief appearances come to an end in 1969.

  • 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) lashed the last of seven homers for the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 3-0 delivery in a 17-6 whipping of the Cincinnati Reds in 1979. In Lopes' next at-bat, he was decked on four straight pitches, precipitating a brawl. Six years earlier as a rookie, Lopes notched his eighth multiple-hit contest in a 10-game span in 1973.

  • Chicago White Sox RHP Ted Lyons (two-time All-SWC first-team selection for Baylor in early 1920s) notched his sixth consecutive complete-game victory during the month in 1930.

  • St. Louis Cardinals rookie CF Wally Moon (averaged 4.3 ppg with Texas A&M in 1948-49 and 1949-50) swiped four bases in a 9-4 decision over the Chicago Cubs in 1954.

  • Detroit Tigers OF Jim Northrup (second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder for Alma MI in 1958-59) contributed five RBI against the Boston Red Sox in a 1967 outing.

  • New York Yankees 3B Red Rolfe (played hoops briefly with Dartmouth in 1927-28 and 1929-30) went 5-for-5 against the Detroit Tigers in a 1938 game.

  • Boston Red Sox RHP Mike Smithson (teammate of Tennessee All-American Ernie Grunfeld averaged 1.9 ppg and 1.6 rpg under coach Ray Mears in 1974-75 and 1975-76) twirled a shutout against the Seattle Mariners in 1989.

  • In 1971, California Angels C John Stephenson (scored 1,361 points for William Carey MS in early 1960s) hit safely in his first 15 games of the month until he was held hitless by the Oakland Athletics.

  • OF Champ Summers (team-high scoring averages of 15.7 ppg for Nicholls State in 1964-65 and 22.5 ppg for SIUE in 1969-70) traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Detroit Tigers in 1979.