On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on May 30 MLB Games

May 30th, 2020 - 7:30

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 St. Joseph's (Ind.) and Oakland City (Ind.) hooper Gil Hodges owned this "doubleheader" date in MLB annals as much as Indiana coach/baseball fan Bob Knight "owned" the Hoosier State the last quarter of the 20th Century. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a May 30 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 30

  • Boston Red Sox 1B Dale Alexander (starting basketball center for Milligan TN in mid-1920s) suffered a career-ending injury in 1933 (therapy for twisted knee sliding into home plate led to third-degree burns, gangrene and near loss of his leg). Four years earlier as a Detroit Tigers rookie, he launched a homer in both ends of a 1929 doubleheader split against the St. Louis Browns.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LF Clyde Barnhart (hooper for Shippensburg PA predecessor Cumberland Valley State Normal School prior to World War I) collected four hits, four runs scored and five RBI against the St. Louis Cardinals in the nightcap of a 1925 doubleheader.

  • Philadelphia Phillies RHP Ray Benge (multi-year hoops letterman for Sam Houston State first half of 1920s) twirled a four-hit shutout against the Boston Braves in opener of a 1931 twinbill. Whitewash was his third complete-game victory during the month.

  • Detroit Tigers 2B Frank Bolling (averaged 7.3 ppg for Spring Hill AL in 1950-51) blasted two homers in a 3-2 win against the Kansas City Athletics in the nightcap of a 1957 doubleheader.

  • Chicago White Sox 1B Zeke Bonura (best basketball forward for Loyola LA in late 1920s and early 1930s) supplied five RBI in a 9-6 win against the Cleveland Indians in 1937. Three years later with the Washington Senators, Bonura knocked in five runs in a 14-2 triumph against the Philadelphia Athletics in nightcap of 1940 twinbill.

  • RHP Ownie Carroll (Holy Cross hoops letterman in 1922) traded with Harry Rice by the Detroit Tigers in 1930 to the New York Yankees for two members of the legendary 1927 squad featuring Murderers' Row (P Waite Hoyt and SS Mark Koenig).

  • In 1955, Milwaukee Braves 1B George Crowe (four-year letterman from 1939-40 through 1942-43 for Indiana Central after becoming first high school player named state's Mr. Basketball) closed out the month with five multiple-hit games, homering in three of the contests.

  • San Francisco Giants 1B Darrell Evans (member of Jerry Tarkanian-coached Pasadena City CA club winning 1967 state community college hoops crown) homered twice against the San Diego Padres in the opener of a 1977 doubleheader.

  • 3B Gene Freese (hoops captain of 1952 NAIA Tournament team for West Liberty WV) whacked two homers, powering the Cincinnati Reds to a 1961 twinbill sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

  • Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers 3B Wally Gilbert (Valparaiso hoops captain in early 1920s) supplied six straight safeties in a doubleheader sweep of the New York Giants in 1931.

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoops scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) went 5-for-5, including four runs, two homers and five RBI, against the St. Louis Browns in a 1937 game.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates SS Dick Groat (two-time All-American with Duke in 1950-51 and 1951-52 when finishing among nation's top five scorers each season) went 4-for-4 and scored four runs in the nightcap of a 1958 twinbill against the Milwaukee Braves.

  • C Frank Grube (starting hoops guard for Lafayette as senior in 1926-27), two teammates and Chicago White Sox manager Lew Fonseca involved in a fight with an umpire under the stands after a doubleheader loss at Cleveland in 1932.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (hooper for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) knocked in eight runs against the Boston Braves in a 1952 doubleheader sweep. The next year, Hodges homered twice against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a 1953 twinbill. In 1958 after the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, Hodges homered in both ends of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs. Four years later, Hodges homered three times in a 1962 twinbill against the New York Mets.

  • Washington Senators LF Frank Howard (two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection when leading Ohio State in scoring and rebounding in 1956-57 and 1957-58) hammered two homers and chipped in with six RBI against the Kansas City Athletics in the opener of a 1967 twinbill.

  • New York Yankees LF Charlie Keller (three-year hoops letterman with Maryland from 1934-35 through 1936-37) went 4-for-4 against the Philadelphia Athletics in the nightcap of a 1946 doubleheader.

  • RHP Cal Koonce (Campbell standout in 1960 and 1961 when North Carolina-based school was junior college), after helping the New York Mets sweep a twinbill against the Pittsburgh Pirates, didn't allow a run in his first 13 relief appearances in 1968.

  • St. Louis Cardinals SS Doc Lavan (Hope MI hooper from 1908 through 1910) had six hits in a 1921 twinbill sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.

  • Baltimore Orioles rookie RHP Dave Leonhard (averaged 4.8 ppg with Johns Hopkins MD in 1961-62) tossed his second shutout of the month in 1968 (two-hitter after earlier one-hitter).

  • RF Sam Mele (NYU's leading scorer in 1943 NCAA playoffs) traded by the Washington Senators to the Chicago White Sox in 1952.

  • Cleveland Indians 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane hoops letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) contributed five RBI in a 12-6 win against the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a 1932 doubleheader.

  • Washington Senators 3B Buddy Myer (Mississippi State hoops letterman in 1923-24) hit safely in all 22 games of the month and 24 in a row overall in 1929.

  • Chicago Cubs rookie C Cal Neeman (Illinois Wesleyan's leading scorer in 1947-48 and 1948-49) hit safely in last 11 contests of the month in 1957.

  • The Chicago Cubs went 32 games in 1943 before hitting a homer prior to RF Bill Nicholson (hoops guard for Washington College MD two years in mid-1930s) knocking a couple of balls beyond the outfield barrier in a 5-1 victory over the Braves. His first of a pair of two-run blasts came in the team's 1,120th at-bat of the season.

  • California Angels 1B Bob Oliver (All-Valley Conference basketball choice for American River Community College CA in 1962), in the midst of a career-high 10-game hitting streak, opened the contest's scoring with a first-inning, three-run homer off Stan Bahnsen in 6-0 win against Chicago White Sox in 1972.

  • New York Giants LF Dave Robertson (one of two reserves on North Carolina State's first basketball team in 1911) stroked two doubles in nightcap of 1917 twinbill against the Philadelphia Phillies to ignite his career-high 15-game hitting streak. Three years later as a Chicago Cubs LF, Robertson went 3-for-3 with four RBI in 1920 game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

  • 1B Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) ripped a 13th-inning homer to give the Brooklyn Dodgers a 2-1 win over the New York Giants in the opener of a 1949 doubleheader.

  • In midst of career-high 16-game hitting streak, Cleveland Indians 1B Jim Thome (played junior-college hoops for Illinois Central in 1988-89) supplied three extra-base hits (two doubles/one homer) in a 1998 game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

  • Cleveland Indians LF Preston Ward (second-leading scorer for Southwest Missouri State in 1946-47 and 1948-49) walloped two homers against the Chicago White Sox in the nightcap of a 1956 twinbill.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 1B Bill White (two-year hooper with Hiram OH in early 1950s) supplied two homers and six RBI against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 1960 game.

  • San Diego Padres RF Dave Winfield (starting forward for Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) knocked in five runs against the Atlanta Braves in a 1979 contest.