On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on July 13 MLB Games

July 13th, 2015 - 7:27

Extra! Extra! Read 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 hoopsters had front-row seats to many of the most notable games, transactions and dates in MLB history.

Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a July 13 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 13

  • Milwaukee Braves 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) clobbered two homers, one a grand slam, in a 1956 doubleheader sweep of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

  • Stretching his hitting streak to 18 games, Chicago Cubs 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year letterman for Allegheny PA) supplied a decisive single in the 11th inning in a 2-1 victory against the New York Mets in 1968.

  • In 1964, RHP Carl Bouldin (starting guard and co-captain for Cincinnati's 1961 NCAA champion) traded with 1B Bill "Moose" Skowron (scored 18 points in eight games for Purdue in 1949-50) by the Washington Senators to the Chicago White Sox for 1B Joe Cunningham and a player to be designated (P Frank Kreutzer). But Bouldin never pitched for the White Sox.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers RHP Ralph Branca (sixth-leading scorer for NYU in 1943-44) started the 1948 All-Star Game for the N.L. but surrendered a second-inning homer to Detroit Tigers CF Hoot Evers (starter for Illinois in 1939-40) as the A.L. rallied to prevail, 5-2. Seven years later in 1955, Evers was traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Cleveland Indians.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Donn Clendenon (four-sport letterman with Morehouse GA) clobbered two homers against the Houston Colt .45s in 1963.

  • Philadelphia Athletics C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s) collected four hits against the Chicago White Sox in 1927.

  • In the 1954 All-Star Game, Milwaukee Braves RHP Gene Conley (All-PCC first-team selection led North Division in scoring in 1949-50 as Washington State sophomore) yielded a pinch-hit, game-tying homer to Cleveland Indians CF Larry Doby (reserve guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA titlist) in the bottom of the eighth inning for the A.L. before Conley was charged with two more runs for the N.L. and incurred an 11-9 setback. Chicago White Sox RHP Bob Keegan (Bucknell letterman in 1941-42 and 1942-43) surrendered a two-run, pinch homer by Cincinnati Reds CF Gus Bell in the top of the eighth.

  • St. Louis Cardinals CF Taylor Douthit (California letterman from 1922 through 1924) contributed four hits in a 12-10 win against the Brooklyn Robins in 1926.

  • St. Louis Cardinals SS Jake Flowers (member of Washington College MD "Flying Pentagon" squad in 1923) contributed three extra-base hits and four RBI in a 12-5 win against the Chicago Cubs in 1931.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RHP Bob Gibson (Creighton's leading scorer and rebounder in 1955-56 and 1956-57) earned a save with two innings of scoreless relief for the N.L. in the 1965 All-Star Game. Chicago White Sox RHP Eddie Fisher (played for Oklahoma's 1954-55 freshman squad) hurled two scoreless innings for the A.L.

  • In 1972, Texas Rangers RHP Rich Hand (averaged 6.2 ppg for Puget Sound WA in 1967-68) hurled a six-hit shutout against his original team (Cleveland Indians). In his next start five days later, Hand allowed only one run in 10 innings against the Baltimore Orioles.

  • Boston Braves 1B Buddy Hassett (played for Manhattan teams winning school-record 17 consecutive games in 1930 and 1931) went 5-for-5 against the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a 1939 doubleheader.

  • RHP Andy Karl (Manhattan letterman from 1933 through 1935), the N.L. leader in appearances (67) and saves (15) in 1945, registered one of his saves in an 11-9 win for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the resumption of a previously-suspended contest.

  • New York Yankees RF Charlie Keller (Maryland three-year letterman from 1934-35 through 1936-37) knocked in five runs against the St. Louis Browns in the nightcap of a 1940 twinbill.

  • In 1962, Chicago Cubs rookie RHP Cal Koonce (standout for Campbell in 1960 and 1961 when the North Carolina-based school was a junior college) hurled a one-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds to give him eight victories in his first 10 decisions.

  • In 1974, California Angels LF Joe Lahoud (New Haven CT letterman in mid-1960s) went 4-for-4, including three extra-base hits, against his original team (Boston Red Sox).

  • Kansas City Athletics 2B Jerry Lumpe (member of Southwest Missouri State's 1952 NAIA Tournament championship team) provided at least three hits fir the fifth time in a nine-game span in 1962. Lumpe assembled a career-high 20-game hitting streak later in the campaign.

  • In his first at-bat with the Montreal Expos, OF Jim Lyttle (led Florida State in free-throw shooting in 1965-66 when he averaged 12.4 ppg) slugged a pinch-hit homer against the Atlanta Braves in the opener of a 1973 doubleheader.

  • New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (played for Bucknell at turn of 20th Century) tossed an 11-hit shutout in a 4-0 verdict against the Cincinnati Reds in 1907.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RHP Lindy McDaniel (played for Oklahoma's 1954-55 freshman squad) hurled a scoreless ninth inning for the N.L. in a 6-0 win against the A.L. in the second 1960 All-Star Game.

  • San Diego Padres RHP Joe Niekro (averaged 8.9 ppg and 3.8 rpg for West Liberty WV from 1963-64 through 1965-66) outdueled his brother, Phil Niekro of the Atlanta Braves, 1-0, in 1969.

  • Boston Red Sox RHP Steve Renko (averaged 9.9 ppg and 5.8 rpg as a Kansas sophomore in 1963-64) had a no-hitter with one out in the ninth inning against the Oakland A's in 1979 before yielding a safety to Rickey Henderson.

  • In 1955, Philadelphia Phillies RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's second-leading scorer in 1945-46 and 1946-47) started fourth All-Star Game for the N.L. in a six-year span.

  • Cleveland Indians rookie 3B Freddy Spurgeon (played for Kalamazoo MI in 1921-22) supplied four hits against the Boston Red Sox in 1925.

  • New York Giants C Wes Westrum (played for Bemidji State MN one season before serving in military during WWII) whacked a grand slam against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1951.