On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on July 14 MLB Games

July 14th, 2015 - 7:20

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 14 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 14

  • Cleveland Indians player-manager Lou Boudreau (leading basketball scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) banged out five extra-base hits - four doubles and a homer - but it wasn't enough to prevent an 11-10 defeat in the opening game of a 1946 doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, which got three homers for eight RBI from Hall of Fame OF Ted Williams.

  • Boston Red Sox C Gene Desautels (Holy Cross letterman in 1929 and 1930) went 4-for-4 against the St. Louis Browns in 1937.

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Walt Dropo (Connecticut's first player ever to average 20 points for season with 21.7 ppg in 1942-43) stroked five singles in an 8-2 win over the New York Yankees in 1952.

  • Boston Red Sox C Rick Ferrell (forward for Guilford NC before graduating in 1928) amassed four hits and four runs against the Cleveland Indians in the opener of a 1935 twinbill.

  • St. Louis Cardinals SS Jake Flowers (member of Washington College MD "Flying Pentagon" squad in 1923) went 4-for-4 in a 3-2 victory against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1931.

  • San Diego Padres RF Tony Gwynn (All-WAC second-team selection with San Diego State in 1979-80 and 1980-81) extended his hitting streak to 19 games with three safeties against the San Francisco Giants in 1977, raising his batting average to .402.

  • In a MLB first, Tom Haller (backup forward for Illinois in 1956-57 and 1957-58 under coach Harry Combes) was the Detroit Tigers' catcher in 1972 when his brother, Bill, umpired behind the plate.

  • Chicago Cubs SS Don Kessinger (three-time All-SEC selection for Mississippi from 1961-62 through 1963-64 while finishing among nation's top 45 scorers each year) went 2-for-2 to help the N.L. edge the A.L., 5-4, in 12 innings in the 1970 All-Star Game.

  • St. Louis Browns LHP Ernie Koob (Western Michigan letterman in 1914) hurled a 17-inning shutout in a scoreless tie against the Boston Red Sox in 1916.

  • Philadelphia Phillies LF Danny Litwhiler (member of JV squad with Bloomsburg PA three years in mid-1930s) went 4-for-4 against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1941.

  • In 1935, Chicago White Sox RHP Ted Lyons (two-time All-SWC first-team selection for Baylor in early 1920s) hurled his second of back-to-back shutouts.

  • Kansas City Athletics 1B Irv Noren (player of year for California community college state champion Pasadena City in 1945) launched two homers against the Washington Senators in the nightcap of a 1957 doubleheader.

  • RHP Curly Ogden (Swarthmore PA center in 1919, 1920 and 1922) tossed his third shutout in first seven starts with the Washington Senators in 1924.

  • Chicago Cubs INF Paul Popovich (teammate of Jerry West for West Virginia's 1960 NCAA playoff team) delivered a game-winning, pinch single in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 9-8 triumph against the Atlanta Braves in 1972.

  • Cincinnati Reds LHP Eppa Rixey (Virginia letterman in 1912 and 1914) fired a six-hit shutout against Brooklyn amid a streak of eight straight wins en route to a N.L.-high 25 triumphs in 1922.

  • New York Yankees 1B Bill "Moose" Skowron (scored 18 points in eight games for Purdue in 1949-50) socked his second pinch-hit grand slam of the 1957 season.

  • Chicago Cubs RHP Lee Smith (averaged 3.4 ppg and 1.9 rpg with Northwestern State in 1976-77) earned the victory in the 1987 All-Star Game with three innings of scoreless relief for the N.L.

  • Chicago White Sox LHP Matt Thornton (averaged 5.8 ppg and 2.4 rpg for Grand Valley State MI from 1995-96 through 1997-98) scored upon for the only time in a 16-game span through the end of the month in 2006.

  • RF Dave Winfield (starting forward with Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) walloped two homers for the California Angels in an 8-7 triumph against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1990.