On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on July 26 MLB Games

July 26th, 2015 - 8:47

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 26 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 26

  • Philadelphia Phillies LF Morrie Arnovich (played basketball for Wisconsin-Superior in early 1930s) went 4-for-4 in a 3-1 setback against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1939.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year letterman for Allegheny PA) banged out five straight hits in a 7-6 decision over the Atlanta Braves in the nightcap of a 1970 doubleheader.

  • Cleveland Indians SS Lou Boudreau (leading scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) went 4-for-4 against the Washington Senators in 1940.

  • After incurring a 13-3 defeat against the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox RHP Gene Conley (All-PCC first-team selection led North Division in scoring in 1949-50 as Washington State sophomore) and teammate Pumpsie Green mysteriously disappeared in 1962. Conley wanted to fly to Israel and went to the airport but was denied a ticket because he didn't have a visa.

  • OF Billy Cowan (co-captain of Utah's 1960 NCAA playoff team) purchased from the New York Yankees by the California Angels in 1969.

  • Boston Red Sox C Rick Ferrell (played forward for Guilford NC before graduating in 1928) stroked four hits against the Detroit Tigers in 1934.

  • Chicago White Sox 3B Gene Freese (West Liberty WV captain of 1952 NAIA Tournament team) collected five hits (including three for extra bases), four runs and four RBI against the Boston Red Sox in 1960.

  • Acting St. Louis Cardinals manager Frankie Frisch (Fordham captain) contributed four hits but they weren't enough to prevent a 6-5 setback at Boston in the nightcap of a 1930 twinbill against the Braves.

  • New York Giants LHP Johnny Gee (Michigan captain was Big Ten Conference's sixth-leading scorer in 1936-37) hurled a complete-game, 3-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds in 1946.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates rookie SS Dick Groat (two-time All-Ameican with Duke in 1950-51 and 1951-52 when finishing among nation's top five scorers each season) ended an 0-for-19 slump by going 5-for-5 in a 6-4 win against the Boston Braves in 1952.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (played for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) knocked in five runs against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1958 game.

  • 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) homered in his third consecutive contest against the California Angels in 1970. Three years later with the Detroit Tigers, Howard connected for round-trippers in both at-bats against the Boston Red Sox in 1973.

  • Atlanta Braves 2B Davey Johnson (averaged 1.7 ppg with Texas A&M in 1961-62) homered in both ends of a 1973 doubleheader split against the Cincinnati Reds.

  • New York Yankees LF Charlie Keller (Maryland three-year letterman from 1934-35 through 1936-37) clobbered two homers against the Detroit Tigers in a 1942 game.

  • New York Giants LF Hank Leiber (played for Arizona in 1931) started a fourth-inning triple play with a brilliant catch near the wall in a 5-4 verdict over the Cincinnati Reds in 1936.

  • New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (played for Bucknell at turn of 20th Century) won his 21st consecutive contest from the Cincinnati Reds in 1911.

  • In the midst of a career-high 15-game hitting streak in 1973, Oakland Athletics CF Billy North (played briefly for Central Washington in 1967-68) supplied multiple safeties for the sixth time in last nine outings.

  • 1B Babe Young (Fordham letterman in 1935-36) traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1948.