On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on June 12 MLB Games

June 12th, 2015 - 6:59

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 June 12 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 12

  • Milwaukee Braves 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) produced four hits against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the nightcap of a 1953 doubleheader. Ten years later with the Cleveland Indians in 1963, Adcock homered for the fourth time in a five-game span.

  • Eighteen-year-old RHP Ralph Branca (sixth-leading scorer for NYU in 1943-44) made his Brooklyn Dodgers debut, striking out the first three New York Giants batters he faced in 1944.

  • A two-run, seventh-inning triple by pinch-hitter Grant Dunlap (Pacific letterman in 1942-43 and 1946-47) proved decisive as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the New York Giants, 3-1, in 1953.

  • San Francisco Giants 1B Darrell Evans (member of Jerry Tarkanian-coached Pasadena City CA club winning 1967 state community college crown) contributed a double and homer in the fourth inning when they scored all of their runs in an 8-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds in 1983.

  • LHP Johnny Gee (captain of Michigan's 16-4 team in 1936-37) purchased from the Pittsburgh Pirates by the New York Giants in 1944.

  • San Francisco Giants RHP Ed Halicki (NAIA All-American third-team choice in 1971-72 when leading Monmouth in scoring with 21 ppg after setting school single-game rebounding record with 40 the previous season) hurled a one-hit shutout against the Montreal Expos in 1978. Nine days later, he spun a three-hit whitewash against the Cincinnati Reds.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 3B Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt letterman in 1918) stole second, third and home against the Chicago Cubs in the eighth inning in 1928.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (played for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) hammered a grand slam en route to amassing eight RBI in a 20-7 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds in 1949. Three years later, Hodges homered twice against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1952.

  • California Angels DH Joe Lahoud (New Haven CT letterman in mid-1960s) launched two homers against the Detroit Tigers in 1975.

  • St. Louis Cardinals SS Doc Lavan (played for Hope MI from 1908 through 1910) went 5-for-5 against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1922.

  • Washington Senators 3B Buddy Myer (Mississippi State letterman in 1923-24) went 4-for-4 with four RBI against the Detroit Tigers in 1938.

  • C-OF Don Padgett (participated in multiple sports as a freshman for Lenoir-Rhyne NC in 1934) purchased from the Brooklyn Dodgers by the Boston Braves in 1946.

  • Philadelphia Phillies LHP Eppa Rixey (Virginia letterman in 1912 and 1914) tossed the second of back-to-back shutouts in 1917. Eight years later with the Cincinnati Reds, Rixey fired a shutout amid a streak of seven straight wins in less than a month in 1925.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers LF Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) registered his seventh straight multiple-hit game in 1953.

  • In the midst of a career-high 16-game hitting streak in 1928, St. Louis Cardinals rookie LF Wally Roettger (Illinois letterman in 1921-22 and 1922-23) supplied his sixth straight multiple-hit outing.

  • An inside-the-park homer by Cincinnati Reds OF Champ Summers (led SIUE in scoring in 1969-70 after doing same with Nicholls State in 1964-65) represented his second pinch-hit round-tripper in less than a month in 1977. Three years later with the Detroit Tigers, Summers smashed two homers against the Minnesota Twins in 1980.

  • Detroit Tigers LHP Ed Wells (multi-sport athlete graduated in 1924 from Bethany WV) hurled his third straight shutout en route to six complete-game victories during the month in 1926.

  • In 1954, RHP Jim Wilson (letterman for San Diego State's 1942 NAIA Tournament participant) hurled a no-hitter for the Milwaukee Braves against Hall of Fame RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's second-leading scorer in 1945-46 and 1946-47) and the Philadelphia Phillies.

  • OF-3B Chuck Workman (All-MIAA selection was leading scorer in inaugural NAIA Tournament won by Central Missouri State in 1937) traded by the Boston Braves to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1946.