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 4 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 4

• Chicago Cubs LF Ethan Allen (Cincinnati basketball letterman in 1924-25 and 1925-26) went 4-for-4 in an 8-5 win against the New York Giants in 1936.

• Chicago Cubs RF George Altman (appeared in 1953 and 1954 NAIA Tournament with Tennessee State) notched his sixth straight multiple-hit game in 1961.

• RHP Elden Auker (All-Big Six Conference first five selection with Kansas State in 1931-32), supported by an inside-the-park homer from player/manager Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s) during a 10-run third inning, earned the triumph in an 18-9 decision over the Philadelphia Athletics.

• Seattle Mariners RHP Jim Beattie (Dartmouth's top rebounder in 1974-75 when selected team MVP and honorable mention All-Ivy League) tossed a two-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers in 1982.

• 1B Tony Clark (San Diego State's leading scorer in WAC games in 1991-92) selected by the Detroit Tigers in first round (2nd pick overall) in 1990 amateur draft. Sixteen years later with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Clark cracked two homers among his four hits against the Atlanta Braves in 2006.

• Cleveland Indians CF Larry Doby (reserve guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA titlist) hit for the cycle against the Boston Red Sox in 1952.

• St. Louis Cardinals 3B Howard Freigau (played for Ohio Wesleyan) collected four hits, four stolen bases and five RBI in a 12-5 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1924.

• Pittsburgh Pirates LHP Joe Gibbon (two-time All-SEC forward for Ole Miss was nation's second-leading scorer as a senior in 1956-57) hurled his final MLB shutout (four-hitter against New York Mets in opener of 1967 twinbill).

• Pinch-hitter Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt letterman in 1918) hammered a two-out, bases-loaded triple in the ninth inning to spark the Cleveland Indians to an 11-10 verdict over the St. Louis Browns in 1925. Four years later after having his career-high 25-game hitting streak snapped in the final contest of May, 1B Hendrick collected two homers and six RBI for the Brooklyn Robins in an 11-8 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals in the nightcap of a 1929 doubleheader.

• RHP Jim Konstanty (Syracuse player in late 1930s) signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1956 after he was released by the New York Yankees.

• Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman squad in 1953-54) became the fourth hurler to toss three no-hitters, blanking the N.L.-leading Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0, in 1964.

• Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Davey Lopes (NAIA All-District 15 selection for Iowa Wesleyan averaged 16.9 ppg as freshman in 1964-65 and 12.1 ppg as sophomore in 1965-66) collected three hits and three stolen bases against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1974.

• Cleveland Indians 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) manufactured four hits in a 10-2 win against the Boston Red Sox in 1931.

• Chicago White Sox OF Gary Redus (J.C. player for Athens AL and father of Centenary/South Alabama guard with same name) ripped a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers in 1988.

• New York Giants RHP Hal Schumacher (multiple-sport athlete for St. Lawrence NY in early 1930s) tossed his fourth shutout in less than a month en route to a total of seven whitewashes in 1933.

• Cleveland Indians 3B Riggs Stephenson (Alabama letterman in 1920) went 4-for-4 against the Detroit Tigers in 1922. Eight years later as a Chicago Cubs LF, Stephenson amassed five hits, four runs and four RBI against the Boston Braves in 1930.

• 1B-OF Preston Ward (second-leading scorer for Southwest Missouri State in 1946-47 and 1948-49) traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 10-player swap in 1953.

• California Angels 3B John Werhas (USC's leading scorer in 1958-59 and 1959-60) whacked a pinch-hit homer against the Minnesota Twins in 1967.

• In 1986, New York Yankees RF Dave Winfield (starting forward with Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) homered twice in an 11-0 victory over the California Angels in support of RHP Joe Niekro (averaged 8.9 ppg and 3.8 rpg for West Liberty WV from 1963-64 through 1965-66), who hurled a no-hitter for 7 2/3 innings before yielding a safety.

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 2 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 2

• 2B Jerry Adair (one of Oklahoma State's top three basketball scorers in 1956-57 and 1957-58 while ranking among the nation's top 12 free-throw shooters each season) traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox for reliever Don McMahon in 1967 and wound up playing in the World Series later that year against the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Cleveland Indians SS Lou Boudreau (leading scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) scored six runs in a 1940 doubleheader split against the Philadelphia Athletics.

• Philadelphia Athletics rookie C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s) collected five RBI against the Boston Red Sox in 1925.

• In 1951, 1B Walt Dropo (Connecticut's first player ever to average 20 points for a single season with 21.7 ppg in 1942-43) demoted by the Boston Red Sox to the minors to regain his form after he was A.L. Rookie of the Year the previous campaign.

• Pittsburgh Pirates 3B Lee Handley (Bradley letterman from 1932-33 through 1934-35) banged out four hits against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1945.

• Kansas City Royals DH Gail Hopkins (averaged 2.5 ppg with Pepperdine in 1963-64) went 4-for-4 against the Cleveland Indians in 1973.

• Washington Senators LF Frank Howard (two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection in 1956-57 and 1957-58 when leading Ohio State in scoring and rebounding) hammered two homers against the California Angels in the opener of a 1965 twinbill.

• New York Yankees DH David Justice (led Thomas More KY in assists in 1984-85) jacked two homers against the Cleveland Indians in 2001.

• Philadelphia Phillies LF Danny Litwhiler (member of JV squad with Bloomsburg PA three years in mid-1930s) launched two homers against the Chicago Cubs in 1941.

• Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Davey Lopes (NAIA All-District 15 selection for Iowa Wesleyan averaged 16.9 ppg as freshman in 1964-65 and 12.1 ppg as sophomore in 1965-66) tied a MLB mark by committing three errors in the first inning of a 6-3 setback against the Montreal Expos in 1973.

• Chicago White Sox RHP Ted Lyons (two-time All-SWC first-team selection for Baylor in early 1920s) tossed a shutout against the Boston Red Sox in the opener of a 1940 doubleheader, notching his 225th career victory.

• Chicago Cubs CF Jerry Martin (1971 Southern Conference MVP after he was Furman's runner-up in scoring the previous season) whacked two homers against the San Francisco Giants in 1979. Two years later as a member of the Giants, Martin capped off a nine-run, fourth-inning outburst with a grand slam against the Houston Astros in 1981.

• C Cal Neeman (Illinois Wesleyan's leading scorer in 1947-48 and 1948-49) purchased from the St. Louis Cardinals by the Cleveland Indians in 1963.

• Cleveland Indians 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) launched two homers against the Milwaukee Brewers in the nightcap of a 1970 twinbill.

• San Francisco Giants CF Billy North (played briefly for Central Washington in 1967-68) went 3-for-3 with three steals in an 8-6 win against the Chicago Cubs in 1979.

• Pittsburgh Pirates LF Wally Roettger (Illinois letterman in 1921-22 and 1922-23) knocked in five runs in the nightcap of a 1934 doubleheader against his original team (St. Louis Cardinals).

• Baltimore Orioles LF Larry Sheets (All-ODAC selection in 1981-82 and 1982-83 with Eastern Mennonite VA) homered in his third consecutive contest in 1987.

• Atlanta Braves LHP George Stone (averaged 14.7 ppg and 6.5 rpg for Louisiana Tech in 1964-65 and 1965-66) won his first six decisions in 1969.

• LHP Matt Thornton (averaged 5.8 ppg and 2.4 rpg for Grand Valley State MI from 1995-96 through 1997-98) selected by Seattle Mariners in first round (22nd pick overall) in 1998 amateur draft.

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 1 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 1

• Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Donn Clendenon (four-sport letterman including basketball with Morehouse GA) contributed four hits against the New York Mets in 1963.

• Chicago White Sox CF Guy Curtright (two-time All-MIAA selection led Northeast Missouri State in scoring each of four seasons in early 1930s) scored four runs in an 11-9 win against the Washington Senators in 1945.

• Brooklyn Robins 3B Wally Gilbert (Valparaiso captain from 1918-19 through 1920-21) stroked four hits in a 10-2 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1930.

• Cleveland Indians 1B Mike Hargrove (Northwestern Oklahoma State letterman) went 4-for-4 against the Seattle Mariners in 1983.

• Cincinnati Reds 1B Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt letterman in 1918) went 5-for-5, including three doubles, against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1931. The previous day against the Cards, Hendrick secured four hits in the opener of a doubleheader.

• Detroit Tigers RF Lynn Jones (averaged 10.4 ppg for Thiel PA from 1970-71 through 1973-74) supplied his second four-hit game against the Milwaukee Brewers in a span of eight days in 1981.

• LF Danny Litwhiler (member of JV squad with Bloomsburg PA three years in mid-1930s) traded by Philadelphia Phillies to St. Louis Cardinals in 1943.

• Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Davey Lopes (NAIA All-District 15 selection for Iowa Wesleyan averaged 16.9 ppg as freshman in 1964-65 and 12.1 ppg as sophomore in 1965-66) whacked two homers against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1979.

• Philadelphia Phillies 1B Len Matuszek (starter for Toledo's 18-7 team in 1975-76) failed to notch a putout in a 12-3 defeat against the Chicago Cubs in 1984.

• St. Louis Cardinals LF Wally Moon (averaged 4.3 ppg with Texas A&M in 1948-49 and 1949-50) had his 24-game hitting streak end against the Milwaukee Braves in 1957.

• Boston Red Sox 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) collected four hits and four RBI in a 13-1 win against the Washington Senators in 1934.

• OF Lyle Mouton (starter in LSU's backcourt with All-American Chris Jackson for 1989 NCAA playoff team) traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1999.

• In 1962, Washington Senators RHP Ray Rippelmeyer (led SIU in scoring and rebounding in 1952-53 before transferring and pacing SEMO in scoring in 1953-54 and 1954-55 as All-MIAA first-team choice each year) registered his lone MLB victory (as reliever against Minnesota Twins).

• New York Giants RF Wally Roettger (Illinois letterman in 1921-22 and 1922-23) went 4-for-4 against the Boston Braves in the opener of a 1930 twinbill.

• Kansas City Athletics RHP Dave Thies (two-time all-conference selection finished St. Mary's MN career in 1959 as school's all-time leading scorer) lost his lone MLB decision (against the Washington Senators in 1963).

• LHP Bob Veale (scored 1,160 points with Benedictine KS from 1955-56 through 1957-58) amassed 16 strikeouts in shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-0, for the Pittsburgh Pirates' 12th consecutive victory in 1965.

Did North Carolina hire Hillary Clinton's vigorous lawyers experienced at redacting documents before releasing NCAA allegations stemming from a shady African and Afro-American independent study course? Amid the "Four Corners" stalling (administration/coaching staff/press/politicians), could we at least have some pre-response entertainment such as a spirited dunk contest among foot-dragging Chancellor Carol Holt, Sgt. Schultz-like coach Roy "I Know Nothing" Williams, look-the-other-way media represented by Dick Vitale and mum state politicians more enthused about prospect of third NCAA championship in 12 years justifying contract extension for Williams? The dunk-a-thon should be conducted on a kids goal because that is the Sepp Blatter-like way principals involved in this ruse have played footsie with onlookers.

If the Heelhole of a selling-your-scholastic-soul scheme was solely for GPA boosting, Carolina's 2005 (10 of 15 members were AFAS majors with total of 35 "pretty doggone good" bogus classes over two semesters) and 2009 NCAA titles could be in jeopardy of being vacated. Shrouded in more secrecy than Area 51, candid commentary probably will hinge on subpoena-related deposition details emerging from suing players promised a good education but major-manipulated into AFAS, Communications plus Exercise and Sport Science.

At any rate, for the sake of supplying a good chuckle to offset a portion of the angst, the public should have an opportunity to digest a sampling of the pithy prose from those unread Prime Time 10-page papers (assigned mostly A grades with few B+ marks since a player or two may have misspelled his name). Pilfering POTUS lingo, pinhead purveyors simply seek to say: "You didn't write (or build) that!" UNC, admitting "regrettable actions" even before an academic accreditation sanction, may deserve the death penalty simply because disgraceful no-show classes came under the umbrella of a Center For Ethics. To date, there has been no delusional discrimination claim among UNC athletes or regular students failing to have access to Asian-American, Cuban-American, Irish-American, Latin-American or Mexican-American studies.

The university has paid in excess of $1 million in PR costs dealing with the scholastic scandal but that's an affordable expense insofar as there was significant savings over these many years when no faculty was necessary to actually provide instruction for bogus bookwork. Rather than learning classy pass fakes on the court, the courted players passed by "learning" in fake classes. It's no excuse but, if the let's-not-dwell-on-the-negative media would get off its royal cushion, how many other schools across the nation have comparable compromising courses? This is not exactly virgin territory among power-league members after a former Minnesota tutor claimed she wrote or helped write more than 400 papers or pieces of coursework for in excess of 20 Gophers players in the mid-1990s. Amid notice of allegations to UNC, the NCAA should remember: "If you don't stand for something (such as higher scholastic standards), you'll fall for anything (excessive number of suspect student-athletes)."

How in Heel is having athletic department personnel steering players into sham classes for 18 years not, at its core curriculum, a textbook definition of "lack of institutional control?" On the other hand, it may be the "institution (athletic department)" was very much in control and knew damn well it was playing puppeteer as much as POTUS using the "N" word in a radio interview. What exactly were the names of these equally undignified 101 classes? Perhaps the AFAS coloring-book syllabus included: Urban Riots Honoring Michael Brown, Freddie Gray and Trayvon Martin; Hands Off! Don't Loot!; Black Lives Matter Except For Aborted Innocent Babies; Rap is Crap But Deserves National Anthem; Cultural Impact of Hair Braiding and Pants On the Ground; Dignity and Ethics in Setting O.J. Free; Profiling Welfare Kings and Queens; Where's Your Baby Daddy?; Race-Hustling Leaders Rev Al, Jesse Jackson and Van Jones; Reasons Why Black Sheep Vote More Than 90% For Dimorats; Impact of Tattoo Misspellings; How Jailin' Rose Bombs Uncle Toms; Dancin' On Their Graves Like Ray Lewis; Breathing Around ESPN's Undefeated Post-Jason Whitlock, etc., etc., etc.

When will ESPN, while shedding influence of "right radicals" Mike Ditka and Curt Schilling, get to the bottom of the chicanery by giving truth serum to two of the network's college football commentators (former UNC coaches Mack Brown and Butch Davis) or yielding answers via another orchestrated interview with Coy Roy serving as master of "really-bothered-by-whole-thing" ceremonies featuring backdrop of supportive ex-players? ESPN, in a stimulating move as vital as the Bunny Ranch endorsing Shrillary Rotten, should have just gone ahead and issued Williams' support group some "Game Day" posters for their journalistic juvenile pep rally. Defining courage down via crass tabloidism, the network has gone so far let-it-be left it Jennerly defended decision to give ESPY Courage Award to Bruce or Caitlyn or whatever he or she is rather than infinitely more obvious choice of Army veteran Noah Galloway or the late women's hoopster Lauren Hill. At least ESPC, after first expressing laughable "piracy concerns," cancelled a 30 for 30 documentary fawning over sad-sack Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

What a surprise Brown's coaching career included Texas, which is also investigating reports of academic misconduct among Longhorns athletes. Amid all of the press posturing and Carolina's scholastic shenanigans, even if you have to fabricate, don't let integrity icon Dean Smith's last two Final Four teams in the mid-1990s be involved in any way or else no coach on the planet can be trusted. It seems totally out of character, but time will tell if liberal "do-anything-for-them" overkill via "fairness" control-freak tendencies polluted UNC's program at the genesis of the academic scandal and will eventually stain his legacy. If so, we'll all be weeping like a Villanova pep-band piccolo player before the Wildcats won it all a year later.

How difficult would it have been for Williams, instead of pleading educational mission ignorance, to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule per semester to assess academic progress of each of his players? Didn't he acknowledge there was "class clustering" early in his Carolina head coaching tenure? It is the height of hypocrisy for him and other "father-figure" DI mentors to have contract bonus provisions stemming from APR/graduation rates. Will UNC's extension into the next decade demand he apologize to whistle-blower tutor Mary "Just Keep My Players Eligible" Willingham? Didn't Williams figuratively assault her (triggering death threats in aftermath of additional administration admonishments) by impugning Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary's character saying her illiteracy claims were untrue and totally unfair about a striking number of scholars boasting middle-school reading skills?

Said Willingham prior to settling a lawsuit with UNC for $335,000 (about $1,000 per basketball player enrollment in paper class minus attorneys' fees): "I went to a lot of basketball games in the Dean Dome, but Roy never came and sat with me while I tutored his guys." Heaven help us if Williams' "sad-time" excuses, coupled with equally lame remarks from gridiron mentors Brown and Davis regarding the academic debris, are typical of the coaching community level of interest in authentic advancement toward a genuine diploma. Reminiscent of escaped convicts in New York deserving inclusion in a penitentiary honors program, two-time All-American Rashad McCants claims he made Dean's List at UNC one semester despite failing to attend any of the four classes in which he "earned" straight A's on his way out (at least not via manhole cover).

In this absence-of-standards era, Williams is virtually guaranteed a job with ESPN as an analyst if he fibs to NCAA investigators similar to certifiable liar Bruce Pearl. Amid the pimpish compartmentalization, there are also "clever" guys such as Oregon stemming from its timing in waiting to expel three players implicated in an alleged sexual assault in order to avoid a reduction in its Academic Progress Rate score. Meanwhile, fellow Pac-12 Conference member California adopted a stricter admissions policy when it comes to academics. Will Cal set a nationwide trend for increased scholastic standards or will majority of universities duck the issue? Not if the condescending NCAA headquarters appears much more concerned about Indian nicknames and total restroom access for transgenders.

Former Duke starter Jay Bilas, who succeeded Vitale as ESPN's Prime Time Performer in the GameDay color commentator role, has experiential ACC knowledge competing against colorful North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano's suspect squads (735 average SAT score - featuring Chris Washburn at 470 - and excessive number of positive drug tests during the 1980s). While pondering rigorous courses washout Washburn passed to remain academically eligible for more than a season, a cold-blooded question surfaces as to whether the academic anemia at UNC is worse than what occurred at N.C. State, which probably gains the negative nod if only because of Washburn teammate Charles Shackleford's following animal-expert quote: "Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious." The "A" in "bring your A-game" in an ACC ad apparently doesn't stand for academics.

If bookish Bilas genuinely knows self-evaluation "toughness," he will maneuver upstream and shift his passion from lambasting the NCAA about paying these gentlemen and scholars to a lawyerly focus on stopping the NCAA from preying on players who have no business representing universities because they aren't authentic student-athletes. Granted, such an academic-values modification will translate into an inferior product for him and his network to promote (and for luminaries such as Jim Boeheim, John Calipari, Bob Huggins, Mike Krzyzewski, Rick Pitino plus Williams to coach for that matter). But does a mediocre Duke player such as Lance Thomas need more than $30,000 as down payment on jewelry? What about multiple Memphis players reporting they were robbed of more than $66,000 worth of vital items for Calipari-coached college students (mink coats, diamond earrings, stereo equipment, flat-screen TV)?

Moreover, Syracuse's Boeheim wouldn't have an opportunity to be "impressed" about one-and-done Carmelo Anthony's 1.8 gpa before failing to mention if Anthony attended more classes than games his second semester. Did BMOC Melo mellow out in Orange-hot Child and Family Studies? Too many self-serving schools and their athletic departments are living an academic lie as much as the white NAACP chapter president and are ignorant as much as CNN anchor calling Dallas gunman "brave and courageous" for shooting at police headquarters.

When there are games and national crowns to win, how interested could Bilas' alma mater and Carolina's chief rival possibly be in education these days, anyway? Three freshman sensations from this year's NCAA titlist give Duke six one-and-done "graduates" in a five-year span. After Julius Randle became the sixth Kentucky freshman in the previous five years to be among the NBA's top eight draft picks, the gifted group may have pooled credit-hour resources for a single shared diploma (hopefully not useless AFAS). Randle, breaking his right leg in NBA debut with the L.A. Lakers, and Duke All-American Jabari Parker, incurring a season-ending knee injury between Thanksgiving and Christmas, got prompt "nothing-lasts-forever" lessons that it might be prudent to pay a little attention to academic pursuits. What quality of classes are taken in college by mercenary professional-caliber athletes if a mind-numbing 60% of NBA players file for bankruptcy five years after retirement?

Openness in revealing UNC's academic allegations and the NCAA's mission-statement response to this subterfuge will determine how ethically bankrupt major-college athletics has become under the present leadership and corrosive press incompetently covering the corruption.

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 May 29 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 29

• Rookie RHP Mark Acre (played in 1990 NCAA Basketball Tournament with New Mexico State) allowed his only run through 10 relief appearances to early June 1994 with the Oakland A's (0.82 ERA in first 3 1/2 weeks).

• SS Bill Almon (averaged 2.5 ppg in half a season for Brown's 1972-73 team ending the Bears' streak of 12 straight losing records) traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the New York Mets in 1987.

• Cleveland Indians RF Larry Doby (reserve guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA titlist) launched the first MLB homer over the outer wall at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium in 1955.

• Boston Red Sox RHP Boo Ferriss (Mississippi State letterman in 1941) hurled his third shutout of the month in 1946.

• In the midst of a 20-game hitting streak, New York Yankees 1B-OF Buddy Hassett (played for Manhattan teams winning school-record 17 consecutive games in 1930 and 1931) contributed four hits in a 16-1 rout of Washington in 1942.

• LF "Sweet" Lou Johnson (Kentucky State teammate of legendary HBCU coach Davey Whitney averaged 5.7 ppg and 2 rpg in 1951-52) swatted two homers in a 5-3 triumph against the Milwaukee Braves in 1965.

• Chicago White Sox RHP Howie Judson (Illinois' third-leading scorer in 1944-45) ended a personal streak of 15 straight defeats with a 12-8 relief victory over the St. Louis Browns in 1950.

• OF Jim Lyttle (led Florida State in free-throw shooting in 1965-66 when averaging 12.4 ppg) purchased from the Montreal Expos by the New York Mets in 1974.

• RHP Christy Mathewson (played for Bucknell at turn of 20th Century) notched a 3-0 shutout over the Boston Braves in 1916, sparking the New York Giants to their 17th triumph in a row (all on the road).

• New York Yankees 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) socked two homers against the Oakland Athletics in 1973.

• Philadelphia Phillies RF Bill Nicholson (Washington College MD guard for two years in mid-1930s) provided his third consecutive three-hit contest in 1953. Nicholson supplied only one more safety in the final 40 at-bats of his 16-year MLB career.

• Houston Astros RHP Joe Niekro (averaged 8.9 ppg and 3.8 rpg for West Liberty WV from 1963-64 through 1965-66) belted the only homer of his 22-year career in 1976. The round-tripper against the Atlanta Braves came at the expense of his brother (Phil).

• RHP Claude Passeau (played for Millsaps MS in late 1920s and early 1930s) traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Chicago Cubs in 1939.

• LF Ray Pepper (Alabama letterman in 1926-27) banged out five hits, including two homers, and drove in five runs to boost the St. Louis Browns to a 12-7 victory over the Detroit Tigers in 1934.

• OF Curtis Pride (led William & Mary in steals three times and assists twice while averaging 5.6 ppg and 3.1 apg from 1986-87 through 1989-90) pounded a pinch homer for the Atlanta Braves against the Chicago Cubs in 1998.

• Philadelphia Phillies LHP Eppa Rixey (Virginia letterman in 1912 and 1914) yielded a ninth-inning inside-the-park homer but held on for a 4-3, 13-inning victory against Pittsburgh. It is the only homer Rixey allowed in 301 innings pitched.

• Baltimore Orioles DH Larry Sheets (All-ODAC selection in 1981-82 and 1982-83 with Eastern Mennonite VA) smacked two homers in an 8-6 win against the Oakland Athletics in 1986. Three years later, Sheets socked a round-tripper in his third of last four outings.

• In 1926, Cleveland Indians 2B Freddy Spurgeon (played for Kalamazoo MI in 1921-22) extended his hitting streak to 11 games in a row with eighth contest of the month boasting at least three safeties.

• Chicago Cubs OF Bob Will (all-league athlete was Mankato State MN captain in 1954-55) slugged his second pinch-hit homer in an eight-game span in 1962.

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 May 27 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 27

• CF Ethan Allen (Cincinnati basketball letterman in 1924-25 and 1925-26) traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the New York Giants in 1930. Five years later, Allen was with the Philadelphia Phillies when he stroked four hits in a 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

• Philadelphia Athletics C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s) whacked two homers against the Detroit Tigers in 1933.

• Washington Senators 2B Tim Cullen (starting guard for Santa Clara in 1962-63 when averaging 10 ppg and 3.4 rpg) contributed four hits in an 8-1 victory against the Detroit Tigers in 1967.

• Boston Red Sox rookie RHP Boo Ferriss (Mississippi State letterman in 1941) tossed his fourth shutout in first six starts in 1945.

• Baltimore Orioles 3B Wayne Gross (led Cal Poly Pomona in assists in 1974-75) cracked a grand slam against the California Angels in 1984.

• Cleveland Indians 1B Mike Hargrove (Northwestern Oklahoma State letterman) provided at least three hits in fourth consecutive contest in 1981.

• Los Angeles Dodgers RF 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) went 4-for-4 against the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a 1962 doubleheader.

• RHP Andy Karl (Manhattan letterman in mid-1930s) traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Boston Braves in 1947.

• Cleveland Indians CF Kenny Lofton (Arizona's leader in steals for 1988 went 3-for-3 with three stolen bases against the Oakland Athletics in 1994.

• Brooklyn Dodgers LHP Preacher Roe (played for Harding AR in late 1930s) fired the second of back-to-back shutouts in 1949.

• Closer Lee Smith (averaged 3.4 ppg and 1.9 rpg with Northwestern State in 1976-77) traded by the California Angels to the Cincinnati Reds in 1996.

• Chicago Cubs LF Riggs Stephenson (Alabama letterman in 1920) provided three straight three-hit games in 1927. Four years later in 1931, Stephenson went 4-for-4, including three extra-base hits, against the Cincinnati Reds. In 1932, he went 4-for-4 again against the Reds.

• In 1975, Oakland Athletics RHP Jim Todd (averaged 16 ppg for Millersville PA in 1968-69) didn't allow an earned run in nine straight relief appearances in the month until doing so against the Baltimore Orioles.

• Seattle Mariners LF Randy Winn (Santa Clara backcourtmate of eventual two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash in 1993-94) went 5-for-5 in a 15-7 triumph against the Kansas City Royals in 2003.

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 May 25 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 25

• RHP Jim Bibby (Fayetteville State NC backup basketball player and brother of UCLA All-American Henry Bibby) and Pittsburgh Pirates teammate Jim Winn tied a MLB record by combining to walk seven consecutive batters in the third inning of a 1983 game against the Atlanta Braves.

• New York Yankees LF Bob Cerv (ranked fourth on Nebraska's career scoring list in 1949-50 when finishing career) cracked a grand slam against the Baltimore Orioles in 1956.

• Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Donn Clendenon (four-sport letterman with Morehouse GA) capped a streak of five multiple-hit games in succession with four safeties against the Chicago Cubs in 1965.

• Hall of Fame C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s), after socking a third-inning homer for the Detroit Tigers against the New York Yankees in his final official at-bat, incurred a skull fracture in three places when beaned by a 3-1 pitch in the fifth in 1937. The player-manager never returned to active duty as a player. In 1950, Cochrane was named general manager of the Philadelphia Athletics.

• In 1960, St. Louis Cardinals 1B George Crowe (four-year letterman from 1939-40 through 1942-43 for Indiana Central after becoming the first high school player named the state's "Mr. Basketball") clobbered a MLB career-record 11th pinch-hit homer.

• In 1928, St. Louis Cardinals CF Taylor Douthit (California letterman from 1922 through 1924) endured his only hitless contest in a 28-game span to early June.

• Boston Red Sox 1B Walt Dropo (Connecticut's first player ever to average 20 points for a season with 21.7 in 1942-43), en route to becoming 1950 A.L. Rookie of the Year, drove in six runs (four with a grand slam) in a 15-12 verdict over the St. Louis Browns.

• Washington Senators C Rick Ferrell (played forward for Guilford NC before graduating in 1928) stroked three doubles against the St. Louis Browns in 1938.

• St. Louis Cardinals RHP Bob Gibson (Creighton's leading scorer and rebounder in 1955-56 and 1956-57) hurled his third shutout of the month in 1969.

• Detroit Tigers 1B Hank Greenberg (enrolled at NYU on hoop scholarship in 1929 but attended college only one semester) went 4-for-4, including two homers, against the New York Yankees in 1938.

• Los Angeles Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (played for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) homered twice off the San Francisco Giants' Mike McCormick in 1959.

• Washington Senators RHP Bobby Humphreys (four-year letterman graduated from Hampden-Sydney VA in 1958) had his streak of eight straight scoreless relief appearances come to an end in 1969.

• 2B Davey Lopes (NAIA All-District 15 selection for Iowa Wesleyan averaged 16.9 ppg as freshman in 1964-65 and 12.1 ppg as sophomore in 1965-66) lashed the last of seven homers for the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 3-0 delivery in a 17-6 whipping of the Cincinnati Reds in 1979. In Lopes' next at-bat, he was decked on four straight pitches, precipitating a brawl. Six year earlier as a rookie, Lopes notched his eighth multiple-hit contest in a 10-game span in 1973.

• Chicago White Sox RHP Ted Lyons (two-time All-SWC first-team selection for Baylor in early 1920s) notched his sixth consecutive complete-game victory during the month in 1930.

• St. Louis Cardinals rookie CF Wally Moon (averaged 4.3 ppg with Texas A&M in 1948-49 and 1949-50) swiped four bases in a 9-4 decision over the Chicago Cubs in 1954.

• Detroit Tigers OF Jim Northrup (second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder for Alma MI in 1958-59) contributed five RBI against the Boston Red Sox in 1967.

• New York Yankees 3B Red Rolfe (played briefly with Dartmouth in 1927-28 and 1929-30) went 5-for-5 against the Detroit Tigers in 1938.

• In 1971, California Angels C John Stephenson (scored 1,361 points for William Carey MS in early 1960s) hit safely in his first 15 games of the month until he was held hitless by the Oakland Athletics.

• OF Champ Summers (team-high scoring averages of 15.7 ppg for Nicholls State in 1964-65 and 22.5 ppg for SIUE in 1969-70) traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Detroit Tigers in 1979.

Loyalists for big-name schools are counting on remaining or returning to elite status next season. Typically, the follow-the-pack national media falls in lockstep predicting most of them will be back to at least near the top of the national polls. But welfare writers (accepting guesswork handouts from well-meaning but ineffectual middle men) better hope the recruiting gurus ranking high school hotshots emerge from a sorry slump. A textbook example is Frank Kaminsky, who wasn't a Top 100 recruit in 2011 but emerged as unanimous national player of the year as a Wisconsin senior. Meanwhile, 17 of the consensus Top 50 prospects in 2011 failed to average at least 10 points per game in their college careers.

What good are prep player rankings if the brainiac analysts can't come close to pinpointing a prospect who will become a college All-American in a couple of years? Two seasons ago provided ample evidence of rating ineptitude when four of the five NCAA unanimous All-American first-team selections, including national player of the year Trey Burke (Michigan), weren't ranked among the consensus Top 100 H.S. recruits assembled by RSCI the years they left high school. First-teamer Kelly Olynyk (Gonzaga) and Final Four MOP Luke Hancock (Louisville) weren't among the top 100 in 2009. First-teamers Doug McDermott (Creighton) and Victor Oladipo (Indiana) plus honorable mention All-American Russ Smith (leading scorer for NCAA champion Louisville) weren't among the top 100 in 2010.

Three strikes and the player pimps are out (of credibility). Burke, McDermott and Kaminsky pooled their previously overlooked assets to assemble a string of three straight national POY honorees. Burke wasn't included among the consensus top 100 in 2011 although every scout in this burgeoning charade saw him play on the same high school squad with eventual Ohio State All-American Jared Sullinger. Ditto McDermott with regal recruit Harrison Barnes (North Carolina).

Unbelievably, a UM teammate by the name of Carlton Brundidge was ranked higher than Burke but Brundidge scored a grand total of six points in 15 games before leaving the Wolverines' program. Media hacks as confused as Bruce Jenner, apparently incapable of calculating the difference between AAU-pickup street ball and genuine team ball, should be deep-sixed when you consider the following long list of mediocre players ranked higher than Burke but averaging fewer than six points per game in their DI college careers: Tyler Adams (Georgetown/2.5 ppg), Juan Anderson (Marquette/3.8), C.J. Barksdale (Virginia Tech/5.2), Jamal Branch (Texas A&M & St. John's/4.9), Angelo Chol (Arizona & San Diego State/3.1), Erik Copes (George Mason/4.7), Nnanna Egwu (Illinois/5.5), D.J. Gardner (Mississippi State/RS kicked off team), Malcolm Gilbert (Pittsburgh & Fairfield/1.4), Mikael Hopkins (Georgetown/4.9), Sidiki Johnson (Arizona & Providence/2.9), Ty Johnson (Villanova & South Carolina/3.3), Damien Leonard (South Carolina/5.5), Hunter Mickelson (Arkansas & Kansas/4.6), Alex Murphy (Duke & Florida/3.2), Dai-Jon Parker (Vanderbilt/5.4), Marshall Plumlee (Duke/1.4), Zach Price (Louisville & Missouri/0.9), Julian Royal (Georgia Tech & George Mason/3.3), Mike Shaw (Illinois & Bradley/1.3), Antwan Space (Florida State & Texas A&M/4.8), Bernard Sullivan (Clemson & Charlotte/2.2), Naadir Tharpe (Kansas/5.1), Shaquille Thomas (Cincinnati/5.5) and Amir Williams (Ohio State/4.9).

At least the so-called experts offering these mistake-ridden critiques had 2013 first-teamer Otto Porter Jr. (Georgetown) and second-teamer Ben McLemore (Kansas) ranked among the top 50 in 2011. But as a cautionary measure, pore over this information again the next time some lazy broadcaster needing a drool bucket begins slobbering over a pimple-faced teenager without ever seeing him play firsthand and only using recruiting services as a resource. In fact, the purveyors of know-it-all opinion should be behind the eight ball when they had the following players averaging less than eight points per game in their college careers ranked ahead of Porter and McLemore: Rakeem Christmas (Syracuse/7.4), Michael Gbinije (Duke & Syracuse/6.4), Shannon Scott (Ohio State/5.5) and Josiah Turner (Arizona/6.8).

Turner was jailed a couple of days a couple of years ago as punishment for "extreme" DUI. He should have been joined behind bars by dopey devotees intoxicated by recruiting services proclaiming him and more than 100 other players as better than Burke. Who really is more inebriated if they accept as gospel player rankings dwelling on wingspans, weight reps, Soul Train dance moves and carnival-like dunk contests? How about focusing solely on whether they'll continue to improve against comparable athletes, boast the proper attitude to learn to fit in with teammates in a me-myself-and-I generation and make a major bottom-line impact on the game rather than strut-your-stuff swagger? When pass is considered a dirty four-letter word, the chronic over-hyping doesn't appear as if it will end anytime soon evidenced by a couple of 2013 Top 10 recruits declaring for the NBA draft - Florida's Chris Walker (3.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.1 apg) and Kentucky's Dakari Johnson (5.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.5 apg).

NBA Most Valuable Player and three-point shooting sensation Stephen Curry (Davidson) is perhaps the premier collegian thus far this century. If you've got a life, you don't have time to go over all of the no-names ranked better than Curry when he graduated from high school in 2006. You'd have an easier task competing in the national spelling bee, trying to size up all of the issues involving Tulsa coach Frank Haith's checking account when he was at Miami (Fla.) or discerning how much Roy Williams "earned" in academic progress bonuses at North Carolina.

Rating recruits - the ultimate sports distortion foisted upon dupes - is akin to believing government grifters telling the gullible masses that taxpayer-financed Muslim extremist terrorism is workplace violence or fueled by a largely unseen movie. Pilfering a propaganda-like phrase spun during the institutionalizing of political correctness to the detriment of the safety of the American people, the player ratings are authentic "man-made disasters." They need to make a dramatic turnaround comparable to the White House's post-marathon bombing appeasing administration lauding Cambridge/Boston area police after previous exploitation portraying them as "acting stupidly" when it suited their agenda. Amid the insulting misinformation overload, it might be time to visit Rev. Wrong's church and see if he is recruiting susceptible supporters by telling his captive audience that "America's Chechens have come home to roost." Truth escape artists and opponents of Tsarnaev receiving a death-penalty sentence can simply deny you ever heard or read such impudence.

The same play-dumb mindset comparable to the Benghazi stonewalling applies to entitlement-era "ridiculists" stemming from recruiting service player ratings. Resembling Jason Collins' long-time fiancée, you look like a full-fledged fool by putting a significant amount of stock in these breathless rush-to-judgment projections spawning a slew of blue-chippers turned prima donnas. But don't muzzle 'em with a jock jihad or sound as lucid as the buffoonish Bomb Mom. Just give the sane a barf bag when clueless adults hold their collective breath to see if some coddled kid dons their alma mater's cap on TV announcing a college choice. Why can't we simply wait until the impressionable athletes compete in an actual game on a college court before rendering assessments on their ability at the next level?

Reverse responsibilities in tow, a former NFL linebacker was instrumental in perhaps the biggest news of the off-season. Purdue probably went from a borderline Top 25 team to an authentic Final Four candidate when regal recruit Caleb Swanigan decommitted from Michigan State and aligned with the Boilermakers, giving them one of the nation's most imposing frontcourts. Roosevelt Barnes, Swanigan's guardian, averaged 2.7 points and 1.1 rebounds per game as a senior in 1980-81 under coach Gene Keady, who played football for Kansas State before becoming a 19th-round choice as a back by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1958 NFL draft.

Barnes, a 6-2 guard, collected 14 points and 23 rebounds in 24 games for Purdue's 1980 Final Four team after scoring 39 points in 43 games the previous two campaigns. College teammate of longtime coach Kevin Stallings played briefly for Fort Wayne in the CBA. Barnes, who led the Boilers in tackles for loss with nine in 1981, was a 10th-round NFL draft choice before competing four years from 1982 through 1985 with the Detroit Lions.

Barnes isn't the only football player who impacted Purdue hoops. He is joined by the following alphabetical list of versatile Boilermaker basketball/football athletes:

ERICH BARNES - Defensive back intercepted 45 passes in 14 seasons (1958 through 1971) with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Cleveland Browns. Fourth-round draft choice played in six Pro Bowls (1960-62-63-64-65-69) and six NFL championship games. Basketball teammate of eventual "Fearsome Foursome" DE Lamar Lundy was a 6-3, 190-pound forward-center who played briefly for the Boilermakers' varsity basketball team as a sophomore in 1955-56.

CHARLES DAVIS - Starting tight end most of four years from 2002 through 2005 caught 60 passes his last two seasons, including a 61-yard TD against archrival Indiana as a junior when he was a second-team All-Big Ten Conference selection by the media. Fifth-round NFL draft choice by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006. Upon return from 2004 Sun Bowl, the 6-6, 260-pounder averaged 2.9 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 19 basketball games for the Boilermakers in Keady's swan song.

LEN DAWSON - Member of Pro Football Hall of Fame completed 2,136 passes for 28,731 yards and 239 touchdowns in 19 seasons (1957 through 1975) with the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. First-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers went on to become a seven-time All-Pro. Quarterbacked the Chiefs to victory over Minnesota in Super Bowl following 1969 season. Played in two games as a 6-0, 180-pound guard for Purdue's basketball team in the 1956-57 campaign.

BOB GRIESE - TV analyst and member of College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame. Quarterback played 14 seasons (1967 through 1980) with the Miami Dolphins, completing 1,926 of 3,429 passes for 25,093 yards and 192 touchdowns. The first-round draft choice was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and played in three Super Bowls. As a 6-1, 185-pound sophomore guard in 1964-65, he scored 22 points in 16 games in his only varsity basketball season with the Boilermakers. "I always loved basketball, but it was impossible to do justice to both sports," Griese said.

LAMAR LUNDY - Member of the "Fearsome Foursome" as a defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams in his 13-year NFL career (1957 through 1969). Fourth-round draft choice participated in the 1960 Pro Bowl. Caught 35 passes for 584 yards and six touchdowns in his first three seasons. He averaged 10.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in three varsity seasons, leading the Boilermakers in rebounding as a junior and senior. He finished 30th in the country in field-goal shooting (48.1%) in 1956-57 when he was Purdue's only All-Big Ten Conference selection (third-team). Sketch in school guide: "The most improved player in the Big Ten. The 6-6, 225-pound Lundy was more often than not the equal of or better than opposing centers reaching 6-8 or 6-9. His unusual speed and defensive ability make him a valuable asset."

ELMER OLIPHANT - One of the legendary athletes in the history of college sports. Earned nine letters (three in football and two each in basketball, baseball and track) at Purdue before graduating in 1914. Two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection set a Boilermaker single-game football record with 43 points against Rose Poly on November 17, 1912. Won 12 letters at Army (U.S. Military Academy) in football, basketball, baseball, track, boxing and hockey before graduating in 1918. Consensus All-American halfback in 1916 and 1917 played pro football for Rochester and Buffalo in 1920 and 1921. The 5-7, 175-pound Oliphant was named to the 10-man All-American basketball teams selected in 1957 by the Helms Foundation for the 1913-14 and 1914-15 seasons. Spalding's Official Basketball Guide called him "the fastest and most aggressive floor worker in the conference."

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 May 21 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 21

• Toronto Blue Jays 2B Danny Ainge (three-time Brigham Young All-American and national basketball player of year as senior in 1980-81) stroked three hits and scored three runs against the Cleveland Indians in his MLB debut in 1979.

• LF Ethan Allen (Cincinnati letterman in 1924-25 and 1925-26) traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Chicago Cubs in 1936.

• Seattle Mariners RHP Jim Beattie (Dartmouth's top rebounder in 1974-75 when selected team MVP and honorable mention All-Ivy League) notched his third victory in 11 days in 1980.

• Hall of Fame C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University hoopster in early 1920s) clobbered three homers as a Philadelphia Athletics rookie in a 20-4 rout of the St. Louis Browns in 1925. Six years later, Cochrane collected five hits and four RBI against the Detroit Tigers in 1931.

• In 1962, 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 against the Chicago Cubs in the midst of a career-high 15-game hitting streak.

• San Diego Padres RF Tony Gwynn (All-WAC second-team selection with San Diego State in 1979-80 and 1980-81) went 4-for-4 against the Philadelphia Phillies en route to a N.L.-high 211 hits in 1986.

• New York Yankees LHP Steve Hamilton (Morehead State's leading scorer and rebounder in 1956-57 and 1957-58) registered a save by getting the last two outs to preserve a 2-0 shutout against the Washington Senators in 1970 after starter Mel Stottlemyre issued 11 walks.

• Cleveland Indians RHP Wynn Hawkins (Little All-American was all-time leading scorer for Baldwin-Wallace OH upon graduation in 1957) hurled his lone MLB shutout (9-0 against Minnesota Twins in opener of 1961 twinbill).

• INF-OF Rick Herrscher (led SMU with 17.5 ppg in 1957-58 when he was an All-SWC first-team selection) shipped by the Milwaukee Braves to the New York Mets in 1962 to complete an earlier deal.

• Boston Red Sox C Duane Josephson (led Northern Iowa in scoring in 1962-63 and 1963-64 under coach Norm Stewart) jacked two homers in an 8-4 victory against the Baltimore Orioles in 1971.

• Cincinnati Reds RF Danny Litwhiler (member of JV squad with Bloomsburg PA three years in mid-1930s) smacked a pinch three-run homer to break a 6-6 deadlock against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950.

• CF Don Lock (led Wichita State in field-goal percentage in 1956-57 and 1957-58) ended an 18-inning marathon in 1967 when his two-out single gave the Philadelphia Phillies a 2-1 win against the Cincinnati Reds.

• San Francisco Giants LF Terrell Lowery (two-time All-WCC first-team selection and league-leading scorer for Loyola Marymount in 1990-91 and 1991-92) banged out five hits, including three doubles, in a 16-10 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers in 2000.

• Boston Red Sox 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) had five hits against the Chicago White Sox in 1934.

• Hall of Fame RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's second-leading scorer in 1945-46 and 1946-47) signed by Baltimore Orioles in 1962 after he was released by the New York Yankees.

• Brooklyn Dodgers INF Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) supplied six RBI in a 15-6 romp over the St. Louis Cardinals in 1949.

• RHP Jim Wilson (letterman for San Diego State's 1942 NAIA Tournament participant) traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Chicago White Sox in 1956.

They didn't have to worry about manipulation of waiting lists and receiving proper care from the VA because they didn't make it back home alive. Unless you're a coward comparable to MSNBC up-tight host Chris Hayes uncomfortable with calling fallen military "heroes", a Memorial Day weekend generates sobering reminders of what is really important to our freedom. College basketball contributions are aplenty.

Baylor developed a reputation the past several seasons for having some "soft" players who played with the fervor of a man holding his female companion's purse at the mall much of a shopping excursion afternoon. But Baylor is believed to be the only non-service academy in America to have two former athletes go on to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. Both men, Jack Lummus and John "Killer" Kane, earned the nation's highest military honor for heroics in World War II. Lummus played football, basketball and baseball for the Bears from 1938 through 1941. He was an All-Southwest Conference center fielder before signing with the NFL's New York Giants.

After one year of pro football, Lummus joined the U.S. Marines and was a platoon leader in the initial days of fighting on Iwo Jima. While leading a charge on enemy positions, Lummus stepped on a land mine and lost both legs. Despite heavy bleeding, he led his platoon to knock out several pockets of Japanese fire, a vital part of the U.S. victory. Alas, Lummus died of his wounds shortly after the battle.

Kane, who also played football and basketball, was one of the survivors on Baylor's ill-fated 1927 basketball squad that lost 10 of its 21-member traveling party in a bus-train wreck en route to Austin, Tex. As a result of the "Immortal Ten" tragedy, the remainder of the first of coach Ralph Wolf's 15 seasons was cancelled, and the first highway overpass in Texas was constructed.

Kane joined the Army Air Corps in 1932 and soon became a bomber commander of legendary proportions. It was said he was the best pilot and toughest commander in the Air Corps. It was often debated who feared him more - the Germans or his own men.

On August 1, 1943, Kane led what at the time was the deadliest air battle in history - a low-level, long-range bombing raid on Hitler's oil-refining complex in Rumania. The site produced a major portion of the Axis' fuel and was one of the most heavily-guarded locations in history.

Letting freedom ring, the heroism exhibited by ex-hoopsters doesn't stop there. Al Brown, Creighton's leading scorer in 1925-26, survived the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines. Amid "Taps" playing in the background, ex-players warranting salutes for making the supreme sacrifice include:

• All 11 regulars on Pittsburgh's 1941 Final Four team participated in World War II and one of them, guard Bob Artman, was killed in action.

• Kentucky players who competed multiple years for the Wildcats before they were killed during WWII included Mel Brewer (Army second lieutenant/died in France), Ken England (Army captain of ski troop/Italy), James Goforth (Marine first lieutenant/Marshall Islands) and Jim King (Army second lieutenant and co-pilot/Germany). Brewer, England and King were three of the top seven scorers for UK's first NCAA Tournament and Final Four team in 1942.

• Young Bussey, a letterman for LSU in the late 1930s, participated in numerous landing assaults in the South Pacific during WWII before dying as head beachmaster in early January 1945 in the Phillipines.

• Bob "Ace" Calkins, UCLA's top scorer in the late 1930s before Jackie Robinson arrived, was navigator on an airplane ("The Flying Fortress") gunned down during WWII. He later died in an Italian prison camp from wounds suffered in the crash.

• Edward Christl, a center and Army team captain for the Cadets' unbeaten squad in 1944, was a first lieutenant during WWII the next year when he was killed in action. Army's arena is named after him.

• Francis "Reds" Daly, a Georgetown letterman from 1938 through 1940, was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima on February 22, 1945.

• Colorado A&M's Lewis "Dude" Dent, voted the best all-around athlete in the Mountain States Conference in 1943, was an Army lieutenant among forward observers giving firing coordinates on the radio when killed in action in France in August 1944.

• Edward Drake, who played for Rutgers in 1929-30, died on December 21, 1943, in a plane crash over the Mediterranean Sea shortly after his promotion to Major.

• Bob Duffey, a backup swingman for Georgetown's 1943 NCAA Tournament runner-up, was killed on November 13, 1944, in European theater combat. Teammate Lloyd Potolicchio, who matched DePaul legend George Mikan's 11-point output in the 1943 national semifinals when the Hoyas eliminated the Blue Demons before bowing to Wyoming in title tilt, joined the Air Force. Potolicchio was boom operator Master Sergeant when killed in a refueling mission on January 17, 1966, in a B-52 crash off the coast of southern Spain. His KC-135 tanker was completely destroyed when its fuel load ignited, resulting in the B-52G breaking apart with B28RI hydrogen weapons falling to earth and plutonium contamination occurring near the fishing village of Palomares. In March 2009, Time magazine identified the Palomares accident as one of the world's "worst nuclear disasters."

• Montana State's Cyrus Gatton, a pilot with the 11th Areo Squadron, was killed in action in Europe the first week in November 1918, a week before the Armistice was signed ending World War I.

• Eddie Grant, who played basketball for Harvard at the turn of the 20th Century before becoming an infielder for 10 years in the majors, died from shelling on October 5, 1918, in the Argonne Forest, France, during WWI while in charge of his battalion after his commanding officer was killed.

• Thomas P. Hunter, a three-year letterman who was a sophomore member of Kansas' 1940 runner-up, was killed in action against the Japanese on Guam, July 21, 1944, while fighting with the Ninth Marines as a first lieutenant. Hunter was elected posthumously as captain of the Jayhawks' 1945-46 squad that compiled a 19-2 record.

• Nile Kinnick, Iowa's Heisman Trophy winner as a quarterback-halfback in 1939, played basketball for the Hawkeyes during his sophomore year, averaging 6.1 ppg to finish as their second-leading scorer. After bypassing pro football to attend law school, he was killed in a plane crash in 1943 while serving in the Navy.

• Center Bill Menke, the third-leading scorer for Indiana's 1940 NCAA champion who supplied a team-high 10 points in the Hoosiers' national semifinal victory over Duquesne, later became a Navy pilot and served in World War II. In January 1945, he was declared missing in action (and presumed dead) when he didn't return from a flight in the Caribbean.

• Joe Minsavage appeared in 12 games for Syracuse before joining the Navy. On June 19, 1943, he was on board the Henry Knox in the Indian Ocean when it was torpedoed by a Japanese ship.

• Mortimer "Whitey" O'Connell, who played a couple of seasons for Rutgers in the early 1930s, died on March 15, 1945, in a hospital in France.

• Kenneth Omley, who played for Rutgers in the late 1930s and early 1940s, died while in England on November 25, 1944, as a result of wounds received in a plane crash.

• Harry "Porky" O'Neill paced Gettysburg (Pa.) to two Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championships in the late 1930s and caught one game for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1939. After surviving the worst of the horrific fighting at Iwo Jima, the Marine first lieutenant was killed instantly on March 6, 1945, by a sniper's bullet piercing his throat and severing his spinal cord as he prepared to bed down on a starlit night.

• Charles "Stubbie" Pearson, captain of Dartmouth's 1942 national runner-up and valedictorian of his class the same year, was killed in action on March 30, 1945, while dive-bombing a Japanese ship off the Palau Islands. Pearson, who also served as captain of the school's football squad, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

• Four-sport letterman Tommy Peters, who averaged 17.5 ppg to lead the Southern Conference in scoring in 1942-43, died during WWII after only one season with Davidson.

• San Diego State's Milton "Milky" Phelps, the NAIA Tournament's first bona fide standout when he sparked the Aztecs to the 1941 title after two runner-up finishes, gave his life for his country during WWII in the crash of a Navy torpedo bomber.

• Curtis Popham, Texas' co-captain in 1943, was killed during WWII.

• Robert Roach, a member of Omaha's squad before entering the military, was a second lieutenant in the Army Air Forces in July 1945 when he died in the crash of his plane in Arizona, where he was an instructor.

• Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, Syracuse's first African-American athlete in the late 1930s, became a fighter pilot in a unit known as the Tuskegee Airmen. On May 9, 1943, Sidat-Singh was on a training run over Lake Huron when he radioed his engine was on fire. He ejected from the plane, but upon striking the water, Sidat-Singh's parachute pulled him down and causing him to drown.

• Carleton (MN) forward Wayne Sparks, a "Little All-American" in 1936-37, died in a bomber crash during WWII.

• Len Supulski, a standout end who also played basketball for Dickinson (Pa.), died in the crash of a B-17 bomber during a routine Army Air Corps training flight near Kearney, Neb., in late August 1943.

• Charles Taggart, who played in 39 games for Syracuse in the early 1930s, was in the Navy on board the USS Frederick C. Davis on April 24, 1945, when the destroyer escort was torpedoed by a German U-boat.

• Four-time All-MCAU forward Eugene "Peaches" Westover, class of '38 for Drury (MO), was killed January 1, 1945, at the Battle of the Bulge.

Numerous standout players had their college playing careers sidetracked by WWII. Following is a list of All-Americans who had their college days interrupted in the mid-1940s while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces:

Air Force - Charles Black (Kansas) and Jack Parkinson (Kentucky).

Army - Don Barksdale (UCLA), Lew Beck (Oregon State), A.L. Bennett (Oklahoma A&M), Gale Bishop (Washington State), Vince Boryla (Notre Dame/Denver), Harry Boykoff (St. John's), Bob Brannum (Kentucky), Arnie Ferrin (Utah), Alex Groza (Kentucky), Ralph Hamilton (Indiana), Walt Kirk (Illinois), Allie Paine (Oklahoma), Don Rehfeldt (Wisconsin), Jack Smiley (Illinois), Odie Spears (Western Kentucky) and Gerry Tucker (Oklahoma).

Marine Corps - Aud Brindley (Dartmouth), John Hargis (Texas), Mickey Marty (Loras), Andy Phillip (Illinois), Gene Rock (southern California) and Kenny Sailors (Wyoming).

Navy - Bobby Cook (Wisconsin), Howie Dallmar (Stanford/Penn), Dick Dickey (North Carolina State), Bob Faught (Notre Dame), Harold Gensichen (Western Michigan), Wyndol Gray (Bowling Green State), Hal Haskins (Hamline), Leo Klier (Notre Dame), Dick McGuire (St. John's) and John Oldham (Western Kentucky).

In an incredible achievement, Phillip and Tucker returned to first-team All-American status in 1946-47 after missing three seasons while serving in the military. Black and Sailors also returned to All-American acclaim after missing two seasons. Meanwhile, Whitey Skoog served in the U.S. Navy before becoming a three-time All-American with Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Gus Broberg, an aviator with the Marines after being named an NCAA consensus first-team All-American for Dartmouth in 1940 and 1941, lost his right arm in a plane crash. He went on to study law and become a respected judge in Florida.

Fallen heroes also emerged post-WWII. Gene Berger, who started 43 games for Syracuse from 1939-40 through 1941-42, was 41 while serving on the USS Lexington stationed in San Diego in mid-September 1961 when his plane crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff during maneuvers. Don Holleder, who averaged 9.3 ppg as a junior and 6.8 ppg as a senior for Army in the mid-1950s, was a major during the Vietnam War in October, 1967, when he was killed by a sniper's bullet in an ambush 40 miles from Saigon as he hurled himself into enemy fire attempting to rescue wounded comrades. Three months earlier, Don Steinbrunner, who averaged 3.9 ppg for Washington State in 1951-52 before playing with the NFL's Cleveland Browns, was an Air Force navigator shot down and killed over Vietnam.

We honor and remember after they went from the playing field to battlefield! That's why right-thinking Americans are disgusted when a Democratic-controlled Senate several years ago had time for signing a letter encouraging the NFL to have the Washington Redskins change their "bigoted" nickname but isn't "big" enough or sufficiently honorable to prevent stalling of a three-page veterans health bill. Petty politicians may forget their "sacred obligation" similar to POTUS' lame emphasis on climate change rather than military salutes at a Coast Guard ceremony but the remainder of us will not forget genuine heroes.

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 May 18 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 18

• In 1958, Milwaukee Braves 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) smacked two homers against his original team (the Cincinnati Reds).

• Cincinnati Reds CF Ethan Allen (Cincinnati letterman in 1924-25 and 1925-26) went 4-for-4 in a 7-6 win against the Brooklyn Robins in 1928.

• Chicago Cubs RF George Altman (appeared in 1953 and 1954 NAIA Tournament with Tennessee State) provided two homers for the second time in three games in 1962.

• OF Brant Alyea (Hofstra's leading scorer and rebounder in 1960-61 after being runner-up in both categories the previous season) traded by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1972.

• New York Yankees RHP Jim Beattie (Dartmouth's top rebounder in 1974-75 when selected team MVP and honorable mention All-Ivy League) hurled a four-hit shutout against the Boston Red Sox in 1979.

• Detroit Tigers 2B Frank Bolling (averaged 7.3 ppg for Spring Hill AL in 1950-51) scored five runs in a 14-2 victory against the Boston Red Sox in 1959.

• Detroit Tigers 1B Tony Clark (San Diego State's leading scorer in WAC games in 1991-92) stroked four hits against the Kansas City Royals in 1997.

• Boston Red Sox RHP Gene Conley (All-Pacific Coast Conference first-team selection led the North Division in scoring as Washington State sophomore in 1949-50) tossed a four-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers in 1961.

• OF Hoot Evers (starter for Illinois in 1939-40) awarded on waivers from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Giants in 1954.

• Chicago White Sox RHP Eddie Fisher (played for Oklahoma's 1954-55 freshman squad) posted his sixth save in as many relief appearances in a seven-day span in 1965.

• Boston Red Sox 1B Dick Gernert (Temple letterman in 1948-49 swatted two homers in an 8-4 win against the Baltimore Orioles in 1958.

• Philadelphia Phillies 1B Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt letterman in 1918) went 4-for-4 for the second time in a five-game span in 1934. Five years earlier in the midst of a career-high 25-game hitting streak for the Brooklyn Robins, Hendrick homered in back-to-back contests against the Phillies in 1929.

• Washington Senators LF Frank Howard (two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection when All-American led Ohio State in scoring and rebounding in 1956-57 and 1957-58) tied an A.L. record with a homer in six consecutive contests in 1968.

• New York Giants OF Monte Irvin (played for Lincoln PA 1 1/2 years in late 1930s) clobbered a grand slam in a rain-shortened, 10-4 triumph over the Chicago Cubs in 1950.

• New York Yankees LF Charlie Keller (three-year letterman with Maryland from 1934-35 through 1936-37) contributed three extra-base hits against the St. Louis Browns in 1948.

• Chicago Cubs SS Don Kessinger (three-time All-SEC selection for Mississippi from 1961-62 through 1963-64 collected four hits and scored four runs in a 1970 game against the Cincinnati Reds.

• Washington Senators CF Don Lock (led Wichita State in field-goal percentage in 1956-57 and 1957-58 under coach Ralph Miller) smashed back-to-back homers against the Detroit Tigers in 1964.

• LF Jerry Martin (1971 Southern Conference MVP after he was Furman's runner-up in scoring the previous season), pinch-hitting for Richie Hebner, slapped a game-winning, three-run homer for the Philadelphia Phillies in an 8-5 victory against the Houston Astros in 1978.

• Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (Washington College MD guard for two years in mid-1930s) amassed five RBI against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945.