On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on May 18 MLB Games

May 18th, 2015 - 6:49

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.