On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on May 23 MLB Games

May 23rd, 2015 - 10:23

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 23 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 23

  • RHP Mike Barlow (Syracuse basketball substitute from 1967-68 through 1969-70) shipped by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975 to complete an earlier trade.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Frankie Baumholtz (MVP in 1941 NIT and first player in Ohio University history to score 1,000 career points) contributed four hits against the Milwaukee Braves in 1953.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year letterman for Allegheny PA) collected four hits for the second time in a four-game span in 1971.

  • Philadelphia Athletics 3B Buddy Blair (LSU letterman from 1932-33 through 1934-35) banged a career-high four hits in a 4-3 win against the Boston Red Sox in 1942.

  • RHP Ray Burris (played for Southwestern Oklahoma State) traded by the Chicago Cubs to the New York Yankees for P Dick Tidrow in 1979.

  • Baltimore Orioles LHP Mike Flanagan (averaged 13.9 ppg for UMass' freshman squad in 1971-72) tossed a two-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers in 1978.

  • INF Howard Freigau (played for Ohio Wesleyan) traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs in 1925.

  • Boston Red Sox C Bob Garbark (four-year letterman graduated from Allegheny PA in 1932) went 4-for-4 against the St. Louis Browns in 1945.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RHP Bob Gibson (Creighton's leading scorer and rebounder in 1955-56 and 1956-57) fanned 16 Philadelphia Phillies batters in a 3-1 victory in 1970.

  • In the midst of hitting safely in 33 of his first 37 MLB games in 1936, Brooklyn Dodgers rookie 1B Buddy Hassett (played for Manhattan teams winning school-record 17 consecutive contests in 1930 and 1931) smacked his initial homer.

  • New York Yankees LF Charlie Keller (three-year letterman with Maryland from 1934-35 through 1936-37) cracked three extra-base hits against the Boston Red Sox in 1941.

  • In 1911, New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (played for Bucknell at turn of 20th Century) defeated the Cincinnati Reds for the 18th consecutive time.

  • INF Dan Monzon (played for Buena Vista IA in mid-1960s) traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Montreal Expos in 1974.

  • New York Yankees 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) drilled two homers against the Texas Rangers in 1975.

  • RHP Curly Ogden (competed as center for Swarthmore PA in 1919, 1920 and 1922) purchased from the Philadelphia Athletics by the Washington Senators in 1924.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Elmer Ponder (Oklahoma letterman in 1913-14 and 1915-16) tossed a five-hit shutout against the Brooklyn Robins in 1920.

  • Chicago Cubs SS Paul Popovich (teammate of Jerry West for West Virginia's 1960 NCAA playoff team) went 3-for-3 and knocked in the decisive run with a double off Tug McGraw in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 2-1 victory against the New York Mets in 1972.

  • New York Yankees rookie LHP Dennis Rasmussen (sixth-man for Creighton averaged 5.1 ppg from 1977-78 through 1979-80) secured his first MLB victory, yielding only two hits and fanning 10 Seattle Mariners batters over eight innings in 1984.

  • Baltimore Orioles RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's runner-up in scoring in 1945-46 and 1946-47) fired a two-hitter (both by light-hitting SS Eddie Brinkman/.224 career batting average) in a 6-0 victory over the Washington Senators in 1963.

  • LHP Paul Splittorff (runner-up in scoring and rebounding for Morningside IA in 1967-68) toiled 11 shutout innings for the Kansas City Royals before they edged the Minnesota Twins, 1-0, in 15 frames in 1981.

  • Bobby Winkles (led Illinois Wesleyan in scoring in 1950-51) stepped down as manager of the Oakland A's in 1978 although they were leading the A.L. Western Division.