On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on June 13 MLB Games

June 13th, 2015 - 8:38

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 13 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 13

  • 2B Jerry Adair (one of Oklahoma State's three leading basketball scorers in 1956-57 and 1957-58 while ranking among the nation's top 12 free-throw shooters each season) traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Chicago White Sox in 1966.

  • 1B Dale Alexander (starting center in mid-1920s for Milligan TN) traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Boston Red Sox in 1932.

  • RHP Jim Bibby (Fayetteville State NC backup player and brother of UCLA All-American Henry Bibby) traded by the Texas Rangers to the Cleveland Indians in 1975.

  • Philadelphia Athletics C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s) manufactured three hits and four RBI for the second time in a four-game span in 1927. Two years later, Cochrane contributed four hits against the Cleveland Indians in 1929.

  • 1B Darrell Evans (member of Jerry Tarkanian-coached Pasadena City CA club winning 1967 state community college crown) traded by the Atlanta Braves to the San Francisco Giants in 1976.

  • St. Louis Browns C Rick Ferrell (played forward for Guilford NC before graduating in 1928) went 3-for-3, including his lone homer in first 216 MLB games, and added four RBI in a 5-4 win against the Washington Senators in 1930.

  • RHP Eddie Fisher (played for Oklahoma's 1954-55 freshman squad) traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Baltimore Orioles in 1966.

  • Kansas City Royals rookie RHP Rich Gale (led New Hampshire with 7.2 rpg in 1975-76) hurled a one-hit shutout against the Texas Rangers in 1978.

  • In 1962, Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman squad in 1953-54) whacked his first MLB homer (off fellow Hall of Fame lefthander Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves). Koufax went on to collect one more career round-tripper.

  • St. Louis Cardinals LF Danny Litwhiler (member of JV squad with Bloomsburg PA three years in mid-1930s) logged three doubles against the Chicago Cubs in 1944.

  • Milwaukee Braves SS Johnny Logan (played for Binghamton in 1948-49) contributed five RBI in a 12-5 win against the San Francisco Giants in 1960.

  • In 1979, 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) hammered a homer in the fifth game of his last seven contests.

  • Philadelphia Phillies 1B Tony Lupien (Harvard captain in 1938-39) lashed two triples among his four hits against the Boston Braves in the nightcap of a 1944 doubleheader.

  • A grand slam by rookie CF Jerry Martin (1971 Southern Conference MVP after he was Furman's runner-up in scoring in previous season) propelled the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-1 triumph against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1975.

  • New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (played for Bucknell at turn of 20th Century) fired a no-hitter against Chicago in a 1-0 win in 1905.

  • OF Sam Mele (NYU's leading scorer in 1943 NCAA playoffs) traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Washington Senators in 1949.

  • New York Yankees SS Gene Michael (Kent State's leading scorer with 14 ppg in 1957-58) pulled hidden-ball trick for the first of two times in a six-week span in 1970.

  • St. Louis Cardinals LF Rip Repulski (started a few games for St. Cloud State MN) stroked two hits in each game of a 1954 doubleheader sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates, triggering a streak of 10 consecutive contests with two or more safeties.

  • Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Fame RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's second-leading scorer in 1945-46 and 1946-47) yielded three consecutive triples to INF Danny O'Connell of the Milwaukee Braves in 1956.

  • Boston Red Sox RHP Don Schwall (All-Big Seven Conference second-team selection led Oklahoma in rebounding in 1956-57) tossed a two-hit shutout against the Baltimore Orioles in 1962.

  • RHP Rollie Sheldon (third-leading scorer as a sophomore for Connecticut's 1960 NCAA Tournament team) traded by the Kansas City Athletics to the Boston Red Sox in a six-player swap in 1966.

  • INF Gary Sutherland (Southern California's fifth-leading scorer in 1963-64 when he averaged 7.4 ppg) purchased from the Montreal Expos by the Houston Astros in 1972.

  • St. Louis Browns rookie SS Herb Upton (All-EIBL first-team selection with Penn in 1945-46 before pacing Southeast Missouri State in scoring three years last half of 1940s and finishing as SEMO's career scoring leader) provided two triples in a 6-1 win against the Washington Senators in the nightcap of a 1950 doubleheader.