On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on June 14 MLB Games

June 14th, 2015 - 7:12

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 14 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 14

  • LF Babe Barna (West Virginia basketball letterman in 1936 and 1937) traded by the New York Giants to the Boston Red Sox in 1943.

  • Philadelphia Athletics SS Jack Barry (Holy Cross letterman in 1908) banged out four hits against the Chicago White Sox in 1914.

  • Cleveland Indians SS Lou Boudreau (leading scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) went 5-for-5 against the Detroit Tigers in the nightcap of a 1944 twinbill.

  • Philadelphia Athletics C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University player in early 1920s) collected three extra-base hits and four RBI against the Cleveland Indians in 1928.

  • SS Alvin Dark (letterman for LSU and USL during World War II) traded with three additional players by the New York Giants in 1956 to the St. Louis Cardinals for future Hall of Fame 2B Red Schoendienst and three players.

  • In his final games with the St. Louis Cardinals, CF Taylor Douthit (California letterman from 1922 through 1924) went 7-for-8 in a 1931 doubleheader sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds.

  • Boston Red Sox LF Dick Gernert (Temple letterman in 1948-49 when averaging 2.7 ppg) delivered three hits and three runs for the second outing in a row against the Cleveland Indians in 1956.

  • 1B Mike Hargrove (Northwestern Oklahoma State letterman) traded by the San Diego Padres to the Cleveland Indians in 1979.

  • Boston Bees 1B-OF Buddy Hassett (played for Manhattan teams that won a school-record 17 consecutive games in 1930 and 1931) fouled out late in a game against the Chicago Cubs after hitting safely in 10 straight at-bats over three contests in 1940.

  • New York Yankees LF Charlie Keller (three-year letterman with Maryland from 1934-35 through 1936-37) went 4-for-4 with two homers against the St. Louis Browns in 1940.

  • The Detroit Tigers scored on New York Yankees RHP Jim Konstanty (member of 1937-38 and 1938-39 Syracuse teams) for the only time in his first 13 relief appearances of the month in 1955.

  • In 1986, Toronto Blue Jays pinch-hitter Rick Leach (averaged 15.5 ppg for Michigan's JV squad in 1975-76) ripped a two-run homer off the Detroit Tigers' Jack Morris.

  • First MLB homer for RF Lyle Mouton (starter in LSU's backcourt with All-American Chris Jackson on 1989 NCAA playoff team) came as a pinch-hitter with the Chicago White Sox off Oakland Athletics reliever Rick Honeycutt in 1995.

  • New York Yankees LF Irv Noren (player of year for California community college state Pasadena City in 1945) pounded two homers against the Detroit Tigers in 1955.

  • RHP Roy Parmelee (letterman for Eastern Michigan in 1924-25 and 1925-26) purchased from the Philadelphia Athletics by the Boston Red Sox in 1939.

  • C Hugh Poland (Western Kentucky letterman from 1931-32 through 1933-34) traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Cincinnati Reds in 1947.

  • New York Giants RHP Hal Schumacher (played for St. Lawrence NY in early 1930s) hurled a five-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1936.

  • Cincinnati Reds closer Jeff Shaw (freshman guard for 31-5 Rio Grande OH team participating in 1985 NAIA Tournament), entering the game with an 0.97 ERA, yielded five runs on seven hits in the ninth and 10th innings as the Houston Astros rallied to win, 6-3, in 1998.

  • Chicago Cubs LF Riggs Stephenson (Alabama letterman in 1920) whacked two homers in a 9-7 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1926.

  • San Diego Padres LHP Eric Stults (played for 1999 NAIA D-II Tournament runner-up and 2000 NCCAA Tournament titlist with Bethel IN) fired a two-hit complete game in a 2-1 triumph against the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013.