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

July 23rd, 2015 - 7:25

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 July 23 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 23

  • Milwaukee Braves 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) contributed four hits against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955.

  • C Mark Bailey (led Southwest Missouri State in rebounding and field-goal shooting in 1980-81) traded by the Houston Astros to the Montreal Expos in 1988.

  • Washington Senators RHP Whitey Campbell (Alabama forward was letterman from 1927 through 1929) made his lone MLB appearance (one inning with no earned runs against the Detroit Tigers in 1933).

  • OF Bob Cerv (ranked fourth on school all-time scoring list in 1949-50 when finishing Nebraska career) and C Elston Howard socked back-to-back pinch-hit homers for the New York Yankees in the ninth inning in 1955 but they still lost to the Kansas City Athletics, 8-7, in 11 frames.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers RHP Roger Craig (forward with North Carolina State's 1949-50 freshman team) fired a three-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960.

  • Boston Red Sox LF Hoot Evers (Illinois starter in 1939-40) supplied three extra-base hits in a 4-3 victory against the Chicago White Sox in 1953. Two years later, Evers' two-run, pinch-hit homer powered the Cleveland Indians to a 3-2 triumph against the Baltimore Orioles, who had traded him earlier in the month.

  • New York Giants 2B Frankie Frisch (Fordham captain) went 4-for-4 against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1943.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LHP Johnny Gee (Michigan captain was Big Ten Conference's sixth-leading scorer in 1936-37) yielded only two hits in seven innings of scoreless relief to notch a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1943.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates SS Dick Groat (two-time All-American with Duke in 1950-51 and 1951-52 went 4-for-4 against the Chicago Cubs in 1955.

  • Utilityman Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt letterman in 1918) provided a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 9-5 win in the opener of a 1933 doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies.

  • Washington Senators LF 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) homered for the A.L. off Philadelphia Phillies P Steve Carlton in the 1969 All-Star Game.

  • Chicago Cubs SS Don Kessinger (three-time All-SEC selection for Mississippi from 1961-62 through 1963-64 while finishing among nation's top 45 scorers each year) smacked a triple off Oakland A's P Rollie Fingers in the 1974 All-Star Game.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 2B Barney Koch (Oregon letterman in 1943-44) contributed a career-high three hits in his MLB debut in the opener of a 1944 twinbill against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  • Detroit Tigers RF Harvey Kuenn (played briefly for Wisconsin in 1951-52 after competing on JV squad previous season) went 4-for-4 and scored four runs against the Washington Senators in 1959.

  • New York Yankees 3B Jerry Lumpe (member of Southwest Missouri State's 1952 NAIA Tournament championship team) logged his third consecutive contest with three hits in 1958.

  • Chicago White Sox RF Danny Moeller (Millikin IL captain in 1905-06) had a 12-game hitting streak snapped by the Detroit Tigers in 1915.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (played for Washington College MD in mid-1930s), after swatting four consecutive homers in two 1944 games (three in the opener of a doubleheader against the New York Giants), received the ultimate compliment. In the nightcap of the twinbill, Nicholson is issued an intentional walk forcing in a run.

  • In 1962, Brooklyn Dodgers iNF Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) became the first African-American inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

  • In the midst of nine multiple-hit outings in a 10-game span, New York Yankees 3B Red Rolfe (played briefly with Dartmouth in 1927-28 and 1929-30) provided two of his A.L.-leading 15 triples in a 1936 contest.

  • Philadelphia Athletics rookie 3B Al Rubeling (played for Towson in early 1930s) went hitless for the only time in a 19-game span in 1940.

  • Cleveland Indians 2B Riggs Stephenson (Alabama letterman in 1920) went 4-for-4 against the Boston Red Sox in 1924. Eight years later as a Chicago Cubs LF, Stephenson contributed four hits against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1932.