On This Date: Former College Hoopsters Make Mark on August 31 MLB Games

August 31st, 2015 - 7:08

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 an August 31 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

AUGUST 31

  • New York Giants LF Babe Barna (West Virginia basketball letterman in 1936 and 1937) provided a career-high four hits in a 7-6 win against the Chicago Cubs in 1942.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year letterman for Allegheny PA) supplied four hits against the Atlanta Braves in 1969.

  • California Angels rookie LF Bruce Bochte (starting forward for Santa Clara's NCAA playoff team in 1970 averaged 7.4 ppg and 4 rpg) belted two homers against the Milwaukee Brewers in 1974.

  • In 1954, Milwaukee Braves rookie RHP Gene Conley (All-PCC first-team selection led North Division in scoring in 1949-50 as Washington State sophomore) hurled a three-hit shutout against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The whitewash was Conley's fifth win of the month.

  • Milwaukee Braves 1B George Crowe (four-year letterman from 1939-40 through 1942-43 for Indiana Central after becoming first high school player named state's Mr. Basketball) smacked two homers against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955.

  • Boston Braves SS Dick Culler (#9 jersey retired by High Point for Little All-American in 1935 and 1936) contributed four hits against the Philadelphia Phillies in the nightcap of a 1946 doubleheader.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers C Joe Ferguson (played in 1967 NCAA playoffs with Pacific) laced two homers against the Montreal Expos in 1980.

  • LHP Mike Flanagan (averaged 13.9 ppg for Massachusetts' 15-1 freshman squad in 1971-72) traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1987. Toronto released knuckleballer Phil Niekro to make room on roster for Flanagan.

  • 1B-OF Dick Gernert (Temple letterman in 1948-49 when averaging 2.7 ppg) purchased from the Chicago Cubs by the Detroit Tigers in 1960.

  • Dallas Green (Delaware's second-leading scorer and rebounder in 1954-55) named Philadelphia Phillies manager in 1979.

  • In 1934, St. Louis Browns C Frank Grube (Lafayette starting guard as senior in 1926-27) closed out the month with his seventh multiple-hit contest in an eight-game span.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (played for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) swatted four homers, accounting for nine RBI, in a 19-3 romp over the Boston Braves in 1950. Seven years later, Hodges homered in his fifth of final six games of the month in 1957.

  • 1B-OF 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) purchased from the Texas Rangers by the Detroit Tigers in 1972.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LHP Herb Kelly (played for Notre Dame from 1911-12 through 1913-14) notched his lone MLB victory (against Brooklyn Robins in 1915).

  • 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) collected five hits against the Montreal Expos in the opener of a 1971 doubleheader.

  • Philadelphia Phillies RHP Jim Konstanty (member of 1937-38 and 1938-39 Syracuse teams) hurled a three-hit shutout against the Boston Braves in the nightcap of a 1952 twinbill.

  • LHP Bill Krueger (led WCAC in free-throw percentage in 1975-76 with Portland) traded by the Minnesota Twins to Montreal Expos in 1992. It is one of four seasons Krueger split time between the A.L. and N.L. during his career.

  • 2B Davey Lopes (NAIA All-District 15 selection for Iowa Wesleyan averaged 16.9 ppg as freshman in 1964-65 and 12.1 as sophomore in 1965-66) shipped by the Oakland Athletics to the Chicago Cubs in 1984 to complete an earlier deal.

  • Chicago White Sox RHP Ted Lyons (two-time All-SWC first-team selection for Baylor in early 1920s) lifted after seven innings and 15 hits opposing the St. Louis Browns in 1941. It is Lyons' final incomplete MLB game as he finished three subsequent starts in 1941, all 20 in 1942 and all five in 1946 (after serving in U.S. military during World War II).

  • SS Gene Michael (Kent State's leading scorer with 14 ppg in 1957-58) banged out a career-high four of the New York Yankees' 25 hits in an 18-6 romp over the Chicago White Sox in 1974.

  • A three-run, ninth-inning homer by RF Wally Moon (averaged 4.3 ppg with Texas A&M in 1948-49 and 1949-50) gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-2 victory against the San Francisco Giants in 1959 when teammate Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman squad in 1953-54) broke Dizzy Dean's N.L. mark and tied Bob Feller's MLB record of 18 strikeouts in a single game.

  • In 1930, Cleveland Indians 1B Ed Morgan (Tulane letterman from 1923-24 through 1925-26) collected four hits and four RBI for the second time in last four games of the month.

  • In the midst of a 10-game hitting streak, Chicago White Sox rookie OF Lyle Mouton (starter in LSU's backcourt with All-American Chris Jackson for 1989 NCAA playoff team) went 4-for-4 against the Detroit Tigers in 1995. Six years later, Mouton was shipped by the Tigers to the Houston Astros as part of a conditional deal in 2001.

  • 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) belted two homers to power the New York Yankees to a 5-4 victory against Seattle in 1977.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (guard for Washington College MD two years in mid-1930s) had his 21-game hitting streak snapped by the Cincinnati Reds in 1943.

  • OF Irv Noren (player of year for California junior college state champion Pasadena City in 1945) awarded off waivers from the Kansas City Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1957. Two years earlier with the New York Yankees, Noren went 3-for-3 and scored four runs against the Athletics in 1955.

  • Chicago White Sox LHP Gary Peters (played for Grove City PA in mid-1950s) allowed fewer than three runs in his eighth straight start en route to pacing the A.L. with a 1.98 ERA in 1966.

  • LHP Denny Riddleberger (averaged 5.7 ppg and 2.5 rpg for Old Dominion in 1965-66) traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with cash to the Washington Senators for P George Brunet in 1970.

  • RHP Lee Smith (averaged 3.4 ppg and 1.9 rpg with Northwestern State in 1976-77) traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the New York Yankees in 1993.

  • New York Yankees LHP Ed Wells (multi-sport athlete graduated in 1924 from Bethany WV) hurled a one-hit shutout against the Washington Senators in the opener of a 1929 doubleheader.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bob Will (all-league athlete was captain for Mankato State MN in 1954-55) contributed two safeties in both ends of a 1960 twinbill against the Milwaukee Braves. He had 11 multiple-hit games during the month.

  • DH Dave Winfield (starting forward with Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) purchased from the Minnesota Twins by the Cleveland Indians in 1994.