On This Date: Ex-College Hoopsters Make Mark on September 23 MLB Games

September 23rd, 2015 - 6:54

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 September 23 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

SEPTEMBER 23

  • Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Jim Bibby (Fayetteville State NC backup basketball player and brother of UCLA All-American Henry Bibby) fired a three-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs in 1979.

  • Seattle Mariners LF Bruce Bochte (starting forward for Santa Clara's 1970 NCAA playoff team averaged 7.4 ppg and 4 rpg) went 4-for-4 against the Chicago White Sox in 1982.

  • Detroit Tigers 2B Frank Bolling (averaged 7.3 ppg in 1950-51 for Spring Hill AL) stroked four hits against the Cleveland Indians in 1956.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers RHP Roger Craig (forward with North Carolina State's 1949-50 freshman team) hurled his fourth shutout in 1959 (5-0 against St. Louis Cardinals).

  • 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) smashed two homers in a 4-2 win against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1955.

  • Cleveland Indians CF Larry Doby (reserve guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA titlist) delivered a grand slam against the Detroit Tigers in 1950.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 2B Frankie Frisch (Fordham captain) collected four hits and four runs against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1930.

  • California Angels RHP Dave Frost (averaged 10.5 ppg and 4 rpg for Stanford from 1971-72 through 1973-74) hurled a complete game, beating the Texas Rangers, 6-1, to finish tied with Nolan Ryan for the team high in victories (16) during the 1979 campaign.

  • San Francisco Giants LHP Atlee Hammaker (averaged 5.3 ppg as a freshman in 1976-77 and 4.9 as a sophomore in 1977-78 under East Tennessee State coach Sonny Smith), matching Los Angeles Dodgers P Orel Hershiser in zeroes the first seven innings, yielded a homer in the eighth as Hershiser extended his streak of consecutive shutout frames to 49 in 1988.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (played for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) homered twice against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a suspended game in 1956.

  • New York Yankees LF David Justice (Thomas More KY assists leader in 1984-85 while averaging 9.3 ppg) homered twice against the Detroit Tigers in 2000.

  • Detroit Tigers SS Harvey Kuenn (played briefly for Wisconsin in 1951-52 after competing on JV squad previous season) went 5-for-5 against the Cleveland Indians in 1956.

  • Washington Senators CF Don Lock (paced Wichita State in field-goal percentage in 1956-57 and 1957-58 under coach Ralph Miller) had a 15-game hitting streak snapped by the Detroit Tigers in 1963.

  • 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) stole three bases against the San Francisco Giants in 1976. Lopes pilfered at least one base nine times in a 10-game span earlier in the month.

  • Boston Red Sox 3B Buddy Myer (Mississippi State letterman in 1923-24) went 4-for-4 against the Detroit Tigers in 1928.

  • C Cal Neeman (Illinois Wesleyan's leading scorer in 1947-48 and 1948-49) clubbed a 10th-inning homer to give the Chicago Cubs a 9-8 triumph against the San Francisco Giants in 1959.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (guard for Washington College MD two years in mid-1930s) homered twice against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1943.

  • Detroit Tigers LF Jim Northrup (second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder for Alma MI in 1958-59) homered twice against the Boston Red Sox in 1973.

  • Detroit Tigers LHP Phil Page (Penn State letterman in 1926-27) didn't allow an earned run in winning his second start in as many MLB appearances (both complete games in 1928).

  • New York Giants RHP Roy Parmelee (Eastern Michigan letterman in 1924-25 and 1925-26) fired his second four-hit shutout of the 1934 campaign.

  • Chicago Cubs RHP Claude Passeau (played for Millsaps MS in late 1920s and early 1930s) scattered four hits and helped cause with a homer in a 10-0 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals as he posted his 20th triumph in 1940.

  • Detroit Tigers rookie 3B Nolen Richardson (Georgia captain in 1925-26) notched his fourth consecutive multiple-hit contest in 1931.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers LHP Preacher Roe (played for Harding AR in late 1930s) improved his record to 22-2 in 1951 with a 6-3 decision over the Philadelphia Phillies.

  • New York Yankees LHP Marius Russo (member of LIU teams compiling 50-2 record in 1934-35 and 1935-36 under legendary coach Clair Bee) tossed a two-hit shutout against the Detroit Tigers in 1943.

  • Cincinnati Reds 2B Johnny Temple (played briefly in 1945 for Catawba NC before joining U.S. Navy) provided four hits against the Chicago Cubs in 1953.

  • 2B Wayne Terwilliger (two-year letterman for Western Michigan in late 1940s) awarded on waivers from the Brooklyn Dodgers to the Washington Senators in 1952.