On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on June 22 MLB Games

June 22nd, 2020 - 10:21

Extra! Extra! If spittin' mad regarding COVID-19 season postponement and ineffectual negotiations commencing campaign, you have time to read news 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 hoopers had front-row seats to many of the most notable games, transactions and dates in MLB history.

Former Guilford NC hoopers Rick Ferrell and Tom Zachary supplied significant MLB games on this date. Ditto ex-Duke hoop teammates Dick Groat and Dick "Footer" Johnson plus ex-Minnesota hoopers Jerry Kindall and Dave Winfield. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a June 22 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 22

  • San Diego Padres RHP Mike Adams (played basketball for Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1996-97) surrendered his only run (against Tampa Bay Rays) in a span of 20 relief appearances from mid-May to early July in 2010.

  • Philadelphia Phillies 1B-LF Harry Anderson (averaged 7.7 ppg and 8.9 rpg for West Chester PA in 1951-52) homered in both ends of a 1958 doubleheader against the San Francisco Giants.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers RHP Ray Benge (multi-year hoops letterman for Sam Houston State first half of 1920s) hurled a four-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs in 1933. Whitewash was one of his six complete-game victories during the month.

  • Cleveland Indians SS Lou Boudreau (leading scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) banged out four hits against the Boston Red Sox in a 1940 contest.

  • Minnesota Twins 3B John Castino (medical redshirt for Rollins FL in 1973-74 under coach Ed Jucker) contributed multiple hits for fourth time in five-game span in 1980.

  • OF Billy Cowan (hoops co-captain for Utah's 1960 NCAA playoff team) traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1966.

  • Cleveland Indians OF Larry Doby (reserve hoops guard for Virginia Union's 1943 CIAA titlist) homered in both ends of a 1953 doubleheader against the Washington Senators.

  • St. Louis Browns C Rick Ferrell (forward for Guilford NC before graduating in 1928) furnished four hits and four RBI against the New York Yankees in a 1931 game.

  • San Francisco Giants RHP Eddie Fisher (hooper for Oklahoma's 1954-55 freshman squad) won his MLB debut by allowing only three hits and one run in seven innings in a 4-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1959.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 2B Frankie Frisch (Fordham hoops captain) stroked three extra-base hits against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1933 outing. The next year, Frisch went 5-for-5 against the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 1934 contest.

  • SS Dick Groat (NCAA unanimous first-team All-American for Duke in 1951-52 when national runner-up in scoring) purchased from the Philadelphia Phillies by the San Francisco Giants in 1967.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers C Tom Haller (backup forward for Illinois in 1956-57 and 1957-58 under coach Harry Combes) collected four hits against the Cincinnati Reds in a 1969 contest.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates 3B Lee Handley (Bradley hoops letterman from 1932-33 through 1934-35) provided four hits against the New York Giants in a 1939 game.

  • In 2003, LHP Mark Hendrickson (two-time All-Pacific-10 Conference selection paced Washington State four straight seasons in rebounding from 1992-93 through 1995-96) became the first Toronto Blue Jays hurler to hit a home run (against Montreal Expos).

  • Chicago Cubs rookie OF/1B Dick "Footer" Johnson (averaged 3.4 ppg for Duke in 1950-51 and 1951-52 under coach Harold Bradley) scored his only MLB tally as pinch-runner in a 1958 game against the Cincinnati Reds.

  • In the midst of a career-high 11-game hitting streak, Chicago Cubs 2B Jerry Kindall (averaged 6.9 ppg for Minnesota as junior in 1955-56) contributed two doubles against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1960 contest.

  • Setting a new record for a night game, Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman hoops squad in 1953-54) fanned 16 Philadelphia Phillies in a 6-2 triumph in 1959.

  • RHP Dave Leonhard (averaged 4.8 ppg with Johns Hopkins MD in 1961-62), joining the Baltimore Orioles on a weekend leave from the National Guard, tossed a three-hit shutout against the Cleveland Indians in the nightcap of a 1969 doubleheader.

  • Cincinnati Reds CF Greasy Neale (hooper graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1915) provided three hits in both ends of a 1918 twinbill split against the St. Louis Cardinals.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates rookie 2B Johnny O'Brien (consensus All-American second-team choice as junior and consensus first-team selection as senior averaged 25.8 ppg for Seattle from 1950-51 through 1952-53) manufactured back-to-back three-hit outings to cap off a nine-game hitting streak in 1953.

  • In 1971, Atlanta Braves RHP Ron Reed (Notre Dame's leading rebounder in 1963-64 and 1964-65) spun a three-hit shutout against the Montreal Expos, igniting a streak where he permitted more than two earned runs only once in a span of nine starts to early August.

  • In 1944, Pittsburgh Pirates INF Al Rubeling (Towson hooper in early 1930s) ripped his second pinch-hit homer in a four-game span.

  • Montreal Expos rookie RHP Bill Sampen (MacMurray IL MVP in 1984-85 when averaging team-high 14.9 ppg) won his first six decisions in 1990 en route to leading team in victories with 12 despite starting only four times in 59 games.

  • In 1982, St. Louis Cardinals RHP John Stuper (two-time all-conference junior college hooper in mid-1970s for Butler County PA) surrendered Pete Rose's 3,772nd career hit. The third-inning double moved Rose past Hank Aaron into second place on MLB's all-time list.

  • Chicago White Sox RF Evar Swanson (five-position hooper for Knox IL) collected four hits against the Boston Red Sox in a 1934 game.

  • Cleveland Indians 3B Jim Thome (played junior-college hoops for Illinois Central in 1988-89) hit two homers in a 1994 game against the Detroit Tigers. Twelve years later as DH, the Chicago White Sox's only hit off Anthony Reyes of the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1-0 victory was seventh-inning round-tripper by Thome in 2006.

  • Toronto Blue Jays DH Dave Winfield (starting forward for Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) knocked in five runs in a 1992 outing against the Texas Rangers.

  • In 1969, Chicago White Sox rookie RHP Billy Wynne (one of prime Pfeiffer NC hoopers in mid-1960s) hurled his lone MLB shutout (1-0 against California Angels).

  • Washington Senators 3B Eddie Yost (NYU freshman hooper in 1943-44 under coach Howard Cann) stroked a triple in his third consecutive contest in 1948.

  • Washington Senators LHP Tom Zachary (Guilford NC hoops letterman in 1916) notched his first of eight consecutive complete games in 1920.