On This Date: Former College Hoopers Make News on August 26 MLB Games

August 26th, 2020 - 9:36

Extra! Extra! Unless you're a cardboard cut-out, you can 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 college hoopers Alvin Dark (Louisiana State/Louisiana-Lafayette) and Danny Litwhiler (Bloomsburg PA) each went 5-for-5 in a National League game on this date. Ex-LA cagers joining Dark in making MLB news on this date were Zeke Bonura (Loyola New Orleans) and Cecil Upshaw (Centenary). Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is an August 26 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

AUGUST 26

  • St. Louis Browns RF Ethan Allen (Cincinnati basketball letterman in 1924-25 and 1925-26) went 4-for-4 against the New York Yankees in a 1937 game.

  • Chicago White Sox 1B Zeke Bonura (best basketball forward for Loyola LA in late 1920s and early 1930s) belted two homers in a 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Athletics in 1936.

  • 1B Kevin "Chuck" Connors (scored 32 points in 15 varsity games for Seton Hall in 1941-42 before leaving school for military service) clubbed a game-tying three-run homer for the Chicago Cubs at the Polo Grounds against the New York Giants before Giants C Wes Westrum (played for Bemidji State MN one season before serving in military during WWII) whacked a game-winning, ninth-inning homer in the opener of a 1951 doubleheader.

  • New York Giants SS Alvin Dark (letterman for Louisiana State and Southwestern Louisiana in mid-1940s) went 5-for-5 with five RBI in a 1953 outing against the St. Louis Cardinals.

  • Boston Red Sox RHP Boo Ferriss (Mississippi State hoops letterman in 1941) posted his 20th victory by doubling home the game-winning run in a 4-3 verdict over the Philadelphia Athletics in the opener of a 1945 doubleheader.

  • Dallas Green (Delaware's second-leading scorer and rebounder in 1954-55) fired as New York Mets manager in 1996.

  • Cleveland Indians DH David Justice (Thomas More KY assists leader in 1984-85 while averaging 9.3 ppg and 3.5 rpg) homered in his fourth consecutive contest in 1997.

  • Philadelphia Phillies LF Danny Litwhiler (member of JV hoops squad with Bloomsburg PA in mid-1930s) went 5-for-5 against the Chicago Cubs in the opener of a 1942 doubleheader.

  • Cleveland Indians CF Kenny Lofton (Arizona's leader in steals for 1988 Final Four team compiling 35-3 record) logged four hits and four RBI against the Seattle Mariners in a 2001 game.

  • New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (Bucknell hooper at turn of 20th Century) tossed his seventh shutout of the 1902 campaign. Twelve years later, Mathewson hurled a two-hit shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals in the nightcap of a twinbill to register his 20th triumph in 1914.

  • In 1977, 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) stroked a two-run triple in the ninth inning to lift the New York Yankees to their 12th win in 13 contests (6-5 against Texas Rangers).

  • St. Louis Cardinals LF Don Padgett (freshman in 1934 with Lenoir-Rhyne NC excelled in multiple sports) provided three hits against the Brooklyn Dodgers in both ends of a 1941 doubleheader split.

  • LHP Dennis Rasmussen (sixth-man for Creighton averaged 5.1 ppg in three seasons from 1977-78 through 1979-80) traded by the New York Yankees to the Cincinnati Reds in 1987.

  • Baltimore Orioles RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's second-leading scorer in 1945-46 and 1946-47), released earlier in the year by the Yankees, outdueled New York Hall of Fame LHP Whitey Ford, 2-1, in 1962.

  • Atlanta Braves rookie RHP Cecil Upshaw (Centenary's leading scorer as junior in 1962-63) allowed his only run in a span of 11 relief appearances covering 15 innings in 1967.

  • In 1939, Cincinnati Reds 3B Billy Werber (first Duke hoops All-American in 1929-30) became the initial player to bat in a televised major league game (against Brooklyn Dodgers).

  • Boston Red Sox rookie C Sammy White (All-PCC Northern Division first-five selection for Washington in 1947-48 and 1948-49) knocked in five runs against the Detroit Tigers in a 1952 contest.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RF Randy Winn (Santa Clara backcourtmate of eventual two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash in 1993-94) registered four hits and three RBI against the Washington Nationals in a 2010 outing.

  • Washington Senators LHP Tom Zachary (Guilford NC hoops letterman in 1916) yielded 20 hits in 12 innings of a 5-4 defeat against the Detroit Tigers in 1923.