On This Date: Former College Hoopers Made News in August 28 MLB Contests

August 28th, 2021 - 10:22

Extra! Extra! Instead of debating whether Plagiarist Bidumb's brain and soul boast cognitive bandwidth of a fungus gnat while treating U.S. treasure and personnel trashy comparable to his sordid sin(atorial) spree taunting Tara Reade like "Tally-bon" sex slave, you can read news 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 Jerad Head (Washburn KS), Thornton Lee (Cal Poly), Dutch Levsen (Iowa State), Kenny Lofton (Arizona) and Jim Thome (Illinois Central) supplied significant performances with the Cleveland Indians on this date. Ditto ex-hoopers Walt French (Rutgers/Army), Rollie Sheldon (Connecticut) and Norm Siebern (Southwest Missouri) for the Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is an August 28 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

AUGUST 28

  • Seattle Mariners RF Mickey Brantley (averaged 10 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 5.4 apg for Columbia-Greene Community College SC in 1979-80) went 3-for-4 with four RBI in a 10-4 triumph against the New York Yankees in 1987.

  • New York Yankees 1B Tony Clark (San Diego State's leading scorer in WAC basketball games in 1991-92) slugged three homers in an 18-6 trouncing of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004.

  • New York Giants SS Alvin Dark (hoops letterman for Louisiana State and Southwestern Louisiana in mid-1940s) provided three hits for the third straight outing in a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1952.

  • St. Louis Browns 3B Frank Ellerbe (Wofford hooper after transferring from Sewanee TN) completed a three-game series going 9-for-15 against the Philadelphia Athletics in 1921.

  • In 1927, Philadelphia Athletics RF Walt French (hoops letterman for Rutgers and Army) furnished his fourth three-hit game in an eight-day span.

  • Boston Red Sox LF Dick Gernert (Temple letterman in 1948-49 when averaging 2.7 ppg) delivered a walk-off, two-run homer in the 10th inning of a 6-4 win against the Baltimore Orioles in 1959.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates 3B Lee Handley (Bradley hoops letterman from 1932-33 through 1934-35) provided four hits, including a two-run safety in the ninth inning, in a 3-2 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1941.

  • Boston Braves 1B Buddy Hassett (hooper for Manhattan teams winning school-record 17 consecutive contests in 1930 and 1931) banged out four hits in a 10-5 triumph against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1939.

  • Cleveland Indians LF Jerad Head (Washburn KS leader in assists and three-field field-goal shooting in 2004-05 for MIAA regular-season co-champion) singled in his first MLB plate appearance in a 2011 game against the Kansas City Royals.

  • Chicago White Sox RHP Bart Johnson (averaged 30.5 ppg for Brigham Young's freshman squad in 1967-68) hurled his second of back-to-back shutouts at end of month in 1974.

  • Cleveland Indians LHP Thornton Lee (Cal Poly hooper in 1925-26) tossed his first of 14 MLB career shutouts (four-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in opener of 1935 twinbill). Six years later with the Chicago White Sox, Lee's four-hit whitewash against the Washington Senators was his fifth complete-game victory of the month.

  • Cleveland Indians RHP Dutch Levsen (Iowa State hoops letterman in 1918-19) became the last MLB hurler to register a complete-game win in both ends of a doubleheader with a pair of four-hitters against the Boston Red Sox in 1926.

  • Cleveland Indians CF Kenny Lofton (Arizona's leader in steals for 1988 Final Four team compiling 35-3 record) went 4-for-4 against the Toronto Blue Jays in a 1995 contest.

  • Chicago Cubs RF Bill Nicholson (hoops guard for Washington College MD two years in mid-1930s) belted two homers against the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 1947 game.

  • Detroit Tigers RF Jim Northrup (second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder for Alma MI in 1958-59) went 6-for-6 with two homers against the Oakland A's in 1969. Northrup's 13th-inning blast over the roof won the game, 5-3.

  • Washington Senators LHP Denny Riddleberger (averaged 5.7 ppg and 2.5 rpg for Old Dominion in 1965-66) yielded his only earned run in a 15-game span of relief appearances during the 1971 campaign.

  • RHP Jeff Shaw (freshman guard for Rio Grande OH hoops squad compiling 31-5 record and reaching second round of 1985 NAIA Tournament) traded by the Montreal Expos to the Chicago White Sox in 1995.

  • In 1965, Kansas City Athletics RHP Rollie Sheldon (third-leading scorer as sophomore for Connecticut's 1960 NCAA Tournament team) hurled a three-hit shutout against his original team (New York Yankees).

  • Kansas City Athletics 1B Norm Siebern (member of Southwest Missouri squads capturing back-to-back NAIA Tournament hoop titles in 1952 and 1953) homered twice and drove in five runs against the Los Angeles Angels in a 1962 contest.

  • Boston Red Sox C Birdie Tebbetts (Providence hooper in 1932) registered his eighth multiple-hit outing in a 14-game span in 1947.

  • Cleveland Indians 1B Jim Thome (juco hooper for Illinois Central in 1988-89) went 3-for-3 (double and two homers) in a 2002 tilt against the Detroit Tigers.