On This Date: Former College Hoopers Providing MLB Headlines on June 12

June 12th, 2023 - 8:51

Extra! Extra! Instead of debating ex-Speaker Nanny Pathetic's feeble efforts to protect Capitol Hill with National Guard on J6, 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 Jackie Robinson (UCLA), Wally Roettger (Illinois) and Preston Ward (Missouri State) each had MLB multiple-hit streaks of at least four games on this date. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a June 12 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 12

  • Milwaukee Braves 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) produced four hits against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the nightcap of a 1953 doubleheader. Ten years later with the Cleveland Indians in 1963, Adcock homered for the fourth time in a five-game span.

  • Eighteen-year-old RHP Ralph Branca (sixth-leading scorer for NYU in 1943-44) made his Brooklyn Dodgers debut, striking out the first three New York Giants batters he faced in 1944.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B John "Paddy" Driscoll (Northwestern hoops letterman in 1916) stroked a double in his MLB debut in 1917.

  • A two-run, seventh-inning triple by pinch-hitter Grant Dunlap (Pacific hoops letterman in 1942-43 and 1946-47) proved decisive as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the New York Giants, 3-1, in 1953.

  • San Francisco Giants 1B Darrell Evans (member of Jerry Tarkanian-coached Pasadena City CA club winning 1967 state community college crown) contributed a double and homer in the fourth inning when they scored all of their runs in an 8-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds in 1983.

  • LHP Johnny Gee (hoops captain of Michigan's 16-4 team in 1936-37) purchased from the Pittsburgh Pirates by the New York Giants in 1944.

  • San Francisco Giants RHP Ed Halicki (NAIA All-American third-team choice in 1971-72 when leading Monmouth in scoring with 21 ppg after setting school single-game rebounding record with 40 the previous season) hurled a one-hit shutout against the Montreal Expos in 1978. Nine days later, he spun a three-hit whitewash against the Cincinnati Reds.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 3B Harvey Hendrick (Vanderbilt hoops letterman in 1918) stole second, third and home against the Chicago Cubs in the eighth inning in 1928.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (hooper for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) hammered a grand slam en route to amassing eight RBI in a 20-7 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds in 1949. Three years later, Hodges homered twice against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1952 contest.

  • SS Billy Hunter (multi-sport athlete for Indiana PA post-WWII) traded by the Kansas City Athletics to Cleveland Indians in 1958.

  • California Angels DH Joe Lahoud (New Haven CT hoops letterman in mid-1960s) launched two homers against the Detroit Tigers in a 1975 outing.

  • St. Louis Cardinals SS Doc Lavan (Hope MI hooper from 1908 through 1910) went 5-for-5 against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1922 game.

  • Chicago White Sox LHP Thornton Lee (Cal Poly hooper in 1925-26) fanned 13 batters in a three-hit shutout against the Cleveland Indians in 1945.

  • Milwaukee Brewers RHP Frank Linzy (listed on Oklahoma State's freshman hoops roster in 1959-60) posted his fourth save in as many days en route to earning a save or victory in his first seven relief appearances of the month in 1973.

  • Mel McGaha (first Arkansas hooper to earn four letters from 1943-44 through 1946-47) named manager of the Kansas City Athletics in 1964.

  • Washington Senators 3B Buddy Myer (Mississippi State hoops letterman in 1923-24) went 4-for-4 with four RBI against the Detroit Tigers in a 1938 contest.

  • C-OF Don Padgett (participated in multiple sports as freshman for Lenoir-Rhyne NC in 1934) purchased from the Brooklyn Dodgers by the Boston Braves in 1946.

  • Philadelphia Phillies LHP Eppa Rixey (Virginia hoops letterman in 1912 and 1914) tossed his second of back-to-back shutouts in 1917. Eight years later with the Cincinnati Reds, Rixey fired a shutout amid a streak of seven straight wins in less than a month in 1925.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers LF Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) registered his seventh straight multiple-hit game in 1953.

  • In the midst of a career-high 16-game hitting streak in 1928, St. Louis Cardinals rookie LF Wally Roettger (Illinois hoops letterman in 1921-22 and 1922-23) supplied his sixth straight multiple-hit outing.

  • An inside-the-park homer by Cincinnati Reds OF Champ Summers (led SIUE in scoring in 1969-70 after doing same with Nicholls State in 1964-65) represented his second pinch-hit round-tripper in less than a month in 1977. Three years later with the Detroit Tigers, Summers smashed two homers against the Minnesota Twins in a 1980 game.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Preston Ward (second-leading scorer for Southwest Missouri State in 1946-47 and 1948-49) provided multiple hits in his fourth consecutive contest in 1954, going 11-for-18 in that span.

  • Detroit Tigers LHP Ed Wells (multi-sport athlete graduated in 1924 from Bethany WV) hurled his third straight shutout en route to six complete-game victories during the month in 1926.

  • Boston Red Sox C Sammy White (All-PCC Northern Division first-five selection for Washington in 1947-48 and 1948-49) went 4-for-4 against the Detroit Tigers in a 1958 outing.

  • In 1954, RHP Jim Wilson (letterman for San Diego State's 1942 NAIA Tournament participant) hurled a no-hitter for the Milwaukee Braves in a duel against Hall of Fame RHP Robin Roberts (Michigan State's second-leading scorer in 1945-46 and 1946-47) and the Philadelphia Phillies.

  • In perhaps the most amazing game in College World Series history, eventual Hall of Fame OF Dave Winfield (starting forward for Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) fanned 15 USC batters and yielded only one infield single through eight innings as RHP in 1973 before the defending national champion Trojans overcame a 7-0 deficit with eight runs in the ninth.

  • Former MLB manager Bobby Winkles (All-College Conference of Illinois first-team selection led Illinois Wesleyan in scoring with 12 ppg as senior in 1950-51) coached Arizona State to his first of three College World Series championships with the Sun Devils by edging Ohio State, 2-1, in 1965.

  • OF-3B Chuck Workman (All-MIAA selection was leading scorer in inaugural NAIA Tournament won by Central Missouri State in 1937) traded by the Boston Braves to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1946.

  • Washington Senators LHP Tom Zachary (hoops letterman for Guilford NC in 1916) went 4-for-4 at the plate in 1922 game against the Detroit Tigers.