On That Date: Former College Hoopers Providing MLB Headlines on July 8

July 8th, 2023 - 9:00

Extra! Extra! Instead of belly laughing at Out House propagandist Binder Babe futilely try to explain "not there" cocaine issue regarding Plagiarist Biledumb's Last Family (anyone with dignity would want to be), 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.

A couple of small-college hoopers from Missouri (Bill Virdon of Drury and Chuck Workman of Central Missouri State), New York (Jack Phillips of Clarkson and Hal Schumacher of St. Lawrence) plus Pennsylvania (Kevin Gryboski of Wilkes and Monte Irvin of Lincoln) supplied significant MLB performances on this date. Ex-Louisiana State hoopers Joe Adcock and Alvin Dark also made MLB news on this date. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a July 8 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JULY 8

  • Milwaukee Braves 1B Joe Adcock (Louisiana State's leading basketball scorer in 1945-46) whacked two homers against the Chicago Cubs in 1956, igniting streak of five straight outings with a round-tripper.

  • St. Louis Cardinals C Ferrell Anderson (Kansas hoops letterman in 1936-37 and 1937-38) amassed three hits in a 7-3 win against the Cincinnati Reds in 1953.

  • Chicago Cubs CF Frankie Baumholtz (MVP in 1941 NIT and first player in Ohio University history to score 1,000 career points) banged out four hits against the Milwaukee Braves in a 1953 game.

  • Seattle Mariners RHP Jim Beattie (Dartmouth's top rebounder in 1974-75 when selected team MVP and honorable mention All-Ivy League) hurled a four-hit shutout against the Baltimore Orioles in 1983.

  • Cleveland Indians SS Lou Boudreau (leading scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) smacked two homers against the Boston Red Sox in a 1944 contest.

  • Kansas City Athletics LF Bob Cerv (ranked fourth on Nebraska all-time scoring list in 1949-50 when finishing college career) singled off Hall of Famer Warren Spahn in the opening inning for the A.L. in a 4-3 win against the N.L. in the 1958 All-Star Game. Four years later with the Houston Colt .45s, Cerv smacked the final two homers of his 12-year MLB career (against Cincinnati Reds in 1962).

  • Jack Coombs (captain and starting hoops center for Colby ME) resigned as manager of the last-place Philadelphia Phillies in 1919.

  • Boston Braves SS Alvin Dark (hoops letterman for Louisiana State and Southwestern Louisiana during World War II) carried off the field on a stretcher after being knocked unconscious by thrown ball in 1949.

  • Detroit Tigers DH Darrell Evans (member of Jerry Tarkanian-coached Pasadena City CA club winning 1967 state community college hoops crown) homered twice in a 1987 game against the Oakland Athletics.

  • St. Louis Cardinals 2B Frankie Frisch (Fordham hoops captain) furnished three hits in both ends of a 1934 twinbill split against the Cincinnati Reds.

  • California Angels RHP Dave Frost (averaged 10.5 ppg and 4 rpg for Stanford from 1971-72 through 1973-74) fired a five-hit shutout against the Seattle Mariners in 1978.

  • Atlanta Braves RHP Kevin Gryboski (backup hooper for Wilkes PA in 1991-92 and 1992-93) contributed his 11th consecutive relief appearance without allowing an earned run, reducing his ERA to 1.47 through 27 games in 2005.

  • OF Monte Irvin (Lincoln PA hooper 1 1/2 years in late 1930s) stroked a three-run double in the first inning and grand slam in the 11th to carry the New York Giants to a 10-7 triumph over the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1953. Starting RHP Jim Hearn (Georgia Tech hoops letterman in 1941-42) failed in a bid to win his 13th straight against the Bucs.

  • Detroit Tigers SS Harvey Kuenn (played hoops briefly for Wisconsin in 1951-52 after competing on JV squad previous season) contributed four hits against the Chicago White Sox in the nightcap of a 1956 doubleheader.

  • Boston Red Sox 1B Tony Lupien (Harvard hoops captain in 1938-39) went 4-for-4 against the St. Louis Browns in a 1943 contest.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers LF Wally Moon (averaged 4.3 ppg with Texas A&M in 1948-49 and 1949-50) went 4-for-4 against the Cincinnati Reds in a 1961 game.

  • 1B Cotton Nash (three-time All-American averaged 22.7 ppg and 12.3 rpg in Kentucky career from 1961-62 through 1963-64) returned by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Chicago White Sox after trade three months earlier was voided.

  • Chicago Cubs RHP Claude Passeau (Millsaps MS hooper in late 1920s and early 1930s) yielded a three-run homer to Hall of Fame Boston Red Sox OF Ted Williams as the A.L. notched a dramatic 7-5 victory in the 1941 All-Star Game.

  • 1B Jack Phillips (leading hoops scorer for Clarkson NY in 1942-43) pounded a pinch-hit grand-slam homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to propel the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-6 triumph against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1950.

  • Cincinnati Reds LHP Eppa Rixey (Virginia hoops letterman in 1912 and 1914) won the 16-inning nightcap of a 1924 twinbill, 2-1, at Cincinnati. It triggered a streak of 31 straight scoreless innings for Rixey.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 2B Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in PCC both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) ripped a homer for the N.L. in the 1952 All-Star Game.

  • Seattle Pilots LHP Garry Roggenburk (Dayton's leading scorer three straight seasons from 1959-60 through 1961-62 grabbed school-record 32 rebounds in third varsity contest) hurled his lone MLB complete game (3-1 win against California Angels in 1969).

  • New York Giants RHP Hal Schumacher (St. Lawrence NY hooper in early 1930s) fanned five A.L. batters, including all-time standouts Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin and Al Simmons, in four innings of relief for the N.L. in the 1935 All-Star Game.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates CF Bill Virdon (Drury MO hooper in 1949) provided five extra-base hits in a 1960 twinbill against the Philadelphia Phillies.

  • New York Giants C Wes Westrum (hooper for Bemidji State MN one season before serving in military during WWII) and teammate Daryl Spencer twice smacked back-to-back homers in an 11-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 1956 game.

  • Boston Braves 3B Chuck Workman (first-five hoops selection for Central Missouri State on All-MIAA team as sophomore and junior in mid-1930s) cracked a homer in both ends of 1945 doubleheader split against the Pittsburgh Pirates.