On This Date: Former College Hoopers Providing MLB Headlines on August 25

August 25th, 2023 - 9:33

Extra! Extra! If government program is deemed so abysmal, why didn't Clueless Joe sunset debt debacle incurred mainly by useless woke folk (even if "the big guy" did it using pseudonym)? If your college diploma doesn't boast sufficient value for you to pay it off, degree certainly doesn't have enough merit for other Americans to underwrite it for deadbeats similar to rooftop-dancing bartender AOC. Instead of feeling as if you're a principled dolt for working hard and foolishly paying off your student loan, 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 junior college hoopers Darrell Evans, Gary Redus, Jackie Robinson, Ralph Terry and Jim Thome made MLB news on this date. Ditto ex-San Diego State hoopers Tony Gwynn and Graig Nettles on this date in 1982. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is an August 25 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

AUGUST 25

  • OF Ken Berry (freshman hooper for Wichita in 1959-60) contributed a fifth-inning solo homer and game-winning single in bottom of ninth to lift the Chicago White Sox to a 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox in nightcap of 1967 twinbill.

  • Cleveland Indians SS Lou Boudreau (leading basketball scorer for Illinois' 1937 Big Ten Conference co-champion) contributed four hits against the Boston Red Sox in a 1947 game.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates rookie RHP Don Carlsen (Denver hoops letterman in 1943) toiled 12 innings in a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1951. He singled and scored decisive run against Jim Konstanty (Syracuse hooper in late 1930s) in top of the 12th.

  • New York Mets 1B Donn Clendenon (four-sport letterman with Morehouse GA) knocked in five runs against the Atlanta Braves in a 1970 contest.

  • New York Yankees Hall of Fame LF Earle Combs (three-year hoops captain for Eastern Kentucky) incurred a severe shoulder injury colliding with a teammate, contributing to Combs' retirement following the 1935 campaign. He delivered two three-hit outings in his previous four starts.

  • San Francisco Giants 3B Darrell Evans (member of Jerry Tarkanian-coached Pasadena City CA club winning 1967 state community college crown) homered twice in a 1978 game against the Montreal Expos.

  • Los Angeles Dodgers C Joe Ferguson (hooper in 1967 NCAA playoffs with Pacific) collected two homers and four RBI in a 6-4 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 1973 outing.

  • Boston Red Sox C Rick Ferrell (played forward for Guilford NC before graduating in 1928) furnished four hits and four RBI in a 5-4 victory against the Cleveland Indians in the opener of a 1935 doubleheader.

  • Boston Red Sox RHP Boo Ferriss (Mississippi State hoops letterman in 1941) topped the visiting Cleveland Indians, 2-1, to improve his 1946 Fenway Park mark to 13-0.

  • Philadelphia Athletics starting RHP Stu Flythe (North Carolina State hoops letterman from 1932-33 through 1934-35) walked 11 Chicago White Sox batters in three innings in a 1936 game.

  • In 1982, San Diego Padres rookie LF Tony Gwynn (All-WAC second-team selection with San Diego State in 1979-80 and 1980-81 who twice led league in assists) broke his wrist diving for a fly ball en route to falling short of a .300 batting average for the only time in his 20-year career (.289).

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 1B Gil Hodges (hooper for St. Joseph's IN in 1943 and Oakland City IN in 1947 and 1948) homered twice and doubled against the Cincinnati Reds in a 1954 contest.

  • Washington Senators 1B Frank Howard (two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection when leading Ohio State in scoring and rebounding in 1956-57 and 1957-58) went 4-for-4 against the Minnesota Twins in a 1969 game.

  • RF David Justice (Thomas More KY assists leader in 1984-85 while averaging 9.3 ppg and 3.5 rpg) and Atlanta Braves teammate Fred McGriff whacked back-to-back homers for the second time in 10 days in 1993. Justice jacked two circuit clouts in the game against the San Francisco Giants as he secured six round-trippers in his last six contests of the month.

  • Cincinnati Reds RHP Vern Kennedy (Central Missouri State hooper in mid-1920s) fired a six-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh pirates in 1945. Eleven years earlier, he was purchased from Oklahoma City (Texas League) by the Chicago White Sox in 1934.

  • Washington Senators SS Doc Lavan (Hope MI hooper from 1908 through 1910) went 4-for-4 against the Chicago White Sox in the nightcap of a 1918 twinbill.

  • New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (Bucknell hooper at turn of 20th Century) reached the 20-win plateau for the seventh straight season in 1909.

  • New York Yankees RHP Lindy McDaniel (played for Oklahoma's 1954-55 freshman hoops squad) retired 32 consecutive batters covering four relief appearances in 1968.

  • New York Yankees 3B Graig Nettles (shot 87.8% from free-throw line for San Diego State in 1963-64) cracked two homers against the Minnesota Twins in a 1982 game.

  • Chicago White Sox LHP Gary Peters (Grove City PA hooper in mid-1950s) had his personal streak of 14 straight starts allowing fewer than four earned runs snapped by the Boston Red Sox in 1967.

  • In 1989, Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Gary Redus (J.C. hooper for Athens AL and father of Centenary/South Alabama guard with same name) hit for the cycle against his original team (Cincinnati Reds).

  • Chicago White Sox rookie RHP Johnny Rigney (top hoops center for St. Thomas MN in mid-1930s) struck out New York Yankee Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig in a 1937 relief appearance.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 3B Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) ripped two homers against the Chicago Cubs in the nightcap of a 1953 twinbill.

  • New York Yankees 3B Red Rolfe (played hoops briefly with Dartmouth in 1927-28 and 1929-30) extended his streak of scoring at least one run to 18 straight contests in 1939.

  • Baltimore Orioles RF Ken Singleton (Hofstra freshman hoops team in mid-1960s) stroked three extra-base hits against the Seattle Mariners in a 1981 contest.

  • St. Louis Cardinals RHP Lee Smith (averaged 3.4 ppg and 1.9 rpg for Northwestern State in 1976-77) notched milestone 300th of 478 saves in his 18-year MLB career.

  • Chicago Cubs LF Riggs Stephenson (Alabama hoops letterman in 1920) went 7-for-10 in a 1933 doubleheader split against the Philadelphia Phillies.

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Champ Summers (led SIUE in scoring in 1969-70 after doing likewise for Nicholls State in 1964-65) launched two homers against the Seattle Mariners in a 1979 game.

  • New York Yankees RHP Ralph Terry (juco hooper averaged 22 ppg for Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in mid-1950s) improved his record to 11-1 with second of back-to-back shutouts in 1961.

  • DH Jim Thome (juco hooper for Illinois Central in 1988-89) purchased from the Minnesota Twins by Cleveland Indians in 2011.