On This Date: Former College Hoopers Supplying MLB Headlines on May 24

May 24th, 2024 - 9:33

Extra! Extra! Rather than wonder if rooftop-dancing bartender AOC (a/k/a Sandy Eeyore) is fake weeping over Donald Trump's Bronx rally attendance, 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.

Eventual Big 12 Conference members Baylor (Ted Lyons), Kansas State (Elden Auker) and Texas A&M (Davey Johnson) boasted former hoopers who made MLB news on this date. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a May 24 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

MAY 24

  • Detroit Tigers 1B Dale Alexander (starting basketball center for Milligan TN in mid-1920s) whacked two homers in an 8-7 defeat against the Chicago White Sox in 1930.

  • RHP Elden Auker (All-Big Six Conference first five hoops selection with Kansas State in 1931-32) pitched the first night game in St. Louis in 1940 when Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame P Bob Feller defeated the Browns, 3-2.

  • Chicago Cubs 2B Glenn Beckert (three-year hoops letterman for Allegheny PA) went 4-for-4 in a 4-3 win against the Cincinnati Reds in the nightcap of a 1967 twinbill.

  • Subbing for Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame 1B Ernie Banks, Leo Burke (averaged 9.2 ppg for Virginia Tech in 1952-53 and 1953-54) went 3-for-3 with two extra-base hits against the Cincinnati Reds in the nightcap of a 1964 doubleheader.

  • Philadelphia Athletics C Mickey Cochrane (Boston University hooper in early 1920s) went 4-for-4 against the Washington Senators in a 1929 game. Eight years later with the Detroit Tigers, Cochrane collected four hits against the Senators in a 1937 contest.

  • St. Louis Cardinals CF Taylor Douthit (California hoops letterman from 1922 through 1924) went 4-for-4 against the Cincinnati Reds in the nightcap of a 1931 twinbill.

  • Philadelphia Phillies rookie 2B Denny Doyle (averaged 2.7 ppg for Morehead State in 1962-63) banged out four hits against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1970 outing. The next year, Doyle's two-run homer gave Philly a 2-1 victory against the Cincinnati Reds in 1971.

  • Davey Johnson (averaged 1.7 ppg with Texas A&M in 1961-62) replaced Tony Perez as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1993.

  • Chicago White Sox RHP Ted Lyons (two-time All-SWC first-team hoops selection for Baylor in early 1920s) surrendered 24 hits in going the distance in a 21-inning, 6-5 defeat against the Detroit Tigers in 1929. In 1946, 45-year-old Lyons relinquished the mound to become manager of the White Sox. In his last 28 appearances, he hurled complete games.

  • St. Louis Browns rookie RHP Dave Madison (Louisiana State hoops letterman from 1939-40 through 1942-43) didn't yield a run in his first eight relief appearances in 1952.

  • New York Giants RHP Christy Mathewson (Bucknell hooper at turn of 20th Century) defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 24 consecutive times until losing to the Cards, 3-1, in 1909.

  • Chicago White Sox LHP Gary Peters (Grove City PA hooper from 1955-57) contributed a homer among his three hits in 1967 game against the Minnesota Twins.

  • Atlanta Braves rookie RHP Ron Reed (Notre Dame's leading rebounder in 1963-64 and 1964-65) won his sixth straight start in 1968.

  • Brooklyn Dodgers 2B Jackie Robinson (highest scoring average in Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with UCLA in 1939-40 and 1940-41) homered twice in 1949 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  • 1B Howie Schultz (Hamline MN product played and coached professional basketball) awarded on waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Cincinnati Reds in 1948.

  • In the midst of five straight starts yielding fewer than three earned runs, Pittsburgh Pirates LHP Bob Veale (scored 1,160 points from 1955-56 through 1957-58 for Benedictine KS) tossed a three-hit shutout against the Montreal Expos in 1970.

  • San Diego Padres OF Will Venable (All-Ivy League first-team selection as junior and second-team choice as senior averaged 9.3 ppg under Princeton coach John Thompson III from 2001-02 through 2004-05) supplied four hits and scored three runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2015 contest.

  • 1B-OF Preston Ward (second-leading scorer for Southwest Missouri State in 1946-47 and 1948-49) contributed a triple and homer in helping the Pittsburgh Pirates snap an 11-game losing streak with a 15-1 romp over the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955.