On This Date: Former College Hoopers Supplying MLB Headlines on June 8

June 8th, 2024 - 10:18

Extra! Extra! Instead of wondering how many transgender players there will eventually be in WNBA to satisfy zealots in gender identity police, 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 West Chester State PA hoopers Harry Anderson and Howie Bedell made news with the Philadelphia Phillies on this date while former Mississippi College hoopers Harry Craft and Hal Lee generated N.L. hitting headlines. Elsewhere, ex-hoopers from several Texas universities - Ray Benge (Sam Houston State), Bill Henry (Houston) and Dutch Meyer (TCU) - extended impressive personal performances. Unless you habitually pore over the content at baseballlibrary.com, baseballreference.com and nationalpastime.com, following is a June 8 calendar focusing on such versatile MLB athletes:

JUNE 8

  • Chicago Cubs RF George Altman (appeared in 1953 and 1954 NAIA Basketball Tournament with Tennessee State) went 4-for-4 in a 4-3 loss against the New York Mets in opener of 1962 doubleheader.

  • In the midst of a career-high 13-game hitting streak, Philadelphia Phillies 1B Harry Anderson (averaged 7.7 ppg and 8.9 rpg for West Chester PA in 1951-52) supplied two homers among his four hits in the opener of a 1958 twinbill against the St. Louis Cardinals.

  • Detroit Tigers RHP Elden Auker (All-Big Six Conference first-five selection with Kansas State in 1931-32) tossed a one-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics in 1937.

  • Posting his lone RBI with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1968, LF Howie Bedell (averaged 3.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg for West Chester PA in 1955-56) lofted a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly with one out in the fifth frame against the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking RHP Don Drysdale's string of 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

  • Philadelphia Phillies RHP Ray Benge (multi-year hoops letterman for Sam Houston State first half of 1920s) notched his sixth victory in span of eight starts.

  • Pittsburgh Pirates LF Carson "Skeeter" Bigbee (Oregon hoops letterman in 1915) banged out at least three hits for the sixth time in a 13-game span in 1923.

  • Baltimore Orioles CF Al Bumbry (Virginia State's runner-up in scoring with 16.7 ppg as freshman in 1964-65) collected four hits and five RBI in a 13-8 win against the California Angels in 1980.

  • San Diego Padres 1B Tony Clark (San Diego State's leading scorer in WAC games in 1991-92) smacked a three-run pinch homer off LHP Billy Wagner in the bottom of the eighth inning in an 8-6 triumph against the New York Mets in 2008.

  • Cincinnati Reds CF Harry Craft (four-sport letterman with Mississippi College in early 1930s) went 5-for-5, hitting for the cycle, with six RBI in a 23-2 victory against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940.

  • Boston Red Sox 1B Walt Dropo (Connecticut's first player ever to average 20 points in single season with 21.7 ppg in 1942-43), en route to becoming 1950 A.L. Rookie of the Year, contributed two homers, seven RBI and five runs scored in a 29-4 romp over the St. Louis Browns in the most lopsided result in the 20th Century.

  • New York Yankees 1B-OF Buddy Hassett (hooper for Manhattan teams winning school-record 17 consecutive games in 1930 and 1931) extended his hit streak to 20 games with a pair of singles against the Cleveland Indians in 1942.

  • San Francisco Giants LHP Bill Henry (hoops letterman for Houston's 1947 NAIA Tournament team featuring co-captain Guy Lewis) earned victory en route to going unscored upon in his first nine relief appearances of 1967 season.

  • RHP Cal Koonce (hoops standout for Campbell in 1960 and 1961 when North Carolina-based school was junior college) purchased from the New York Mets by the Boston Red Sox in 1970.

  • Bonus baby LHP Sandy Koufax (Cincinnati's freshman hoops squad in 1953-54) activated from the injury list by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955. They made room for him by optioning P Tommy Lasorda, who eventually managed them for 21 years from 1976 to 1996.

  • Detroit Tigers SS Harvey Kuenn (played hoops briefly for Wisconsin in 1951-52 after competing on JV squad previous season) collected four hits and four RBI against the New York Yankees in a 1954 contest.

  • Philadelphia Phillies LF Hal Lee (Mississippi College hooper in mid-1920s before coaching basketball at Auburn and Louisiana Tech the first half of the 1930s) contributed his fifth consecutive contest with at least two hits in 1932.

  • In 1945, Cleveland Indians 2B Dutch Meyer (Texas Christian hoops letterman in 1934-35 and 1935-36) supplied his third three-hit outing in a four-game span.

  • LHP Dennis Rasmussen (sixth-man for Creighton averaged 5.1 ppg from 1977-78 through 1979-80) traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the San Diego Padres in 1988.

  • Cincinnati Reds 1B Eddie Shokes (Duke hoops letterman in 1939-40 and 1940-41) supplied a career-high three hits against the Boston Braves in a 1946 contest.

  • Kansas City Athletics 1B Norm Siebern (member of Southwest Missouri State squads capturing back-to-back NAIA Tournament hoops titles in 1952 and 1953) went 4-for-4 against the Chicago White Sox in a 1963 outing.

  • Cleveland Indians 3B Jim Thome (played junior-college hoops for Illinois Central in 1988-89) hit decisive homer in top of ninth inning of an 8-7 win against the Milwaukee Brewers in 1995. Nine years later as a Philadelphia Phillies 1B, he collected a pair of homers and six RBI in 2004 game against the Chicago White Sox en route to 15 round-trippers during the month.

  • Eventual MLB Hall of Fame OF Dave Winfield (starting forward for Minnesota's first NCAA playoff team in 1972) fanned 14 Oklahoma batters as RHP in hurling a 1-0 shutout in the Gophers' 1973 College World Series opener.