Have you ever wondered what college has produced the most pro baseball players? I have, only because I played at one of the schools that are on this list. I came up with the top ten colleges to have produced the most pro ball players and how long ago as well. In addition to that, I threw in the complete history of the college World Series record if that school had made any appearances in the NCAA championship.
Interestingly enough, of the ten schools on the list, only six of the college conferences are represented. The six conferences and the amount of schools represented are the Pac 10 (5), the Big 10 (2), the Big 12 (1), the SEC (1), and the Patriot League (1). The following list are the colleges targeted in this article from the 10th to 1st, how many pros ballplayers came from each school, some of the better known players to have attended each school, and their college World Series record if one applies.
# 10 - Louisiana State University (60) a.k.a. LSU - Southeast Conference (or SEC)
Roland Howell (1910-12) was the first LSU player on record to make it in the pros. He made his major league debut on June 14, 1912 for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a pitcher and oddly enough, he was credited for only three games, pitching 1.2 innings, and having a 26.99 ERA.
Despite Howell’s brief career, there were other better known players that lasted longer in the pros. The list includes Alvin Dark (1943), Joe Adcock (1947), Albert Belle (1985-87), Ben McDonald (1987-89), Russ Springer (1987-89), Curtis Leskanic (1989), Paul Byrd (1989-91), Andy Sheets (1991-92), Todd Walker (1992-97), Armando Rios (1991-93), and Ryan Theriot (1990-2000).
LSU has appeared in five college World Series (1991, 1993, 1996-97, 2000) and has a perfect 5-0 record.
#9 – University of Arizona (61) a.k.a. U of A – Pacific 10 Conference (or Pac-10)
Lum Davenport (1919-20) was the first U of A player to make it to the pros and debuted on May 2, 1921. He was a left handed pitcher for the Chicago White Sox (1921-24) and had a career 1-4 record with a 7.71 ERA.
The list of U of A ballplayers includes Charlie Shoemaker (1959-61), Ron Hassey (1974-76), Craig Lefferts (1978-80), Joe Magrane (1983-85), Scott Erickson (1989), Gil Heredia (1986-87), Kenny Lofton (1988), J.T. Snow (1987-89), Trevor Hoffman (1987-89), Jason Thompson (1990, 1992-93), Brian Anderson (2002-03), and Shelley Duncan (1999-2001).
The U of A has appeared in six World Series, winning three (1976, 1980, 1986) and losing three (1956, 1959, 1963).
#8 – University of California at Los Angeles (64) a.k.a. UCLA – Pacific 10 Conference (or Pac-10)
Marv Gudat (1924-28) is listed as the first pro to come out of UCLA. His big league debut came on May 21, 1929 for the Cincinnati Reds. That year he is credited for 9 games and was a pitcher having a 1-1 record and a 3.25 ERA. There are no stats for him in 1930-31, and in 1932 he is credited for 60 games with the Chicago Cubs having 94 at bats and a .250 batting average.
Other UCLA notables are Jackie Robinson (1940), Chris Chambliss (1969), Tim Leary (1977-79), Dave Schmidt (1977-79), Ron Roenicke (1977), Mike Gallego (1979-81), Shane Mack (1982-84), Torey Lovullo (1984-87), Todd Zeille (1984-86), Jeff Conine (1985-87), Eric Karros (1986-88), Troy Glaus (1995-97), and Chase Utley (1999-2000).
UCLA has no college World Series appearances.
#7 – University of Illinois (70) – Big 10 Conference (or Big-10)
Carl Lundgren (1899-1902) was the first UI player to make it to the pros. He made his debut on June 19, 1902 as a pitcher with the Chicago Cubs (1902-09). He had a career won/lost record of 91-55 and with a 2.42 ERA. His record in 1906-07 was 24-3 and 25-3 respectively. He was a member of the Cub pennant teams in 1906-08, but never appeared in a World Series.
Other UI ballplayers to make it in the majors include Lou Boudreau (1937), Ken Holtzman (1965), and Scott Spezio (1991-93).
The University of Illinois has never been in a college World Series.
#6 – University of Michigan (72) – Big 10 Conference (or Big 10)
Frank Bliss (1872) gets the credit for the first Michigan ballplayer in the majors debuting June 20, 1878 with the Milwaukee Cream Citys. He played in two games and got 1 hit in 8 at bats for a .125 career batting average.
Other players to make it to the pros out of Michigan were George Sisler (1913-15), Whitey Wistert (1932-34), Steve Boros (1956-57), Bill Freehan (1961), Ted Sizemore (1964-66), Steve Howe (1977-79), Steve Ontiveros (1980-82), Chris Sabo (1981-83), Scott Kamieniecki (1983-86), Mike Matheny (1989-91), and J.J. Putz (1997-2000).
Michigan has played in the college World Series twice (1953, 1962) winning both times.
#5 – Stanford University (75) – Pacific 10 Conference (or Pac-10)
Charlie Swindells (1898-99) was the first Stanford player to go to the majors debuting September 7, 1904 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a catcher in three games and got one hit in eight at bats for a .125 career average.
The list of pro players from Stanford includes Ernie Nevers (1924-25), Jim Lonborg (1962-63), Bob Boone (1967-69, 1971), Mike Aldrete (1980-83), Jack McDowell (1985-87), Ed Sprague (1986-88), Ruben Amaro (1984-87), Mike Mussina (1989-90), and Jody Gerut (1996-98).
Stanford has been to the college World Series five times winning two (1987-88) and losing three (2000-01, 2003).
#4 – College of the Holy Cross (76) a.k.a. Holy Cross – Patriot League
Tim Murnane (1868-70) was the first pro ball player to come out of Holy Cross according to the record books. He debuted on April 26, 1876 with the Boston Red Caps and was primarily and outfielder. He played for the Red Caps (1876-77), the Providence Grays (1878), and the Boston Unions (1884). Murnane actually began playing before pro teams were organized.
Other notable Holy Cross ballplayers that made it to the pros were Rube Ward (1899-1901), Pete Noonan (1900-04), Pinky Woods (1940-41), and Pat Bourque (1968-69). It’s interesting to note that the last pro ballplayer to come out of Holy Cross was Mike Pazik who debuted on May 11, 1975 nearly 33 years ago.
Holy Cross has played in the college World Series one time (1952) defeating the University of Missouri 8-4.
#3 – Arizona State University (87) a.k.a. ASU – Pacific 10 Conference (or Pac-10)
Pete Lovrich (1962) is listed as ASU’s first ballplayer to make it in the bigs. His debut was April 26, 1963 with the Kansas City Athletics. Used primarily as a relief pitcher over 20 games, he had a 1-1 record with a 7.84 ERA pitching only 20.2 innings and his career was over.
It’s no secret that lots of well known ballplayers have come out of ASU. The list includes Sal Bando (1964-65), Rick Monday (1965), Reggie Jackson (1966), Larry Gura (1967-69), Len Randle (1968-70), Alan Bannister (1970-72), Floyd Bannister (1974-76), Ken Landreaux (1974-76), Bob Horner (1976-78), Hubie Brooks (1977-78), Oddibe McDowell (1983-84), Barry Bonds (1983-85), Pat Listach (1988), Fernando Vina (1990), and Paul Lo Duca (1993).
ASU has been to the college World Series ten times winning five (1965, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1981) and losing five (1972-73, 1978, 1988, 1998).
#2 – University of Texas (95) a.k.a. UT – Big 12 Conference (or Big 12)
Walter Morris (1900) is the first UT player on record to go into pro baseball. He debuted August 31, 1908 with the St. Louis Cardinals playing 23 games, getting 73 at bats and 13 hits for a .178 career batting average. It was the only ball he would play professionally.
Notable pro ballplayers from UT include Bibb Falk (1918-20), Pinky Higgins (1928-30), Ernie Koy (1931-33), Bill Bethea (1961-63), Burt Hooton (1969-71), Dave Chalk (1969-72), Jerry Don Gleaton (1977-79), Spike Owen (1980-82), Roger Clemens (1982-83), Calvin Schiraldi (1981-83), Greg Swindell (1984-86), and Shane Reynolds (1989).
UT has appeared in 11 college World Series winning six (1949-50, 1975, 1983, 2002, 2005) and losing five (1953, 1984, 1985, 1989, 2004).
#1 – University of southern California (99) a.k.a. USC – Pacific 10 Conference (or Pac-10)
Fay Thomas (1924-25) is listed as the first USC baseball player to go to the majors debuting June 27, 1927 with the New York Giants. He was a pitcher with four different teams during a four year career --- New York Giants (1927), Cleveland Indians (1931), Brooklyn dodgers (1932), and St. Louis Browns (1935). He had a career won/loss record of 9-20 with a 4.95 ERA.
Of the 99 pro players that have come out of USC, the list includes Rod Dedeaux (1933-35), Ron Fairly (1958), Don Buford (1958-59), Tom Seaver (1965), Dave Kingman (1969-70), Fred Lynn (1971-73), Roy Smalley (1972-73), Steve Kemp (1973-75), Mark McGwire (1982-84), Randy Johnson (1983-85), Bret Boone (1988-90), Aaron Boone (1992-94), Barry Zito (1999), Morgan Ensberg (1995-98), and Mark Prior (2000-01). That’s a pretty impressive list.
USC has been in 14 college World Series winning 12 including a streak of five straight years (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970-74, 1978, 1998) and losing only two (1995, 2002) --- clearly the best record in college World Series history.
Now you know what colleges put the most ballplayers into the pros. Interestingly enough, Florida State University, Fordham University, Saint Mary’s College of California, Santa Clara University, University of Alabama, University of California, University of Notre Dame, University of Oklahoma, and the University of Pennsylvania have all had 50 or more ballplayers that went on to the pros. So I could have added them to the list, but it’s easy enough to find the information if you’re willing to do a little research.
Sources:
Baseball Almanac http://baseball-almanac.com
Baseball Library http://www.baseballlibrary.com
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.com
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