Hello, fellow humans! My name is William Malone IV. Son of William Malone III. And I come with great news! March Madness is here. While March Madness isn’t as wonderful as watching the Minnesota Twins compete in baseball games, the rituals of a college basketball tournament signal that baseball is near.
Countless players on the Minnesota Twins, past and present, played college baseball. Many of those schools also have a basketball team, and some of those basketball teams are competing in the March Madness ritual. Here is a random list featuring some of those players. It isn’t close to all of the players though. Just a random list featuring a few.
Kyle Gibson University of Missouri
Tough loss for the Tigers in the first round, but that doesn’t change the fact that Kyle Gibson is a Mizzou legend. His 131 strikeouts in 2009 is a single season school record. Well, actually it’s tied for the record. He shares it with a guy named Max Scherzer. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Gibson had 11 wins in that 2009 season, making him one of seven Mizzou pitchers to have double digit wins in a single season.
Mitch Garver University of New Mexico
The New Mexico basketball is coached by former Golden Gophers head coach Richard Pitino. On the diamond, Mitch Garver went from walk-on to Mountain West Player of the Year. He actually won that award twice.
Jason Bartlett University of Oklahoma
Tough task for the Sooners, drawing the two time defending national champions for a first round matchup. But it’s been awhile since we’ve seen a team try to three peat in the big dance. When the Florida Gatros won back-to-back in 2006 and 2007, they failed to even make the tournament in 2008. And 2009 for that matter. Can’t defend your title if you don’t show up to the party. As for Bartlett, he played for Oklahoma after attending a JUCO school for two years.
Chris Colabello Assumption University
Yeah, that’s right. We’re going to the Division II tournament, baby. The Greyhounds are on quite the run. They’ve reached the Elite Eight as a six seed, which is a lot more impressive than it sounds. The 64 team D2 bracket has eight regions instead of four, meaning there are eight #1 seeds. This also means the lowest seed is eight, instead of 16. This year’s Elite Eight consists of four #1 seeds, three #2 seeds…and sixth seeded Assumption out of Worcester, Massachusetts. That’s where Chris Colabello played college baseball.
Joe Niekro West Liberty University
Can’t dive into the Division II tournament for just one stop. West Liberty is also in the Elite Eight. Although, they were one of the eight teams who earned a #1 seed. So it’s not some sort of Cinderella Story. Joe Niekro ended his 22-year career with the Twins, pitching two relief innings during the 1987 World Series. He came back in 1988, posting a 10.03 ERA through five appearances (two starts). That ended his lengthy career.
Kyle Garlick University of Oregon
Back to Division I we go! Kyle Garlick was second on the Ducks all-time RBI list when he left the program, which was inactive between 1981 and 2009. He currently sits seventh on their all-time RBI list. Okay, now back to Division II. With an extra year of eligibility remaining after graduating from Oregon, Garlick actually transferred to a D2 school and played there for a year. He hit nukes at Cal Poly-Pomona.
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