The Villanova University baseball program started in 1866 and Red Donahue was their first player to make it to the Major League level. Names that appear on the chart above in bold print are in the Villanova University Hall of Fame.
President Eisenhower had a favorite player and it was Mickey Vernon. On Opening Day in 1954 Vernon hit a two-run, tenth-inning homer off the Yankees' Allie Reynolds to win the game for the Washington Senators. The President started to leave his seat and go on to the field to join the celebration, but was stopped by the Secret Service who brought Vernon to the President's box seat.
Did you know that there are forty-eight former Villanova players who made it to the show? Send corrections or updates to Baseball Almanac.