George E. Milke (born 1954) is a former baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He won the

1974 College World Series The 1974 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1974 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series ...

Most Outstanding Player award while a sophomore at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. He is one of seven players from USC to win that award. The others are

Bill Thom William Charles Thom (born August 15, 1937) was an American pitcher who is most notable for winning the 1958 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at University of Southern California. He is one of seven players from U ...

Bud Hollowell Buddy Ryan "Bud" Hollowell (January 1, 1943 – May 16, 2014) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. After his athletic career, he became an educator and author. Athletic career Hollowell was born and raised in Lo ...

, Bill Seinsoth, Russ McQueen,

Rod Boxberger Rodney Warren Boxberger (born August 22, 1957) is a former baseball pitcher. He won the 1978 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at the University of Southern California (USC). Professional career Boxberger was dra ...

and

Wes Rachels Wesley Adam Rachels (born January 19, 1976) is a former second baseman who won the 1998 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a senior at the University of Southern California. Amateur career While at USC in 1996, he played c ...

. Prior to playing collegiately, he attended Marian Catholic High School in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. In 1973 and 1974, he played for the

Alaska Goldpanners The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks are a collegiate summer baseball team which was founded in 1960 as an independent barnstorming team. The Goldpanners were charter members of the Alaska Baseball League at the league's inception in 1974, but le ...

of the

Alaska Baseball League The Alaska Baseball League (ABL) is an amateur collegiate summer baseball league based entirely in southern Alaska. Players in the league must have attended one year of college and must have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. In the past, ...

. Following his college career, he played professionally from 1975 to 1979, although he never reached the big leagues. He was first drafted by the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

in the sixth round of the 1972 draft, but he chose not to sign. When he was drafted by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

in the third round of the 1975 draft, he did sign. In his first professional season, 1975, he played for the

Visalia Mets Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-most populous city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 38th most populous in California, and 183 ...

, going 8-3 with a 3.71 ERA in 17 games. From 1976 to 1978 he played for the

Jackson Mets The Jackson Mets were a professional baseball team based in Jackson, Mississippi, from 1975 through 1990. As of 2010, they were the longest-tenured club to be based in the Jackson metropolitan area. For their entire sixteen seasons of existence, ...

, going 4-7 with a 4.14 ERA in 1976, 7-11 with a 3.21 ERA in 1977, and 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in 1978. He played his final professional season in 1979 with the

Bakersfield Outlaws Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

, going 2-4 with a 6.16 ERA.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milke, George USC Trojans baseball players 1954 births Living people College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners Visalia Mets players Jackson Mets players Bakersfield Outlaws players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players