Princeton In The Majors

If only there was an easy way to look some facts up. Princeton has three players now on Major League rosters, two of whom had productive nights last night. Questions: How many colleges currently have three players on MLB rosters? For that matter, how many have three graduates on MLB rosters? And, while we're at it, how many have three players on MLB rosters where two of the players are better known for their college basketball careers?

To save you the trouble of looking up box scores, San Diego's Will Venable was 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored in an 8-4 loss to the Dodgers. Venable, who scored 16 points in Princeton's 2004 NCAA tournament loss to Texas, is now hitting .316 for the Padres.

Pittsburgh's Ross Ohlendorf, who originally was a reliever for the Yankees, made his frst career start last night against the Reds and pitched well, retiring the first eight and going six innings with a no-decision in a 6-5 Pirate win.

The third Princeton alum in the majors in Venable's teammate, Chris Young, whose next start is Sunday at Milwaukee. Young and Venable, by the way, were never teammates in college in either basketball or baseball.