Welcome back to another Humm Baby Countdown and today is a unique one – we’re talking about forgotten college players, some of the greatest in the history of college baseball, who not only never made it to the big leagues, but never even played in the affiliated minor leagues – these are players who were either not drafted or even if they were, never played affiliated minor league baseball, and some just never pursued a professional career in baseball at all. It seems like every year during the draft, I see several amazing players go undrafted and never play pro ball, and I thought over the course of baseball history, there has to be some absolutely amazing college players who never played in an MLB organization. A few years in independent ball or international pro leagues is allowed, but none of these amazing college players were ever in an MLB system, and you won’t believe the talent some of these ballplayers possessed. So let’s get right into the list of 10 of the best college baseball players who never played in the affiliated minor leagues, and there are literally thousands to choose from, so feel free to put more examples in the comment section down below. These are just a few that stood out to me, so, let’s get into it started with an absolute legend at…

#10 Greg Ellena – C/DH (University of Miami)

Going into the 1984, walk-on Greg Ellena was in line to be the bullpen catcher for the Hurricanes. His claim to the fame at the time was going 1 for 1 as a Freshman with a basehit in a 1983 exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles. In 1984, Miami played the O’s again in the annual practice game, and got crushed 12-2, but once again, Greg Ellena came to bat, and got a hit, and was now 2 for 2 against MLB competition. He barely played in 1984, but in 1985, now a Junior, Ellena got an opportunity and responded, crushing 2 home runs in a game in against Rutgers. Then with more chances, he kept producing, displaying an impressive clutch ability to come through in big moments. He earned his way into the everyday lineup as a DH and occasional catcher, and continued to rake throughout the season. In just 76 at bats, Ellena had smashed a team-leading 10 home runs, an insane pace. He moved from the bench to the bottom of lineup to the cleanup spot. At one point, he crushed a home run in 4 consecutive games and ended the season hitting .354 with 14 bombs. He helped propel his team into the postseason, and then to the College World Series, where he became a thing of legends. In 5 games, Ellena went 12-for-25, a .480 batting average, with 3 bombs, 2 in one game, and eight RBIs, and he tied a College World Series record with 22 total bases, easily winning the MVP and of course, the Hurricanes won it all. In 1986, despite hitting over .300 in April and May, Ellena could not reproduce his 1985 season and went undrafted. He decided to finish college and not purse pro baseball, graduating with a degree in electrical engineering. “If I got drafted, I’d take a look at it, but an engineering job looks more secure compared to Minor League Baseball,” he said. Although he never played pro baseball, Greg Ellena certainly had one of the most legendary College Baseball seasons of all time.

9. Macky Waguespack – 1B (Southeastern Louisiana)

Four year-standout Macky Waguespack was a prolific power hitter during the late 90’s who was a first team-all American for the American Baseball Coaches Association in 1999 and a second team All-American for Baseball Weekly. He was also named as Southeastern’s Male Athlete of the Year. His Junior year, he led the team with 33 home runs, then during his Senior year, the left-handed slugger he hit 3 home runs in one game twice. For that season, he crushed 23 home runs with 82 RBIs to go along with a .351 batting average and .727 slugging percentage. During one stretch of the season, he smashed 6 homers in less than 48 hours. During his last two college seasons combined, he crushed 56 bombs and drove in 185 runs. Unfortunately, Waguespack was on the shorter side at about 5’9” or 5’10” depending on the source, and MLB teams did not go for him in the draft. He signed up to play in the independent leagues and still hit well, with a .281 average and 9 home runs in 1999. He played for 3 years in independent ball, hitting 35 homers with a .462 slugging percentage in 727 at bats – respectable but not good enough to grab the attention of an MLB team.

8. Jay Coakley – C – Marietta College

Representing Division 3 baseball on today’s list is a catcher named Jay Coakley, who was a dominant force for Marietta for four years from 1999 to 2002. He helped his teams win the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship all four seasons, with multiple D3 World Series Appearances. He set numerous school records he still holds, including a .436 batting average, 58 home runs, 265 runs batted in and 497 total bases. He is #3 all-time in Division 3 baseball in RBIs and 5th all time in home runs. In 2000, he set a single season conference record with 93 RBIs, still 3rd all time in D3 ball – for context, over a full 162 game season, that pace would add up to 292 RBIs. He was inducted into the Marietta Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2013. After his college career, Coakley went undrafted and played 3 seasons for the independent league Washington Wild Things, a team that still exist in Washington, Pennsylvania. Over 3 seasons and 205 games, he hit .286 with an .811 OPS, 30 home runs, 127 RBIs and 340 total bases. Unfortunately, an MLB team never gave him a shot. Coakley graduated with a degree in allied health and went on to become a registered nurse.

#7 Bill Gearhart – P (Armstrong State University)

Gearhart was a standout 3-sport athlete at Wadsworth High School in Ohio with an incredible arm. In 1982, he threw a no-hitter and went 8-2 with a 1.17 ERA. Then, in ‘83, threw a 1-hit shutout in a sectional championship game with a home run. He went on to attend Division 1 Armstrong State University in Georgia and absolutely dazzled in 1987, allowing just 40 hits in 77 innings, 4.64 per 9, still 14th all time for a single season in D1 history. He was drafted in the 12th round by the San Francisco Giants, but decided to continue his college career. In 1988, Gearhart was even more dominant, going 11-0 to start the season, giving him an absolutely incredible 20 consecutive victories. For over a year, from Feb. 14, 1987 to April 14, 1988, his team never lost a game he started. Gearhart finished 12-3 on the season and 22-3 overall during his college career with a 2.44 ERA. He was drafted again, this time in the 13th round by the Astros, and records show he signed, but never appeared in a minor league game. Gearhart became the pitching coach at his High School and also became co-owner of the youth organization Wadsworth Outlaws. He was inducted into the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

#6 Jesse Trinidad – P (University of Texas-Pan American)

Next up, we have Jesse Trinidad, a dominant left-handed pitcher for the UTPA Broncs in the mid-70’s. He left his mark in NCAA history with 14 career shutouts – still an all-time Division 1 record. That’s right, no pitcher in D1 baseball has thrown more shutouts than Trinidad, and in his Senior season he was at the top of his conference in wins, complete games and ERA. During his college career, he pitched three one-hitters. In 1974, his first season at UTPA, he led his team with 72 strikeouts to the tune of a 1.74 ERA. The next year, he went 7-1 with a 2.27 ERA with 4 shutouts. Then, his Senior Year, Trinidad was second in the nation with 7 shutouts. He is still top 10 all-time in school history in wins, complete games, ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched. He went unselected in the 1976 MLB draft and played the rest of the season in the independent leagues with the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings, going 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA in 7 starts with 3 complete games. He still couldn’t catch on with an MLB team and instead played the next two seasons in Mexico before returning to Texas to coach the Brownsville Hanna High School team.

#5 Chris Kowilcik – 1B (Wake Forest)

For 3 years, Wake Forest starting first baseman Chris Kowilcik put up incredible offense numbers in the most competitive D1 conference in the country. He made headlines in April of 1991 when, during a double header, he went 7 for 7 with a home run. In 1992, he led his team in almost every offensive category, hitting .374 with 20 bombs, 63 RBIs and 36 walks, good enough for 1.208 OPS. He was named to the all-ACC first team, joining future MLB stars like Jason Varitek and Quinton McCracken. In 1992, Kowilcik was nearly as good if not better, bumping his average up to .383, with 65 RBIs and 16 home runs. He was named as an American Baseball Coaches Association All-American. Despite his amazing career, something about him turned off MLB teams and he went undrafted in the 1992 MLB Draft. He played one season of independent ball with the Duluth-Superior Dukes, hitting .281 with 5 homers before moving to the New England area and entering the business world. He eventually became Managing Director at JPMorgan.

#4 George Plender – P (University of Vermont)

University of Vermont Hall of Famer George Plender is widely regarded as one of the greatest college pitchers of his era. His 16-6 record might not jump off the page, but what will is his NCAA record streak of 60 1/3rd consecutive scoreless innings that lasted from the middle of the 1954 season, when he threw 6 straight shutouts, to the start of 1955, when he finally gave up a run. Then, in his next start, he threw another shutout, making it 7 shutouts in 8 starts. He was not overpowering, but like Greg Maddux, had pinpoint control and averaged less two walks per game during his college career. Plender became team captain his senior year and went 8-0 in conference games. He was offered a contract by the Milwaukee Braves after college, but chose not to pursue a professional career, instead fulfulling his commitment to the U.S. Air Force and later building a successful 35-year career in the municipal bond industry.

#3 Phil Ross – 1B – (St. Leo University)

I had to put at least one Division II star on the list, and there were lots to choose from, but I had to go with a first baseman named Phil Ross, who still holds several D2 records. He played for St. Leo from 1982 to 1985, and was a consistent power hitter the entire time with an ability to hit over .300, but it was his Senior Year where everything came together and he had an absolute monster season. Ross hit .484 with a .962 slugging percentage, a .645 on-base percentage, and won the triple crown with a .484 batting average, 22 home runs and 90 RBIs. He was also a patient hitter, averaging over a walk per game. Ross did the near-impossible one game against Division 1 Florida A&M, crushing 2 grand slams in a single inning. He ended that game going 3-for-4 with 11 RBIs. On top of all of that, he wa a fantastic defensive first baseman, with a .988 fielding percentage, committing only 6 errors with 485 put-outs with 25 assists. Ross was inducted into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame and still holds conference records in batting average and slugging percentage, along with the single-season record for RBIs. Inexplicably, Ross went undrafted and was never signed by an MLB team. He quietly walked away from baseball and lived a private life until passing away in 2020.

#2 Littleton Fowler – P (Oklahoma State University)

The people of Texarkana, Texas know Dr. Littleton Fowler as a kind and caring local optometrist who has practiced in his hometown for more than 55 years. But back in the early 1960’s in Stillwater, Oklahoma, he was a superstar on the baseball field. Fowler enrolled at OSU in 1959 and practiced with the team his freshman year, although he didn’t appear in any actual games. But the coaches were so impressed with his arm that they offered him a full scholarship over the next three years. His first year in the rotation, he went 5-0 in the regular season and 7-1 overall with a 1.93, ERA, helping propel the Cowboys to a Big 8 title and College World Series appearance, where he was dominant, winning the Most Outstanding Player award. His only loss came to Southern California, in a game where he got no run support, and Oklahoma State lost 1-0. After a strong senior season, Fowler was offered a contract by the St. Louis Cardinals, but he decided to go on to optometry school instead. “The Minor Leagues would have been a wonderful experience, and in retrospect, I’ll always wonder what might have happened,” he reflected. In 1996, he was inducted into the Cowboy Baseball Hall of Fame.

#1 Mike Rebhan – P (University of Georgia) Reebin

But coming in at #1 is Mike Rebhan, who was a standout pitcher at Florida Gateway College when he was drafted in the 32nd Round in 1988 by the Boston Red Sox. Instead of signing, he decided to transfer to Georgia and pitch against Division 1 talent. As a Senior in 1990, Rebhan went 13-5 with a 3.01 ERA, facing some of the best college hitters in the country in the Southeastern Conference. He led his team to the College World Series and twice defeated a first round pick from that very year and a future Hall of Famer named Mike Mussina. Rebhan won the Most Outstanding Player award with those two complete game victories, and his Bulldogs won the Championship. During his 2 seasons with Georgia, he won 20 games, including 12 complete games and even threw a no-hitter in 1989. He was not overpowering but had excellent control. “It was pretty simple—it was fastball in, slider away, fastball in, slider away,” 1990 designated hitter Brian Jester said. “He was the epitome of a pitcher. He would throw strike, after strike, after strike, after strike.” Surprisingly, he went undrafted after that year and theorized it might be due to the fact that he was already married with two children, and didn’t fit the profile of a young, unattached prospect. He had some opportunities to sign with the Dodgers and Braves, but nothing materialized and Rebhan went on to purse career in software engineering. He passed away in 2019 after a battle with cancer.

Top 10 Greatest College Baseball Players Who Never Played Pro Ball

Erik Reyes