Smartest Baseball Players Ever: Alan Roden and MLB’s Other Star Scholar-Athletes

It takes incredible IQ and focus to excel in baseball. However, some took it to the next level.

Alan Roden has been making some noise at the Toronto camp. He recently announced that he will be putting a pause on his astrophysics degree at Creighton to play for the Blue Jays. Pretty incredible stuff. If that wasn’t enough, he received a grant from NASA Nebraska and graduated with a degree in physics.

Oh yes, he also hit .387 while doing so in D-1 college baseball.

Bill Almon

In 1974, Almon became the first ever Ivy League athlete to be selected 1st overall. In his final year at Brown University, he earned College Player of the Year from The Sporting News. He hit .350, 10 home runs, delivered 31 RBIs and had 20 stolen bases.

Unfortunately, Bill Almon never lived up to the hype. He was a career utility player, with seven different teams on his jersey over a fifteen year career.

Gene Larkin

Larkin earned an economics degree from Columbia University. While he was there, he broke the majority of Columbia Alumni Lou Gehrig‘s records.

In 1987 he made the Twins roster. In his first year there, he got himself a ring as Minnesota won their second World Series. Four years later, he was a key part of the franchise’s last World Series win. In game seven, the designated hitter/1B drove in the series winning run.

Ron Darling

A bit different than the others, Darling took the history route. At Yale, the pitcher studied French and Southeastern Asian history. He had a stellar career at the collegiate level, with his most memorable moment coming in a loss. During a 1-0 defeat against St. John’s, Ron Darling didn’t allow a hit through the first 11 innings!

During the 1981 draft, Darling was selected in the first round by the Texas Rangers. He was traded to the Mets a year after, where he had a career season. The Hawaii native was a key part of the Mets’ rotation during their 1986 World Series win.

As icing on the cake, he finished the season with 15 wins and finished fifth in Cy Young voting.

These players proved that brilliance isn’t limited to the classroom, some managed to excel both academically and on the diamond, leaving a lasting mark in baseball history.