Buddy Hassett helped the men's basketball team to a 42-18 record over his three seasons, highlighted by a 17-game winning streak, before becoming a professional baseball player. He started his career in 1933 after leaving Manhattan and reached the Major Leagues in 1936. Hassett played seven years in the big leagues for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1936-38), Boston Bees/Braves (1938-41) and New York Yankees (1942). In 1936, he set a Major League record for fewest strikeouts by a rookie, fanning just 17 times in 635 at bats. He hit .308 with 182 hits for Boston in 1939, finishing 25th in the MVP voting, and helped the Yankees to the 1942 World Series. After serving in the Navy, he played three more years in the minors, before managing the Yankees' Newark farm team.