Carl Hubbell

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Carl Hubbell
Pitcher
Born: June 22, 1903 (1903-06-22) Carthage, Missouri
Died: November 21, 1988 (aged 85) Scottsdale, Arizona
Batted: Right	Threw: Left
MLB debut
July 26, 1928 for the New York Giants
Final game
August 24, 1943 for the New York Giants
Career statistics
Win-Loss	253-154
ERA	2.98
Strikeouts	1677
Teams
New York Giants (1928-1943)
Career highlights and awards
NL MVP: 1933 & 1936 All Star: 1933-1938, 1940-1942 Led league in ERA 1933 (1.66), 1934 (2.30), and 1936 (2.31) Led league in wins: 1933 (23), 1936 (26) and 1937 (22) Led league in strikeouts: 1937 (159)
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Elected	1947
Vote	87% (third ballot)

Carl Owen Hubbell (June 22, 1903 – November 21, 1988) was a left-handed screwball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Giants in the National League from 1928 to 1943.

[edit] Early years

Hubbell was born in Carthage, Missouri. Nicknamed "King Carl" by the fans and "The Meal Ticket" by his teammates, Hubbell played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the International League in 1926, going 7-7 on a championship team. The next year, he played with the Decatur Commodores of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League before getting to the major leagues in 1928 at age 25.

[edit] Career with the Giants

Hubbell would go 10-6 in his first major league season, and would pitch his entire career for the Giants. With a slow delivery of his devastating screwball, Hubbell recorded five consecutive 20-win seasons for the Giants (1933-37), and helped his team to three NL pennants and the 1933 World Series title. In the 1933 Series, he won two complete game victories, including an 11-inning 2-1 triumph in Game Four (the run was unearned). In six career Series starts, he was 4-2 with 32 strikeouts and a low 1.79 earned run average.

Hubbell finished his career with a 253-154 record, 1678 strikeouts, 724 walks, 36 shutouts and a 2.97 ERA, in 3590 innings pitched. After his retirement, Hubbell served as director of the Giants' minor league organization and director of player development for 35 years. The last 10 years of his life were spent as a Giants scout.

He won 24 consecutive games between 1936 (16) & 1937 (8), the longest such streak ever recorded in either the National league or American League. He was twice named National League MVP (1933, 1936) (1st unanimous MVP pick in 1936)^{[citation needed]}. He led the league in wins 3 times in 1933 (23), 1936 (26), and 1937 (22). He led the league in ERA three times in 1933 (1.66), 1934 (2.30), and 1936 (2.31). He led the league in innings pitched in 1933 (308). He led the league in strikeouts in 1937 (159). He led the league in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched in 1938 (5.23). He led the league in shutouts in 1933 (10). He led the league in saves in 1934 (8, retroactively credited). He compiled a streak of 46 1/3 scoreless innings and four shutouts in 1933. He pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates (11-0, May 8, 1929). He pitched an 18-innings shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals (1-0, July 2, 1933).

Hubbell and Lou Gehrig on the cover of Time magazine, 1936

In its 1936 World Series cover story about Lou Gehrig and Carl Hubbell, Time magazine depicted the Fall Classic that year between crosstown rivals Giants and Yankees as "a personal struggle between Hubbell and Gehrig", calling Hubbell "...currently baseball's No. 1 Pitcher and among the half dozen ablest in the game's annals." Time said that while he was growing up on his family's Missouri farm, he "practiced for hours...throwing stones at a barn door until he could unfailingly hit knotholes no bigger than a dime".^[1]

Hubbell's primary pitch was always the screwball, a particularly difficult ball to throw, and one that places an unusual amount of stress on a pitcher's arm. However, he threw it so frequently and for so many years that his left arm became permanently twisted, leaving his left palm facing outward at arm's rest. ^[2]

[edit] All-Star game moments

In the 1934 All-Star game played at the Polo Grounds, Hubbell set a record by striking out in succession five batters destined for Cooperstown: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin. In 1984, the 50th anniversary of this legendary performance, the National League pitchers Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden combined to fan six batters in a row for a new All-Star Game record (future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, and George Brett by Valenzuela; Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon, and Alvin Davis by Gooden). Hubbell himself was on hand for the 1984 All-Star Game at San Francisco's Candlestick Park to throw out the first pitch (a screwball of course).

[edit] Death

Hubbell died due to injuries sustained in an auto accident in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1988. He is interred at Meeker-Newhope Cemetery in Meeker, Oklahoma.

[edit] Baseball honors

• He was a 9-time All-Star, playing in 1933 thru 1938 and then again from 1940 thru 1942.
• In 1999, he ranked number 45 on The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
• Hubbell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947.
• He was the first NL player to have his number (11) retired. His number is posted on the facing of the upper deck in the left field corner at AT&T Park.

Hubbell is mentioned in the poem "Lineup for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:

[edit] See also

• List of MLB individual streaks
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
• List of Major League Baseball saves champions
• List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• carlhubbell.com Official website
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• baseballhalloffame.org – Hall of Fame biography page