Carl Hubbell may not be associated to Missouri by many people, but he was born in Carthage, MO on June 22nd, 1903. He would later move to Meeker, OK and from there would become a multi-time All-Star for the New York Giants baseball club. He was most famous for his screwball pitch though the pitcher intially didn't impress Detroit Tigers pitching coach George McBride or Ty Cobb who was the manager in addition to a player for Detroit. After Detroit gave up on him in 1928, they sent him to Beaumont, TX to play for the Exporters.
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| Photo Courtesy: Haworth, New Jersey |
Dick Kinsella who was a Giants scout at the time happened to see him pitch one June day. He was impressed and contacted Giants manager John McGraw, and a short time later paid Beaumont $30,000 to for Hubbell. After that "King Carl" as many called him would forever be a Giant.
He pitched his first MLB game on July 26th, 1928 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unfortunately it wasn't a great outing as he gave up 5 runs (3 earned) and 7 hits with only 1 strikeout in an inning and two-thirds pitched. He would secure his first win 5 days later in a relief appearance against the Chicago Cubs. Overall, he finished the 1928 year with a 10-6 record and an E.R.A. of 2.83.
Carl Hubbell would become a solid pitcher the next few years for the Giants despite the team not playing to their fullest ability. On May 8th, 1929, he pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a few less than steller seasons the Giants replaced manager John McGraw with Bill Terry.
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| Photo Courtesy: MLB Hall of Fame |
1933 was when Hubbell and the Giants started to make the other teams take notice. A July 2nd game saw Carl throw 18 innings without giving up a run, 12 of which saw him throwing a perfect game and striking out 12 without issuing a walk. From that time on he was called the Giants Meal Ticket. He thew a then-record 45 consecutive scoreless innings in 1933. He finished the year 23-12 with 10 shutouts and a 1.66 E.R.A. It was more than enough to garner the National League MVP.
The 1933 team continued their success as the beat the Washington Senators to win the World Series. Hubbell won two of the five games for the Giants. 1933 also saw him compete in his first All-Star Game where he pitched 2 innings.
Overall, Carl Hubbell was a 9 time All Star (including the 1940 game played in St. Louis, where he got the save for the National League), was a one time World Series champion (1933), twice was named the NL MVP (1933 and 1936), and pitched one no-hitter.
His number 11 has since been retired by the San Francisco Giants, the first National League player to have his number retired, and in 1947 he was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame with 87% of the vote.
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| Photo Courtesy: Vintage Card Prices |
In 1951, he was inducted into another Hall of Fame, this one was the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. He was the only inductee in 1951, and was the first one to be inducted.
In 1984 Carl Hubbell threw out the first pitch of the All-Star Game held at Candlestick Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. During the game he witnessed one of his records broken. Exactly 50 years before, in 1934, Hubbell struck out 5 consecutive batters in the ASG (all five would be future Hall of Famers). In 1984, Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden combined to strick out 6 consecutive batters (Valenzuela struck out 3 future Hall of Famers and Gooden struck out 3 batters).
On November 21st, 1988, exactly 30 years to the date his close friend Mel Ott died in a car accident, Carl Hubbell himself died in a car accident. In 1999, Hubbell was ranked #45 on The Sporting News list of 100 Greatest Baseball Players.
For more information, check out the following links:
Society For American Baseball Research
Wikipedia
Baseball Reference
National Baseball Hall of Fame
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