Carl Hubbell

At 85 years old, Carl Hubbell has this physical status:

Carl Owen Hubbell (June 22, 1903 – November 21, 1988), also known as "The Meal Ticket" and "King Carl," was an American Major League baseball player.

He was a pitcher for the New York Giants of the National League from 1928 to 1943 and stayed on the team's payroll for the remainder of his life, long after the team's move to San Francisco. Hubbell was named in 1947 as the National League Most Valuable Player, and he twice inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hubbell set a new major league record for consecutive victories by a pitcher with 24 seasons between 1936 and 1937.

He is perhaps best known for his appearance in the 1934 All-Star Game, where he shocked five future Hall of Famers – Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin in succession.

The screwball was Hubbell's primary pitch.

Early years

Hubbell was born in Carthage, Missouri, and raised in Meeker, Oklahoma.

Personal life

Hubbell married Lucille "Sue" Harrington (1905–1967) from 1930 to her death. Carl Jr. (born 1936) and James were married. Carl Jr. played in the lower minor leagues for a short time and then served as a career officer in the United States Marine Corps.

Hubbell suffered a stroke while driving near his Mesa, Arizona, on November 21, 1988, which caused him to lose control of his vehicle and crash into a lamppost. Later that day, he was admitted to a hospital in Scottsdale, where he died as a result of blunt force injuries. He is laid to rest at Meeker-Newhope Cemetery. Mel Ott, his co-mate, died in a car crash about 30 years ago.

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Minor league career

Hubbell was signed by the Detroit Tigers and was admitted to spring training in 1926. However, pitching coach George McBride and player-manager Ty Cobb weren't impressed with him. In addition, they were worried about the pitcher's hand, which some believe puts an unusual strain on a pitcher's arm. Before the season, Hubbell was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the International League. He was 7-7 on a championship team. He was back in 1927 for spring training with Detroit, but the Tigers weren't impressed and sent him two steps down the minor-league ladder to the Decatur Commodores of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. Despite a 14-7 record, the Tigers didn't invite him back for 1928, and he was sent by the Texas League's Beaumont Exporters.

By this time, Hubbell had become so ill that he told Beaumont boss Claude Robinson that if he wasn't sold to another company by the end of the season, he'd resign and go into the oil business. He said being unloaded by the Tigers was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Major league career

While in Houston for the 1928 Democratic National Convention, Hubbell's break came in June, as Giants Scout Dick Kinsella decided to play against Hubbell's Exporters and the Houston Buffs. He had no intention of doing any scouting, but Hubbell was impressed. Kinsella called Giants manager John McGraw and said he was aware of Hubbell's release by Detroit, which was prompted in part by Cobb's questions regarding the screwball. Christy Mathewson had a screwball (a throwaway, as it was called in his time), but it didn't appear to have any effect on his arm, according to McGraw. Kinsella followed Hubbell for a month and was still amazed.

In his first major league season, Hubbell would go 10-6, and he will pitch his entire career for the Giants. Hubbell's sluggish play in his screwball seasons (1933–37), and he helped his team win three consecutive World Series titles (1933–37). He won two complete games, including an 11-inning 2–1 victory in Game Four in the 1933 Series (the run was unearned). He was 4–2 with 32 strikeouts and a low 1.79 earned run average in six series starts. In 359013 innings pitched, Hubbell had a 253-154 record, 1677 strikeouts, 724 walks, 36 shutouts, and a 2.98 ERA.

Hubbell had a.191 batting average (246-for-1288), 4 home runs, 101 RBI, and 33 bases on balls as a hitter. He batted.211 (4-for-19) with 1 run and 1 RBI in six World Series appearances. He had a.967 fielding percentage in defensive mode.

Hubbell's streak in major league history ran for 24 straight years between 1936 (16) and 1937 (8). He was named National League MVP twice (1933, 1936) (first unanimous MVP pick in 1936). In 1933 (23), 1936 (26), and 1937 (22) he led the league in victories three times. In 1933 (1.66), 1934 (2.30), and 1936 (2.31) Hubbell led the league in ERA three times (2.31). In 1933 (38) he led the league in innings pitched (338). In 1937 (159), he led the league in strikeouts (159). In 1938 (5.23), he led the league in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. In 1933, he was the league's longest shutout (10). In 1934, he led the league in saves (eight, retroactively credited). In 1933, he had a streak of 4613 scoreless innings and four shutouts. He pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates (11–0, 1929). He pitched an 18-inning shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals (1–0, 1933).

Time portrayed the Fall Classic, which year between Giants and Yankees, as "a personal contest between Hubbell and Gehrig," calling Hubbell "currently baseball's No. 1." 1 Pitcher and one of the game's half dozen are among the game's ablests. Although growing up on his family's Missouri farm, Time said he "practiced for hours...throwing stones at a barn door until he could unfailingly reach knotholes no larger than a penny."

At the end of the 1943 season, Hubbell was released. That year, he set a record of 4–4 victories, the only time he did not win by a single point was to win double-digits. However, Giants owner Horace Stoneham naming him as the head of player growth, a position he held for 35 years. He remained in Haworth, New Jersey, after the Giants left New York, and he continued to live there until then. He spent the last ten years of his life as a Giants scout. He was one of the few New York Giants still active in baseball at the time of his death, and the last McGraw era player to play in baseball.

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