- Cal Hubbard
Infobox NFL player
DateOfBirth=October 31 ,1900
Birthplace=Keytesville, Missouri
DateOfDeath=October 17 ,1977
Deathplace=St. Petersburg, Florida
Position=Offensive tackle
College=Centenary CollegeGeneva College
DatabaseFootball=HUBBACAL01
years=1927-1928
1929-1933,1935
1936
1936
teams=New York Giants Green Bay Packers
New York Giants
Pittsburgh Pirates
Honors=NFL 1920s All-Decade Team
CollegeHOF=20005
HOF=101
HOFYear=1963Robert Calvin Hubbard (
October 31 ,1900 –October 17 ,1977 ) was an American professional football player and later an umpire inMajor League Baseball , and is a member of three major sports halls of fame. He is currently the only person to be enshrined at both thePro Football Hall of Fame and theBaseball Hall of Fame .Born in
Keytesville, Missouri , Hubbard attended Centenary College inLouisiana , where he played football from 1922 to 1924 under noted coachBo McMillin ; he was inducted posthumously into the college's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990. When McMillin moved on to suburban Pittsburgh schoolGeneva College in westernPennsylvania , Hubbard followed him and played there in 1926. Noted for having outstanding speed for a player of his size (6' 4", 250 lb or 1.93 m, 115 kg), he starred as a tackle and end, playing off the line in a style similar to that of a modernlinebacker . He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1962.Hubbard moved on to the
National Football League in 1927, signing with theNew York Giants for a salary of $150 per game. Playing alongside Steve Owen, he helped the Giants win the league championship in his rookie season, and was named all-league the following year. But Hubbard, who carried a lifelong dislike for big cities, didn't feel comfortable in New York, and a 1928 road game in Green Bay led him to request a trade to the Packers, indicating he would retire otherwise. The Giants obliged him, and the small-town atmosphere with his new team suited him perfectly. He thrived in Green Bay under coachCurly Lambeau , with the team winning the NFL title in each of his first three years there (1929-1931). He continued to be named to all-NFL squads before retiring following the 1933 season.In 1934, Hubbard served as the line coach at Texas A&M, but he was persuaded to return to the field after only one year of college ball, going back to Green Bay for the 1935 season. In 1936, the Giants needed his help on the field, and again persuaded him to forgo retirement; he finished his career that season where his football career began right out of college . . . western Pennsylvania with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the franchise that was to become the Steelers. He was among the initial class of inductees to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963; in 1969, he was voted the greatest tackle of the NFL's first fifty years.As Hubbard's football career wound down, he began to focus on a second career; he started umpiring in baseball's minor leagues in the summers before football seasons began, and by 1936 had reached the majors, where he worked in the
American League from 1936 to 1951. Immediately recognized as one of the game's best officials, he was selected to work in theWorld Series in 1938 after only 3 years' experience; he would later officiate the Series in 1942, 1946 and 1949 as well. In addition, he umpired in the All-Star Game in 1939, 1944 and 1949, calling balls and strikes for half of the 1939 and 1944 games. As an umpire, Hubbard found that the accepted practice of umpires acting on instinct in moving about the field contributed to confusion regarding who should make which calls. Drawing on his football background, he carefully plotted out a system of positioning for umpires whereby each umpire had specific responsibilities for various types of plays; his ideas formed the foundation of the new methodology when the major leagues went from three-man umpiring crews to four-man crews in 1952, and they remain the basis for modern positioning in umpiring.An off-season hunting accident following the 1951 season damaged the vision in his right eye, and it was necessary for him to retire; but he was soon named the AL's supervisor of umpires, a position he held from 1954 to 1969. He was elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame in by|1976 as only the fifth umpire to be honored.Hubbard died of
cancer at age 76 inSt. Petersburg, Florida . He is buried inMilan, Missouri .ee also
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History of the New York Giants (1925-1978) External links
* [http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=101 Pro Football Hall of Fame]
* [http://collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=20005 College Football Hall of Fame]
*bbhof|492571
* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/H/Phubbc901.htm Retrosheet]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/H/Hubbard_Cal.stm BaseballLibrary.com] - biography and career highlights
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