Ken Hubbs

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#EE1422
bgcolor2=#083884
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Ken Hubbs
position=Second Baseman
birthdate =birth date|1941|12|23
Riverside, California
deathdate =death date and age|1964|2|13|1941|12|23
Provo, Utah
bats=Right
throws=Right
debutdate=September 10
debutyear=1961
debutteam=Chicago Cubs
finaldate=September 29
finalyear=1963
finalteam=Chicago Cubs
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.247
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=14
stat3label=Runs scored
stat3value=148
teams=
*Chicago Cubs (by|1961-by|1963)
highlights=
*Rookie of the Year Award (NL): 1962
*Gold Glove Award (NL 2B): 1962

Kenneth Douglass Hubbs (December 23 1941 - February 13 1964) was an American second baseman who played from by|1961 to by|1963 for the Chicago Cubs in the National League. He was killed in a plane crash near Provo, Utah prior to the 1964 season.

In his short big-league career, Hubbs was considered to be an excellent fielder but a poor hitter.cite book |title=Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups|author=Rob Neyer|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0743241746 |pages=48 ] In by|1962, he became the first rookie to win a Gold Glove Award, and set several fielding records. Those achievements helped him win the MLB Rookie of the Year Award that season.cite web|url=http://thedeadballera.com/Obits/Hubbs.Ken.Obit.html|accessdate=2007-08-02|date=1964-02-16|title=Cubs Star Killed in Utah Air Crash|publisher=New York Times] At the time of his death, Hubbs was considered to be one of the best second basemen in the game.cite book |title=Wrigleyville, A Magical History Tour of the Chicago Cubs|author=Peter Golenbock|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=0312156995|pages=382]

Early life

Hubbs was born in Riverside, California and resided in nearby Colton, California.

He played in the 1954 Little League World Series. [Team roster http://www.littleleague.org/series/history/rosters/1954rstr.htm] Colton represented California. They beat Virginia in the first round and Illinois in the second. In the final game of the Series, Schenectady, New York beat California 5-3. [LLWS scores 1954 http://www.littleleague.org/series/history/scores/1954line.htm] Two future big league players played on the Schenectady team: Jim Barbieri, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Bill Connors, with the Chicago Cubs, both in 1966.Highlights of Hubbs playing defense at second base was captured on film [ "Film of '54 Colton LL team found", by John Murphy, The Sun, (San Bernardino, CA), August 15, 2004 ] . It includes a play where Hubbs ran from the shortstop position to back up the second baseman and caught a bloop fly into short right field.

He signed as an amateur free agent with the Chicago Cubs prior to the 1959 season. The Cubs sent him to the Appalachian League, where he started his professional career.

Major League career

During the 1961 season, the Cubs positioned Don Zimmer and Jerry Kindall at second base. Both were having poor seasons offensively. While Zimmer made the Major League Baseball All-Star team that year, he only hit .252 while Kindall hit .242.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1961.shtml|accessdate=2007-08-02|title=1962 Chicago Cubs stats in Baseball-Reference] Hubbs was called up from the Minor Leagues in an attempt to solve the Cubs' difficulties at second base. He entered the Cubs lineup on September 10, 1961 in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He had three at-bats, gaining two hits and one run batted in in a 12-5 Cubs loss.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN196109100.shtml|accessdate=2007-08-02|title=Cubs-Phillies game stats in Baseball-Reference] He played in ten games in his debut season, making five hits in 26 at bats, and one home run.

The New York Mets drafted Zimmer in the 1961 expansion draft, and Cubs traded away Kindall, leaving Hubbs as the starting second baseman for the ninth-place Chicago in by|1962. Hubbs played in 160 games for the season, getting 172 hits with five home runs and 49 runs batted in.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hubbske01.shtml|accessdate=2007-08-02|title=Ken Hubbs stats in Baseball-Reference] He led all National League rookies in games, hits, doubles, triples, runs, and batting average.cite book |title=The Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia|author=David Nemec|publisher=Brassey's Inc.|isbn=1574886703|pages=230 ] He was named the Rookie of the Year, earning 19 out of 20 votes and becoming the second consecutive Cubs player to win the award after Billy Williams. As a fielder, he set records with 78 consecutive games without a mistake and 418 total chances, breaking Bobby Doerr's Major League Baseball records. His performances saw him become the first rookie to win a Gold Glove Award. He also led the league in two less desirable categories that season by striking out 129 times and grounding into 20 double plays. His prime achievement as a fielder came on September 30, when he started a triple play in the final game of the season against the Mets.cite book |title=Amazin': The Miraculous History of New York's Most Beloved Baseball Team|author=Peter Golenbock|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=0312309929|pages=137] He did not do so well at the plate. He hit .260, and led the National League in strikeouts with 129. [Sports Illustrated, March 18, 1963. ]

In the by|1963 season, Hubbs played in 155 games, earning a career low low .235 batting average with eight home runs and 47 runs batted in. His fielding helped the Cubs to achieve an 82-80 record.

Death

Hubbs had a fear of flying, which he decided to overcome by taking flying lessons. On February 13, by|1964 Hubbs took off in a Cessna 172 with his close friend Dennis Doyle in Provo, Utah. They were in town to visit Doyle's wife and her parents.cite book |title=Cubs Journal: Year by Year and Day by Day with the Chicago Cubs Since 1876|author=John Snyder|publisher=Emmis Books|isbn=1578601924 |pages=424] They also participated earlier in the day in a charity basketball event for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the church Hubbs was a member of. [ [http://www.famousmormons.net/baseball2.html Famous Mormons in Baseball Page 2 ] ] The pair were heading back to their homes in Colton, California. A minute into the flight, about five miles south of Provo, the plane went down in poor weather in an ice covered part of Utah Lake. Hubbs had obtained his license only two weeks earlier. The weather outside was estimated as -1 F, and it had been snowing heavily. The bodies of Hubbs and Doyle were found two days later after a three-state search.

Hubbs' funeral was staged several days later in his hometown of Colton. Services were held in a local high-school because of the huge crowd that wanted to view Hubbs' casket. Fellow Cubs teammates Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, Glen Hobbie and Don Elston were among the pallbearers.

Hubbs' uniform number 16 was never retired by the Cubs, but it was kept out of circulation for about three years before being issued to another player.

Footnotes and references

External links

*baseball-reference|id=h/hubbske01
* [http://www.yellon.org/archives/2003_07_06_archive.htm#105785383137123049 Tribute article]
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