Ken Hubbs

Kenneth Douglass Hubbs (December 23, 1941 – February 13, 1964) was an American professional baseball player.

Hubbs was born in Riverside, California, on December 23, 1941, the son of Eulis and Dorothy Hubbs.

The family resided in nearby Colton, California.

Ken was the second oldest of five boys, raised with brothers Keith, Gary, and twins Kirk and Kraig.

When he was a few months old, in the spring of 1942, Hubbs suffered a ruptured hernia, and wore a truss for five years until it healed while he was in kindergarten.

A doctor had told the family that Hubbs "will never be able to do things other kids can do in sports."

Hubbs played in the 1954 Little League World Series, as his Colton little league team advanced and represented California.

California beat Virginia in the first round and Illinois in the second.

In the final game of the Series, the team from Schenectady, New York beat California 5-3.

Two future big league players played on the Schenectady team: Jim Barbieri and Billy Connors.

Connors and Hubbs would become minor league teammates.

Highlights of Hubbs playing defense at shortstop were captured on film.

The video 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.

Hubbs had stepped in a hole during a picnic, just before Colton's trip to the Little League World Series, breaking his toe.

Hubbs played the entire tournament with the injury, hobbling around the bases when he hit a home run.

At Colton High School, Hubbs was a four sport athlete.

He excelled in three sports, baseball, basketball and football at a national level and also competed in track as a high jumper.

A gifted athlete, Hubbs could pitch with either arm and at 6'2", could stand flat-footed under a basket, jump and dunk a basketball behind his head with both hands. In 1958-1959, he was a high school All-American in two sports, football (quarterback) and basketball. He was recruited by the University of Notre Dame to play quarterback and offered a scholarship by UCLA's John Wooden to play basketball.

In 1958, in a well-publicized basketball game at Long Beach City College against Santa Maria High School, Hubbs made a half-court shot to end the first half.

He followed up by scoring five points in the last 23 seconds of regulation, including a jumper at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, scoring 23 points in a Colton 53-49 win.

After breaking his foot before a football game, Hubbs put his foot with a cast inside a size-14 shoe and played that Friday night.

"Ken was undoubtedly the best football player I ever coached," said Joe Lash, his football coach at Colton High School.

His basketball coach, Tom Morrow, said, "Kenny Hubbs was the best all-around basketball player I ever saw for a boy his age."

Honored by the California Interscholastic Federation in all three sports, Hubbs was an All-Southern Section for two years in football, basketball and baseball, an achievement matched at the time, 1959, by only three others: Glenn Davis, Bill McColl and Marty Keough.

After high school graduation in 1959, Hubbs was weighing attending college at either the University of Southern California or Brigham Young University.

However, Cubs scout Gene Handley signed Hubbs to a contract that came with a $50,000 signing bonus.

Hubbs signed as an amateur free agent with the Chicago Cubs prior to the 1959 season.

In 1959, Hubbs played for the Morristown Cubs of the Class D Appalachian League.

Playing outfield and shortstop in the all-rookie competition, Hubbs appeared in 59 games, had 198 at-bats and a batting average of .298.

His 50 runs batted in and 8 home runs were enough to earn a nomination for player of the year.

On July 18, 1959, he led Morristown to a 20-0 victory over the first place Salem Pirates.

Hubbs hit 2 home runs and a double and scored 5 runs.

Morristown continued the offensive barrage five days later against Wytheville.

Hubbs started a 7-run first inning with a home run, and his team won the slugfest, 9-7.

Organized baseball initiated a player draft in 1959, in an attempt to cut down on large signing bonuses given to young players.

He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs from 1961 to 1963.

In 1962, becoming the first rookie in baseball history to win a Gold Glove Award, Hubbs set several fielding records and convincingly won the 1962 National League Rookie of the Year Award.

At the time of his death, Hubbs was among the best defensive second basemen in the game.

Hubbs died at age 22 when the private plane he was piloting crashed near Provo, Utah prior to the 1964 season.

In his short big-league career he was an excellent fielder, already earning a Gold Glove Award; assessments of his hitting were more mixed, as he was still developing as a hitter.