Carl Hubbell (1903-1988) - Hall of Fame Pitcher for the New York Giants

[DonRocks]

On 6/8/2018 at 1:33 PM, MC Horoscope said:

Imagine all the great pitchers Red Barber must have seen from the 30s to the 50s! I was struck in the Ken Burns Baseball series by Red saying that if he had ONE game to win the man he would call on, the most dependable in the big game, out of all the great pitchers he had ever seen was Carl Hubbell! High praise. I nominate him for underrated.

Carl Hubbell! I know his name well, and have never once seen a film clip of him - famous for his screwball. His 1933-1937 seasons were extraordinary (note also in that link the #1 pitcher in "Similarity" to Hubbell). I vaguely recall "hearing" (and I mean, I can still hear it in my mind) in a documentary, an extremely gravelly voiced, older man saying "Carl Hubbell" when talking about the best pitchers ever - was that Red Barber in the Burns video?

From Wikipedia, it says he set the major league record for consecutive wins with 24, and reminds us that he struck out Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons, and Cronin, in order, during the 1934 All Star Game - stories like that are what legends are made of.

[MC Horoscope]

Don, that's probably right. That probably was Red Barber in the Ken Burns documentary. If I remember correctly he said Hubbell had ice water in his veins. Fearless!

Wow! Most like Juan Marichal! Cool!

[MC Horoscope]

I found this blog on the the Ken Burns baseball documentary:

http://hardboiledcinema.blogspot.com/2010/05/ken-burns-baseball-5th-inning-1930-1940.html

It's hard in the off season for baseball fans. My cable package has MLB TV and every December or January they re-run this wonderful documentary out of mercy for fans like me.

I'd like to see it again to be sure I have it exactly but here's someone posting Red Barber's quote (partial quote):

"I saw so many great pitchers, and maybe it's because of an early impression, but of all the pitchers I saw — thinking in terms of their control of themselves spiritually, as well as their ability to throw the ball, to manipulate the pitch — I would say... Let's put it this way: If I had a ball game to be pitched and my life hung on the balance, I'd want Carl Hubbell to pitch it."
— Red Barber

Red Barber did radio play by play for Cincinnati but most famously for the Brooklyn Dodgers, including the year Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey integrated baseball and following. So he's special. He lived until the 1980s, so he SAW Dizzy Dean, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson,  Warren Spahn, Juan Marichal, Jim Palmer, Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, and a slew of other Hall of Fame players! Like I said, high praise.

[DonRocks]

27 minutes ago, MC Horoscope said:

"I saw so many great pitchers, and maybe it's because of an early impression, but of all the pitchers I saw — thinking in terms of their control of themselves spiritually, as well as their ability to throw the ball, to manipulate the pitch — I would say... Let's put it this way: If I had a ball game to be pitched and my life hung on the balance, I'd want Carl Hubbell to pitch it."
— Red Barber

I can't remember who said this, but somebody did (I paraphrase): 'If the game is on the line, I want Michael Jordan to take the last shot; if my life is on the line, I want Larry Bird to take the last shot."

[MC Horoscope]

I agree about Jordan and Bird! And if I need a smart steal I want Havlicek!

[DonRocks]

11 minutes ago, MC Horoscope said:

I agree about Jordan and Bird! And if I need a smart steal I want Havlicek!

Name your poison:

 

[MC Horoscope]

The Bird play is more impressive but the call on Havlicek is NBA history! That game 7 was played on April 15, 1965! Sure has changed a lot.

[DonRocks]

20 minutes ago, MC Horoscope said:

The Bird play is more impressive but the call on Havlicek is NBA history! That game 7 was played on April 15, 1965! Sure has changed a lot.

Agreed on both counts.