Carl Hubbell

Carl Hubbell, the New York Giants' masterful screwball-throwing left-hander, had many brilliant pitching performances over a 16-year career (1928-1943). His impressions are embedded in baseball record books in many areas, but one unforgettable effort remains dominant. It occurred during the second All-Star game, on July 10, 1934, played at Hubbell's home field, the Polo Grounds, in New York.

The first two batters for the American League, Charlie Gehringer and Heinie Manush, got on base. Hubbell proceeded to strike out the next three batters. No ordinary batters mind you...Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx. Then Hubbell began the next inning by fanning Al Simmons and Joe Cronin.

Actually, Hubbell's All-Star stint started on a negative note. The American League seemed poised to jump the New York Giants left-hander in the first inning when Charlie Gehringer led off with a single and Heinie Manush walked.

That brought up Ruth, who took a third strike. The count went to 3-2 on Gehrig, who then swung and missed as the runners stole second and third.

Foxx was next, and he, too, went down swinging as the Polo Grounds' crowd of 48,363 first fell silent and then erupted with a roar at the realization of what Hubbell had just accomplished.

Hubbell wasn't finished. Simmons led off the second inning and King Car was still in his groove, fanning the slugger on a 1-2 pitch. Cronin went down the same way, flailing vainly at a 1-2 pitch.

Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons and Cronin simply lined up against Hubbell approaching the apex of his career.

Hubbell started his stride in 1933 when he began reeling off five straight 20-game seasons. The Washington Senators would not soon forget Hubbell's 1933 campaign. Hubbell won two of the Giant's four 1933 World Series games against the Senators registering an amazing 0.00 ERA, and 15 strikeouts in 20 innings.

But even after his sterling 1933 World Series performance, Hubbell was still approaching perhaps his best season. In 1936 Hubbell posted a 26-8 record, and on July 2 of that year pitched an 18-inning 1-0 shutout against the Cardinals, without walking a single batter.

Hubbell then proceeded to set the major league record for consecutive games from July 17, 1936 through May 27, 1937.

Overall, the soft-spoken Hubbell won 253 games. He led the National League in earned run average three times, in wins three times, in winning percentage twice, and with 10 shutouts in 1933. He pitched 3,589 innings, registered 1,678 strikeouts during his career, and was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947.