THE PILOT

Author

Matthew Garringer
December 10, 2023

Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as Brian Wilson loved saying “Got Heem.”

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about an insanely-talented ballplayer who suddenly died at the peak of his career.

Ken Hubbs was the king of adversity.

As an infant, he experienced a ruptured hernia, and doctors told his family that they would have to keep a close eye on it for the rest of his life.

Hubbs was a gifted athlete who excelled in multiple sports as a kid.

He played in the ’54 Little League World Series, and was a two-sport All-American in High School.

The crazy part is, those sports were football and basketball.

He was recruited to play quarterback at Notre Dame and offered a basketball scholarship by UCLA.

But you know what they say baby, CASH IS KING.

Cubs scout Gene Handley had an ace up his sleeve that neither of these college programs could compete with: a $50,000 signing bonus.

Hubbs signed with Chicago and started his minor league career with the Morristown Cubs of the Class D Appalachian League.

He bounced around in the minors for a bit as a shortstop, but Ken had a huge problem: the shortstop for the Cubs at the time was Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks.

Naturally, Ken had to change positions if he wanted to make it to the big leagues.

He moved over to second, and his coach, Bobby Adams, worked hard to help him make that transition.

“Every day, Lou Klein and Bobby Adams would have me out there practicing the double play, thousands of times, I was almost ready to quit and go home.”

- Ken Hubbs

But he didn’t quit, and in '61 he was playing at Wrigley Field.

MLB Photos via Getty Images

He was the #3 guy at second base, behind Don Zimmer and Jerry Kindall.

But then Zimmer got picked up by the Mets, and Kindall got traded.

Just like that, the 20-year-old Hubbs went from the pine to show time.

Hubbs won Rookie of the Year during that season in ‘62, and became the first rookie to win a Gold Glove Award.

That year, you couldn’t get an E4 against the Cubs if you tried.

Hubbs set a major-league record for games played (78) and total chances (418) without making a single error.

That offseason, Ken was back to defying the odds again.

His next challenge: conquer his fear of flying.

After taking five flying lessons during spring training in ’63, he purchased an airplane - a single-engine Cessna 172.

On February 12, 1964, he took his friend Dennis Doyle on a surprise trip to Provo, Utah to visit Doyle's wife and their baby.

Originally planned as a day trip, they ended up staying overnight and planned to fly back the next morning.

The weather was clear when they took off that morning, but while en route, they encountered a winter storm approaching from Delta, Utah.

Sensing the danger, Hubbs turned the plane around and headed back to Provo.

Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft returning to Provo just four miles from the airport when the plane encountered atmospheric disturbance, causing it to nosedive into Utah Lake.

At just 22 years old, Ken Hubbs was dead.

“Any athlete who ever played with Hubbs will dedicate the rest of his career to Ken because he was the zenith in inspiration and enthusiasm as well as desire and determination.”

Ernie Banks

BASEBALL TRIVIA

WHAT TO WATCH

Streams on: Twitter & YouTube

Why it’s awesome: This breakdown goes into depth on the value Ohtani brings to an organization and it’s honestly pretty wild when you start breaking down the numbers.

The Dodgers will probably make their $700 million back no matter what happens on the field.

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Flanagan only played seven games as a Pittsburgh Pirate during the 1905 season, but he was well-known by some of the best players in the game.

No one really knows why he didn’t have a longer major-league career, because the talent was definitely there, and he hit .280 in his short stint with Pittsburgh.

Whatever the reason, Steamer spent most of the rest of his career playing in the Eastern League and the Connecticut State League.

During his time playing in the Connecticut State League he inspired a young man named Walter Maranville, who used to wait outside the stadium for him and carry his bats.

That kid grew up to become “Rabbit” Maranville, a World Series champion and Hall of Famer.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites: