Carl Hubbell

Carl Owen Hubbell won 253 games for the New York Giants across 16 seasons, threw the screwball with a command that made him the most dominant pitcher in the National League during the 1930s, and produced a single All-Star Game performance so extraordinary that it became the defining image of his career.

Carthage to the Polo Grounds

Hubbell was born on June 22, 1903, in Carthage, Missouri, and grew up in Meeker, Oklahoma. He signed with the Detroit Tigers organization as a young pitcher, but Tigers manager Ty Cobb discouraged him from throwing the screwball, believing the pitch would damage his arm. The Tigers released him, and Hubbell spent several years in the minor leagues before the Giants signed him in 1928.

He went 10-6 in his first season and threw a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 8, 1929. By the early 1930s, his screwball had become the most feared pitch in the National League. He threw it by turning his wrist inward as he released the ball, the opposite motion of a curveball, so that the pitch broke away from right-handed batters and into left-handed batters. The repeated pronation gradually twisted his left arm until his palm faced outward when he stood at rest, a visible deformity that he carried for the rest of his life.

The Meal Ticket

From 1933 to 1937, Hubbell was the best pitcher in baseball. He went 23-12 in 1933 and led the Giants to the pennant and a World Series victory over the Washington Senators. He won the National League MVP award that year and won it again in 1936, when he went 26-6 with a 2.31 ERA.

Between July 17, 1936, and May 27, 1937, he won 24 consecutive games, the longest winning streak by a pitcher in major league history. The streak spanned two seasons and included games against every team in the National League. Giants fans called him "The Meal Ticket" because he could be relied upon when the team needed a win most.

He pitched the Giants to pennants again in 1936 and 1937, though they lost both World Series to the New York Yankees. In the 1936 Series, the Yankees won in six games. In 1937, they won in five.

Five Strikeouts

On July 10, 1934, at the Polo Grounds, Hubbell started the All-Star Game for the National League. He allowed a single and a walk in the first inning, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Then he struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx to end the inning. He opened the second inning by striking out Al Simmons and Joe Cronin before Bill Dickey broke the streak with a single. Five consecutive strikeouts of five of the best hitters in the American League, all future Hall of Famers. The sequence lasted roughly fifteen minutes and has been retold more often than any other single pitching performance in baseball history.

The Arm

Hubbell's effectiveness declined after 1937. The screwball had taken its toll. He went 11-12 in 1940 and 11-9 in 1941 before retiring after the 1943 season at age 40. His final record was 253-154 with a 2.98 ERA. He threw 36 shutouts and completed 260 of his 433 starts.

He stayed with the Giants organization as the director of player development, a role he held for more than three decades. He scouted and developed talent for the franchise through its move from New York to San Francisco in 1958 and well into the 1970s.

Hubbell died on November 21, 1988, in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 85. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1947 in his third year on the BBWAA ballot, with 87 percent of the vote.