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mchenrycards
Featured Contributor, Vintage Corner, Senior Membe
Kenneth Douglas Hubbs was a prospect that would make the card speculators scramble back in the day, if there were prospectors back in the day. At 6’2 and 175 pounds, this tall, good looking kid out of southern California would prove to be the talk of the baseball world as he would go on to become the 1962 National League Rookie of the Year while anchoring the Cubs keystone combination at second base. With Santo at third, perennial all star Ernie Banks now entrenched at first and Billy Williams and Lou Brock in the outfield, Cub’s fans could only dream of better times with a solid team in place at Clark and Addison streets for the foreseeable future.
In 1962, Topps Chewing Gum also took notice of the young second base gold glove winner and awarded him with his very own card (number 461), an award that would also be saved for Hubbs’ teammate and future Hall of Famer Lou Brock. Stars such as Pete Rose, Willie Stargell and Gaylord Perry were forced to share their initial Topps glory with other players but Hubbs and Brock were so highly touted that Topps put them on their very own card and anointed them a “1962 rookie” on the front of their own rookie card. There was no doubt that Topps knew these two Cubs players had a huge future waiting for them and gave them the proper credit they deserved.
Moving into 1963, Hubbs would not have the kind of sophomore season that was expected of him but he certainly did put up respectable numbers. Known more for his glove than his hitting, Hubbs still managed to squeeze out 133 hits and maintained his sparkling fielding by handling even more chances than he did during his rookie campaign. Even though Hubbs could certainly perform between the lines, anyone who knew him would talk more about how good a man he was off the field. A devout Mormon, Hubbs would go out of his way to win over the Cubs fans and be a favorite teammate of just about everyone who played with him. In a story that was recently re-told for FoxSports, an older female fan was enamored with the looks of Ken Hubbs and had hoped to meet him. She attended a day game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and watched from her seat as the Cubs went through their pre-game activities. Batting practice would soon end without the old fan being allowed the opportunity to meet the man she had come to see. While lamenting this fact to an usher, the usher was able to get word to Hubbs that his most die hard and probably oldest fan wanted to just meet him. Hubbs popped out of the dugout, scrambled into the stands and signed an autograph for the older fan. He not only signed her autograph but sat down and chatted for a bit which drew the ire of Cubs management who fined him $100 for breaking team rules. Hubbs had decided that the happiness of his oldest fan was certainly worth the hundred bucks it cost him. That was just the kind of guy Ken Hubbs was.
In the off season between the 1963 and ‘64 season, Ken Hubbs attended Brigham Young University to satisfy his need to complete his education. To facilitate quicker travel, Hubbs developed an interest in flying despite the fact that he had a crippling fear of it. In typical Ken Hubbs fashion, he would face his fears head on and eventually obtain his own pilot’s license and purchase his own four seat Cessna plane. His fear of flying now seemingly conquered, his sights were set on doing the same thing to National League pitchers during the 1964 season but fate would intervene before he could face a single pitch.
Just before spring training in 1964, Hubbs and his friend Dennis Doyle took off from snowy Provo airport only to fly directly into a snow storm that was more intense than expected. Since Hubbs only had 71 hours of flying time under his belt he did not have the experience needed to fly by instruments in the now zero visibility Utah sky. As he struggled to maintain control of the aircraft, brand new Cessna, with Hubbs at the controls spiraled out of control in the dark snowy night. The plane would eventually crash into frozen Utah Lake killing both the ball player and his friend. The plane crash left a ten foot deep crater in the frozen lake and would take rescuers two days to recover the bodies.
The baseball world was stunned at the loss of this promising young star. Hubbs’ Cubs teammates would find themselves in shock at the loss with Cubs third baseman Ron Santo admitting later in life that he had to seek the help of a priest in order to come to terms with the loss of his friend. Santo and teammates Ernie Banks, Don Elston and Glen Hobbie would be among the pallbearers who would lead Hubbs to his final resting place, thus closing the final chapter of a promising career and a promising young man.
Sports card maker Topps would issue a card for Kenny Hubbs both in their 1962 and 1963 regular issue sets but even they understood the gravity of the loss of Ken Hubbs and what it meant to the baseball world. They would go on to issue a special commemorative card in the 1964 Topps baseball set that would commemorate the life of this young star that would simply show a portrait of the Cubs second baseman and the words “In Memoriam Ken Hubbs” printed in white against a black background. The reverse of card number 550 would also feature a short story about his death along with his career stats printed on the back. It would be a simple homage to the player many thought would go on to bigger and greater things.
While the chapter on Kenny Hubbs was closed and baseball moved on, most will remember Hubbs for the special player he was and the humanitarian that he proved to be off of the field. The sports card world also moved on and left Ken Hubbs behind as only a memory until a incredible mistake was made in 1966. Those who opened packs of Topps cards in 1966 were used to seeing their favorite stars such as Mantle, Banks and others staring back at them after releasing them from their wax coated packages. Imagine those kids surprise when they came across card number 447 of Cubs hurler Dick Ellsworth but pictured on the front was long deceased Cubs second baseman Ken Hubbs. Topps explained away the situation as an unfortunate mistake but many felt the mistake was in poor taste and Topps should have used better quality control to insure this type of mistake does not happen. The depicting of Hubbs on the Dick Ellsworth card in the 1966 set seemed to open old wounds that had long been healed. While Topps did indeed make a mistake with this controversial card, they would never go back and correct the photo, leaving an uncorrected error for all future collectors to find and wonder “what if”.
The Ken Hubbs 1962 Topps rookie card does still hold a premium but it has lost some value in recent years. PSA 7 copies have been selling in the $18 dollar range with better examples doing quite well on the open market as PSA 9 examples have been going for nearly $1000 and PSA 8 selling in the area of $100 dollars. Ungraded examples are certainly more within the reach of most collectors with a decent condition raw Hubbs rookie going for $5 dollars. Hubbs’ 1963 and ‘64 in memoriam card does have a small premium over many other semi star cards in the set but are very affordable for to all collectors. Even the Dick Ellsworth 1966 Topps card carries a small premium as it is a must have for anyone who is a collector of the Cubs former Rookie of the Year winner. Prospectors these days will never make much if any money on Ken Hubbs cards unless they find a card that exhibits PSA 8 or 9 qualities. Even though money is no longer an issue with this once great prospect, there is no doubt the story of the rise and eventual fall of Ken Hubbs is certainly worth spending a few bucks to obtain all three of his regular issue cards as well as the error card if only for the “what if” factor of who Hubbs could have been.
And a card I once owned:
In 1962, Topps Chewing Gum also took notice of the young second base gold glove winner and awarded him with his very own card (number 461), an award that would also be saved for Hubbs’ teammate and future Hall of Famer Lou Brock. Stars such as Pete Rose, Willie Stargell and Gaylord Perry were forced to share their initial Topps glory with other players but Hubbs and Brock were so highly touted that Topps put them on their very own card and anointed them a “1962 rookie” on the front of their own rookie card. There was no doubt that Topps knew these two Cubs players had a huge future waiting for them and gave them the proper credit they deserved.
Moving into 1963, Hubbs would not have the kind of sophomore season that was expected of him but he certainly did put up respectable numbers. Known more for his glove than his hitting, Hubbs still managed to squeeze out 133 hits and maintained his sparkling fielding by handling even more chances than he did during his rookie campaign. Even though Hubbs could certainly perform between the lines, anyone who knew him would talk more about how good a man he was off the field. A devout Mormon, Hubbs would go out of his way to win over the Cubs fans and be a favorite teammate of just about everyone who played with him. In a story that was recently re-told for FoxSports, an older female fan was enamored with the looks of Ken Hubbs and had hoped to meet him. She attended a day game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and watched from her seat as the Cubs went through their pre-game activities. Batting practice would soon end without the old fan being allowed the opportunity to meet the man she had come to see. While lamenting this fact to an usher, the usher was able to get word to Hubbs that his most die hard and probably oldest fan wanted to just meet him. Hubbs popped out of the dugout, scrambled into the stands and signed an autograph for the older fan. He not only signed her autograph but sat down and chatted for a bit which drew the ire of Cubs management who fined him $100 for breaking team rules. Hubbs had decided that the happiness of his oldest fan was certainly worth the hundred bucks it cost him. That was just the kind of guy Ken Hubbs was.
In the off season between the 1963 and ‘64 season, Ken Hubbs attended Brigham Young University to satisfy his need to complete his education. To facilitate quicker travel, Hubbs developed an interest in flying despite the fact that he had a crippling fear of it. In typical Ken Hubbs fashion, he would face his fears head on and eventually obtain his own pilot’s license and purchase his own four seat Cessna plane. His fear of flying now seemingly conquered, his sights were set on doing the same thing to National League pitchers during the 1964 season but fate would intervene before he could face a single pitch.
Just before spring training in 1964, Hubbs and his friend Dennis Doyle took off from snowy Provo airport only to fly directly into a snow storm that was more intense than expected. Since Hubbs only had 71 hours of flying time under his belt he did not have the experience needed to fly by instruments in the now zero visibility Utah sky. As he struggled to maintain control of the aircraft, brand new Cessna, with Hubbs at the controls spiraled out of control in the dark snowy night. The plane would eventually crash into frozen Utah Lake killing both the ball player and his friend. The plane crash left a ten foot deep crater in the frozen lake and would take rescuers two days to recover the bodies.
The baseball world was stunned at the loss of this promising young star. Hubbs’ Cubs teammates would find themselves in shock at the loss with Cubs third baseman Ron Santo admitting later in life that he had to seek the help of a priest in order to come to terms with the loss of his friend. Santo and teammates Ernie Banks, Don Elston and Glen Hobbie would be among the pallbearers who would lead Hubbs to his final resting place, thus closing the final chapter of a promising career and a promising young man.
Sports card maker Topps would issue a card for Kenny Hubbs both in their 1962 and 1963 regular issue sets but even they understood the gravity of the loss of Ken Hubbs and what it meant to the baseball world. They would go on to issue a special commemorative card in the 1964 Topps baseball set that would commemorate the life of this young star that would simply show a portrait of the Cubs second baseman and the words “In Memoriam Ken Hubbs” printed in white against a black background. The reverse of card number 550 would also feature a short story about his death along with his career stats printed on the back. It would be a simple homage to the player many thought would go on to bigger and greater things.
While the chapter on Kenny Hubbs was closed and baseball moved on, most will remember Hubbs for the special player he was and the humanitarian that he proved to be off of the field. The sports card world also moved on and left Ken Hubbs behind as only a memory until a incredible mistake was made in 1966. Those who opened packs of Topps cards in 1966 were used to seeing their favorite stars such as Mantle, Banks and others staring back at them after releasing them from their wax coated packages. Imagine those kids surprise when they came across card number 447 of Cubs hurler Dick Ellsworth but pictured on the front was long deceased Cubs second baseman Ken Hubbs. Topps explained away the situation as an unfortunate mistake but many felt the mistake was in poor taste and Topps should have used better quality control to insure this type of mistake does not happen. The depicting of Hubbs on the Dick Ellsworth card in the 1966 set seemed to open old wounds that had long been healed. While Topps did indeed make a mistake with this controversial card, they would never go back and correct the photo, leaving an uncorrected error for all future collectors to find and wonder “what if”.
The Ken Hubbs 1962 Topps rookie card does still hold a premium but it has lost some value in recent years. PSA 7 copies have been selling in the $18 dollar range with better examples doing quite well on the open market as PSA 9 examples have been going for nearly $1000 and PSA 8 selling in the area of $100 dollars. Ungraded examples are certainly more within the reach of most collectors with a decent condition raw Hubbs rookie going for $5 dollars. Hubbs’ 1963 and ‘64 in memoriam card does have a small premium over many other semi star cards in the set but are very affordable for to all collectors. Even the Dick Ellsworth 1966 Topps card carries a small premium as it is a must have for anyone who is a collector of the Cubs former Rookie of the Year winner. Prospectors these days will never make much if any money on Ken Hubbs cards unless they find a card that exhibits PSA 8 or 9 qualities. Even though money is no longer an issue with this once great prospect, there is no doubt the story of the rise and eventual fall of Ken Hubbs is certainly worth spending a few bucks to obtain all three of his regular issue cards as well as the error card if only for the “what if” factor of who Hubbs could have been.
And a card I once owned:
