Background
Cal Hubbard was born in Keytesville, Missouri on October 31, 1900, to Robert P. Hubbard and Sally Ford who were farmers.
Cal Hubbard was born in Keytesville, Missouri on October 31, 1900, to Robert P. Hubbard and Sally Ford who were farmers.
He graduated from Glasgow High School, where he played football and ran track, and worked at odd jobs until 1922, by which time he stood six feet, four inches tall and weighed 250 muscular pounds. Cal Hubbard chose to attend Centenary College in Shreveport, La. , in order to play football under coach "Bo" McMillin, a sportsman he had admired since youth. Hubbard quickly proved his prowess in the line at both guard and tackle, playing both offense and defense (teams did not then platoon). He transferred to Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa. , when McMillin moved there in 1925. He had to sit out the 1925 football season because of the school's eligibility rules, but returned to the playing field with a vengeance in 1926, leading the Geneva team to an upset victory over Harvard. It was the first opening-game defeat in Harvard football history. McMillin later concluded that Hubbard was simply "the greatest football player of all time, " a sentiment that other less partisan observers would substantiate. Hubbard graduated from Geneva College with a B. A. in 1927, after an impressive college career there.
In 1927, Hubbard accepted an offer to play linebacker for the New York Giants in the National Football League. The sporting press called him "the Perfect Tackle" in admiration of his abilities. Extremely agile despite his size, he could run one hundred yards in eleven seconds to the end of his career and had coordinated lateral movement – he frequently tackled ball carriers from behind after they had passed him. In 1928 the Giants' schedule included a trip to Green Bay. Hubbard, who hated big cities, fell in love with Wisconsin. He forced the Giants' management to trade him to the Green Bay Packers under threat of his imminent retirement. He played for the Packers until 1934, when he left to coach college football at Texas A&M. He returned to the Packers to play the 1935 season. In 1936, after announcing his retirement from professional football, Hubbard resigned with the Giants as a substitute for "just one game. " He played six, including what may have been his finest performance in a victory over the Detroit Lions that year. In the second half Detroit ran every play away from his side of the line – a remarkable silent tribute to the thirty-six-year-old linebacker.
Even while still playing professional football, in 1928 Hubbard began a career as a baseball umpire. He worked in the minor leagues until 1936, when he was brought up to the American League. His mobility, speed, and gentle sense of humor served to make him an outstanding official. He used to tell batters coming to the plate that they should swing at close pitches because he might call a ball a strike "accidentally. " In reply to batters' complaints about his strike zone, he would remind them not to get too close, lest he step on them. In 1941 and 1942, Hubbard served as head coach at Geneva College while continuing to work as a major league umpire.
In 1951, Hubbard was injured in a hunting accident, when a stray shotgun pellet cost him the sight in one eye. He retired immediately, only to have the American League bring him back the next year as assistant supervisor of league umpires. In 1954 he was appointed supervisor, a post he held until he retired from baseball in 1969. His most controversial proposal as supervisor of league umpires was an initiative to legalize the spitball; his fellow umpires rejected his recommendation by a narrow margin.
He died in St. Petersburg.
Quotations:
“Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it. ”
“I always hated to throw a guy out of a game but sometimes it was necessary to keep order. ”
“It takes the pressure off of your better players to know they don't always have to be on top of their game for the team to do well. ”
“The call that always seemed the toughest to me was the slide and tag play at second. You can see it coming, but you don't know which way the runner is going to slide, where the throw is going to be, and how the fielder is going to take the throw. ”
“When it was time for a player to go, he went. ”
In 1963, Hubbard was elected as a charter member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame. In 1976 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, thus giving him the unprecedented status of winning the highest honor in two professional sports.
He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Cal Hubbard was a big bear of a man, but those who knew him say he was a gentle giant. He was down to earth, roughhewn, and rather plain. He enjoyed the company of bird dogs, hunting quail, and playing chess. His enviable skill at duplicate bridge earned him ranking as a life master. Yet despite a lifetime of athletic success, awards, and accolades, he remained unpretentious. He liked to sit drinking coffee by the pot at the local cafe in Keytesville, or later in Milan, and when prevailed upon by his friends and neighbors, regale them with tales from the big leagues.
He married Ruth Fishkorn that November; the couple had two children before her death in 1962. In 1963, he married Mildred Sykes; they settled in Milan, Mo. , and later in St. Petersburg, Fla.
