February 13, 1964: The Crash of Ken Hubbs

February 13, 1964: Chicago Cubs 2nd baseman Ken Hubbs is killed in a plane crash. He was only 22 years old.

Kenneth Douglas Hubbs was born on December 23, 1941 in the Los Angeles suburb of Riverside, California, and grew up in nearby Colton. In 1954, then a shortstop, he helped the Colton team reach the Final of the Little League World Series, losing to Schenectady, New York.

Ara Parseghian wanted him to come to the University of Notre Dame and play quarterback. John Wooden wanted him to come to the University of California at Los Angeles and play guard. Instead, he signed with the Chicago Cubs, knowing they already had Ernie Banks at shortstop. It was off to 2nd base for him.

Hubbs and Lou Brock each made their major league debut with the Cubs on September 10, 1961, a 12-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. By June 15, 1964, neither would be with the Cubs anymore. Brock was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ernie Broglio.

The New York Mets selected Don Zimmer in the 1962 National League expansion draft, allowing Hubbs to become the Cubs' regular 2nd baseman at the age of 20. He was named the NL Rookie of the Year, as he set major league records with 78 consecutive games and 418 total chances without an error. The Gold Glove Award began in 1957, and he became the 1st rookie to win one. His batting average dropped from .260 to .235 in 1963, but his fielding remained excellent.

He had a fear of flying, so he decided to take flying lessons, and got his pilot's license in January 1964. On February 12, he flew a Cessna 172 to Provo, Utah, with a friend, Denny Doyle (not the later Boston Red Sox player), who lived there. That night, Hubbs played in a charity basketball game sponsored by Brigham Young University. Hubbs was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a.k.a. the Mormons, which runs BYU.

Learning that a snowstorm was on the way, Hubbs tried to beat it the next day, February 13. But on the morning of February 14, he and Doyle, who was flying back with him, hadn't yet landed in Colton. The wreckage was found in Utah Lake (not to be confused with the much larger Great Salt Lake), outside Provo. Both Hubbs and Doyle were dead.

Lou Boudreau, Hall of Fame shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, and by then a broadcaster for the Cubs, said, "At the time he died, I felt he was on his way to a Hall of Fame career. His bat hadn't come around, but it would have."

In 1993, Sports Illustrated published a "What If?" article, suggesting that, if Hubbs hadn't been killed, the Cubs might not have made the infamous Brock-for-Broglio trade, and that, with Billy Williams in left field, Brock would have been moved to center field, which turned out to be a weak spot for the Cubs in their 1969 "September Swoon."

The article suggested that not only would it have been the Cubs, rather than the Cardinals, who won the Pennant in 1964, 1967 and 1968; but also would have won that elusive 1969 Pennant; and that they would also have prevented the Cincinnati Reds' dynasty, becoming "The Big Blue Machine." They even speculated that it would have been Hubbs, rather than Carlton Fisk, hitting the home run that won Game 6 of the 1975 World Series -- and the Series itself. (Of course, it would have been in the top half of an inning, and not a "walkoff" homer.)

Hubbs wore Number 16. Unlike many teams that retire numbers for players still active, the Cubs have never retired it.

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February 13, 1964 was a Thursday. Baseball and football were out of season. There was 1 game played in the NBA: The San Francisco Warriors beat the Boston Celtics, 106-95 at the Cow Palace, outside San Francisco in Daly City, California. Wilt Chamberlain scored 30 points and grabbed 24 rebounds. This turned out to be a preview of the NBA Finals, but the Celtics would win that.

And there was 1 game in the NHL: The Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.