Before there was Thurman Munson, there was Ken Hubbs. Ken, winner of the 1962 NL Rookie of the Year Award, was also the first rookie to win a Gold Glove. He only played in three seasons before tragically being killed in a plane crash in Utah. Like Munson, Hubbs was an amateur pilot and was piloting the plane during the accident.
In total, Ken has four Topps cards from his playing days. So far I've tracked down half of the master set:
Ken's other cards include an "In Memoriam" card from the 1964 set. It is one of the high number short-printed cards from that set and so it books at more than the all his other cards combined. Two years later another Ken Hubbs card was issued, this time in error. In the 1966 Topps set, card #447 was supposed to be of Cubs pitcher Dick Ellsworth ,instead, it was a photo of Ken and unofficially became Ken's last Topps card.
In total, Ken has four Topps cards from his playing days. So far I've tracked down half of the master set:
1962 Topps #461 Ken Hubbs [Rookie Card]
1963 Topps #15 Ken Hubbs
Ken's other cards include an "In Memoriam" card from the 1964 set. It is one of the high number short-printed cards from that set and so it books at more than the all his other cards combined. Two years later another Ken Hubbs card was issued, this time in error. In the 1966 Topps set, card #447 was supposed to be of Cubs pitcher Dick Ellsworth ,instead, it was a photo of Ken and unofficially became Ken's last Topps card.
Comments
By all accounts, he was a talented, good guy. Also a tragedy what happened to him.