If Your Birthday is June 22nd

...you share it with Ian Kinsler... Now with the Padres, the 14-year veteran will soon reach 2000 career hits. In fact, of all the position players born on this date, he has the most hits, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases and has scored the most runs. (My image is from 2017, when he was with the Tigers).

Only one Hall of Famer was born on the 22nd of June. Carl Hubbell, wrote his ticket to Cooperstown with 253 victories in his 16 big league seasons -- all with the New York Giants. The pitcher known for his superb slider was a five-time 20-game winner, with 260 complete games; he threw 10 shutouts in 1933 with
a 1.66 ERA, while working more than 300 innings! A season that good might have inspired Cy Young, then enjoying his retirement in Ohio, to commission a trophy and present Hubbell the award that, of course, wasn't inaugurated until 1956. He set a still-unmatched record for consecutive victories, with 26 (that stretched from the 1936 to '37 season). Hubbell's retired number-11 is displayed alongside the other Giants legends at Oracle Park in San Francisco (it's placed between Mel Ott's 4 and Monte Irvin's 20). Two other noteworthy things about Carl: he signed with the Giants after being released by the Tigers' farm system. Ty Cobb, then managing the club, wasn't a fan of the screwball and thought Hubbell was likely to be injured. And following his playing career, he spent 35 years in the Giants front office in key scouting and player development positions.


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