In celebration of the 65th anniversary of Topps baseball cards, my collection is going to be the subject of this year-long series.
Shortly after starting my obsession in 1971, the goal was to have at least one Topps card from every year.
Although the 1952 set is considered to be the first released by Topps, the company issued two series that was a part of the game a year earlier.
Tragedy connects two of the 1963 cards in my collection as Ken Hubbs and Jim Umbricht played what turned out to be their final seasons.
Hubbs died in a plane crash in Utah in February of 1964, while Umbricht passed away from cancer two months later just a week before the season started.
Beginning his big league career with the Chicago Cubs in 1961, Hubbs appeared in 10 games. The following year, he became as star at second base.
The National League Rookie-of-the-Year in 1962, Hubbs batted .260 with five homers and 49 RBI. Defense would be his greatest contribution as he played 78 straight games without an error to earn a Gold Glove.
Perhaps the best days for Hubbs came in 1962 when he had a pair of 5-hit contests. He had five in a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 17.
On May 20, he had eight hits during a doubleheader in Philadelphia. The Cubs swept the Phillies 6-4 and 11-2. Hubbs had three hits in the opener and then added five in the nightcap. In Pittsburgh the following day, he singled in his first at bat to give him six consecutive hits.
In his final season, Hubbs batted just .235 with eight home runs and 47 RBI.
Umbricht spent part of three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1959 to 1961 before he was picked in the expansion draft by the Houston Colt 45s.
With Houston in 1962, Umbricht was 4-0 with an ERA of 2.01 in 34 games.
Before the 1963 season, he was diagnosed with cancer and was able to make 35 appearances with a 4-3 record with a 2.61 ERA. He won his final game at home against the New York Mets on Sept. 29. He got the last two outs of the top of the fourth. The Colts scored five times in the bottom of the inning to go one to post the victory.
Faced Each Other Twice
Umbricht had the better of the only two times that he pitched to Hubbs. IN a 1962 game Hubbs grounded out in a Cubs 5-1 win.
In 1963, Umbricht earned his first victory of the season in a 2-1 extra inning win in Houston.
Entering the game in the ninth in relief of Don Nottebart, Umbricht got a ground out from Hubbs as he worked a perfect frame.
With the Colt 45s down 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth Rusty Staub tied the game before getting thrown out at the plate on the play as he went for an inside-the-park-homer.
Umbricht tossed another perfect inning in the top of the 10th before Houston’s Bob Aspromonte ended the game with a homer.
The Numbers
Houston retired Umbricht’s No. 32 in 1964 making him the only player to ever were the number in the history of the organization.
Although the Cubs didn’t retire the No. 16 that Hubbs wore, the number was not issued to another player until Roger Metzger had it in 1970.