By David Marasco

In 1933 Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies won the Triple Crown. He discovered, as would Ted Williams in later years, that this did not grant him the MVP on a silver platter. That year the trophy would go to Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants. King Carl would win 23 with 10 shutouts, leading the league in ERA with a 1.66 mark. His Giants would win the National League and he would notch two victories in the World Series. His most outstanding feat that year did not occur in October, but in July.

On July 2 the St. Louis Cardinals played a double header against the New Yorkers in the Polo Grounds. The Cards had taken two of the first three games in the series, and a sweep of the day's contests would have put them a mere half-game behind the Giants. The first game saw Hubbell face off against the Cardinal's Tex Carleton. These two men put together one of the greatest exhibitions of pitching the world has ever seen. Both teams would put up zeroes inning after inning. The Giants first real threat occurred in the 11th inning. They were able to load the bases with but one out. Carleton was able to get a force play at the plate, and then got a grounder to end the 11th. Tex would pitch the first 16 innings of the game, giving up no runs on 8 hits and 7 walks. As good as 16 frames of shutout ball might sound, Hubbell was doing even better. He was on his way to a six-hitter in which no men would be walked. Of the 6 hits, only two left the infield. There was never more than one man on base in any given inning, and only one Cardinal got as far as third.

Jesse Haines came in to pitch the 17th for the Cardinals, and while he let two men on, he preserved the shutout. Hubbell pitched the top of the 18th, and then in the home-half Haines ran into trouble. The leadoff man drew a walk and was sacrificed to second. The next man was walked intentionally in order to get to Hubbell. Hubbell batted for himself, obviously with pitching the 19th in mind. Carl hit into a fielder's choice, with the runner being cut down at second. The man on third scored when Hughie Critz put a single into right for the victory.

The Giants had taken the first game 1-0 in 18 innings. Carl Hubbell had pitched a six-hitter with 12 perfect innings Over the 18, Hubbell struck out 12. 50,000 saw a game that took 4 hours and 3 minutes. St. Louis manager Gabby Street realized that if he lost the second game his team would fade to 5 1/2 back in the standings, so he sent in the legendary Dizzy Dean to the mound on one day's rest. Billy Terry countered with Roy Parmalee. The second game was played in misty conditions, with a slight rain being compounded with oncoming darkness. In 1933 the Polo Grounds were still seven years from lights. Since the first game took so long, the second was in danger of being called due to darkness. Once again the two pitchers threw wonderful games. Parmalee threw a shutout and a four-hitter, striking out 12. Dizzy Dean threw a five-hitter, making but one mistake. Johnny Vergez put a Dean pitch into the upper deck for one run in the fourth.

The two games combined for nearly six hours. The Giants were able to take both by the score of 1-0. The sweep allowed the Giants to open a bulge in the standing and Bill Terry in his first year as manager was able to ride the team to a World Series title. Carl Hubbell won his second MVP in 1936 when he won 16 straight and once again took the Giants to the top of National League. He would retire from playing in 1943 and be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1947 (this was prior to the 5 year rule). Carl Hubbell remained with the Giants organization as a part of the front office. He could often be seen at both the Polo Grounds and then later at Candlestick Park. He could easily be recognized by the pitching arm that had been deformed by years of throwing the screwball. Carl Hubbell died in Arizona in 1988 in a car accident.