Willie Hubert

Rookie sensation Willie “Bubber” Hubert hurled the final pitch of the 1939 Negro National League championship, completing a four-out save for the victorious Baltimore Elite Giants over the Homestead Grays. Hubert, plucked into the NNL from the barnstorming Miami Ethiopians Clowns a year earlier, became a frontline starter for the Elite Giants the next season and later bounced around various Negro League organizations throughout the mid-1940s.

William Henry Hubert was born on January 19, 1913, in Ocala, Florida, to William H. and Cora (Wilson) Hubert.1 As of the 1920 US Census, young Willie resided in Dade County, Florida, with his mother and Bahamian-born grandmother Anna Wilson, along with younger siblings Thomas and Lillian. Cora was listed as a cook for a private family. By the 1930 Census, 17-year-old Willie was listed as a laborer in Miami and living with his grandmother and brother.

The first found listing of Hubert playing any level of baseball was in training camp of the Newark Dodgers, managed by Dick Lundy, in the spring of 1935 in High Point, North Carolina.2 In September 1936 Hubert pitched for the Miami Red Sox barnstorming squad.3 He soon joined the Ethiopian Clowns, arguably the most famous Negro barnstorming team in baseball history, also based in Miami. Against his former Red Sox squad, “Bubber” (Hubert, who relieved in the third inning), and starting pitcher “Smoky” were each knocked around for seven hits in an October loss.4

Hubert spent the 1937 campaign back with the Clowns, which presented a lineup utilizing African monikers such as Gohari, King Tut (moniker for Richard King), Limpopo (Buck O’Neil), Wahoo, Tana, Takoloo, Aussa, and Sardo.5 Actual names of other Clowns pitchers during this time included Dave Barnhill (Impo), Melvin Coleman (Macan), Rogers Pierre (Askari), Eddie “Peanuts” Davis (Nyasses), and Willie Burns (Kaliharri).6 In an April victory over the Jacksonville Red Caps, Hubert “had plenty of stuff on the ball but was inclined to hurt himself by getting angry and fighting with the Jacksonville ribbers, some of whom were experts.”7 It was reported that the Clowns won 125 of their 141 contests of the season.8

For 1938, Hubert, a 5-foot-11, 173-pound right-hander, returned to the Clowns, captained by catcher Thad Christopher (Tarzan).9 Hubert lost twice to the Jacksonville Red Caps on consecutive days in late October as Jacksonville claimed the colored state championship honors.10 By December 1938, “Bubber” had re-signed with his former Miami Red Sox, the Clowns’ intracity rivals.11

Dick Lundy, still manager of the Newark Eagles, “took heed and squinted at some young fellers cavorting for the Ethiopian Clowns, away down thar.”12 Lundy remembered Hubert, and picked him up, along with pitcher Jimmy Hill and outfielder Frank “Freddie” Wilson, signing the trio from the Clowns to contracts and inviting them to the Eagles’ 1939 spring training in Daytona Beach, Florida. The early reports were that “Wilbur [sic] ‘Bubber’ Hubert … has been doing well in camp.”13 Hubert beat his former team the Clowns, 6-4, on April 9 in an exhibition in Miami.14 Newark led the NNL as of late June, boasting a lineup including first baseman Mule Suttles, second baseman Dick Seay, third baseman Monte Irvin, and pitcher Leon Day.15

However, by July 8, Hubert first appeared with the Baltimore Elite Giants, also in the NNL.16 The Giants has just lost star first baseman Jim West to the Philadelphia Stars and catcher Biz Mackey to the Newark Eagles. The Elites finished third in the NNL in the first half, so manager Felton Snow had added Hubert, and, from the Atlanta Black Crackers, shortstop Tommy Butts, first baseman Red Moore, and young catcher Oscar Boone.17 Snow also inserted 17-year-old catcher Roy Campanella into the starting lineup. Hubert wore number 1 on his Elite Giants jersey in 1939.18

Hubert was at times referred to as “Hank” in the Baltimore Afro-American.19 On July 23 he threw a two-hitter over six innings in besting his former Newark team, 4-1.20 He beat the Memphis Red Sox 14-1 in a seven-inning contest in the nightcap of a doubleheader on August 6.21 By the time the Elite Giants traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, to play the New York Black Yankees later in August, their reinforced roster had won its last eight contests.22 “Buffer” Hubert flummoxed the New York Cuban Stars, 11-1, on August 13 with a complete-game six-hitter in the opener of a four-team doubleheader at Yankee Stadium that also included the Homestead Grays and New York Black Yankees.23

The New York Age commented that Hubert, “who hitch-hiked here from Georgia, (is) doing alright on the mound for league leading Baltimore Elite Giants. But (he) won’t stand up to the plate when it’s his turn to bat.”24 By September, “Bubbles” Hubert was labeled by the Afro-American as the “rookie sensation of the Baltimore Elites.”25 The Age later dubbed him “the sensational ‘Bubbles’ Hubert who has developed into one of the greatest pitchers in the game in his first year in the league.”26 Regardless of which nickname was used, the 26-year-old rookie Hubert was very effective.

Hubert beat Newark again, 5-2, on September 10 in the NNL Divisional Series in Baltimore with a complete-game (six innings) victory, allowing just two runs and two hits.27

This sent the Elite Giants to face off against the Homestead Grays in the Negro National League championship series. In the deciding game, on September 24 in front of 10,000 at Yankee Stadium, Baltimore starter Jonas Gaines carried a 2-0 lead until the top of the eighth inning. After two were out in the frame, Gaines walked Grays player-manager Vic Harris, slugging catcher Josh Gibson, and first baseman Buck Leonard.28 Then “Bill Hubert, Georgia rookie, came in as relief hurler and retired the side by making (Henry) Spearman pop to Snow.”29 The rookie “Hubert held the Grays hitless the rest of the game.”30 With the 2-0 victory, Baltimore became the 1939 Negro National League champion.

Hubert is listed as living in Chicago as of the 1940 Census, with his in-laws; his wife, Mary, seven years Willie’s junior and born in Arkansas; and their two-year-old daughter, Bernice, and nine-month-old son, Westley Lee. The listing also stated that Willie was born in Georgia and was a park project laborer.

During his time with the Elite Giants, Hubert was described as “an accomplished pitcher who was known for cutting the ball to compensate for his lack of other legitimate pitches,” but he was also “difficult to handle both on and off the field.”31 Nonetheless, Hubert returned to Baltimore for the 1940 season, becoming one of its two best pitchers, behind ace Emery Adams. The Giants trained in New Orleans that spring, then barnstormed their way north to Maryland.

On May 18 Hubert pitched eight innings to earn the win over the Grays, 9-8, with two homers by Roy Campanella supplying the power.32 A week later, in a four-way doubleheader at Yankee Stadium which also included the Grays and Stars, Hubert beat the New York Black Yankees, 8-1,33 where “it was Hubert all the way.”34

Four days later, on May 30, Hubert threw the final 3⅔ innings in relief of Ross “Satchel” Davis in a combined 5-0, seven-inning no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader in Newark against the Eagles.35 The next time out, Hubert again beat the Black Yankees, 7-2, improving the Elite Giants’ early-season record to 10-1.36 By late June, Hubert “right now (was) considered one of the league’s top-notchers.”37

On June 21 the Elite Giants beat the New York Cubans 5-4 in 16 innings in Yankee Stadium, with Hubert pitching the first eight innings and newcomer Nate Moreland tossing shutout ball for the final eight.38 On June 25 Hubert and Moreland combined to beat the Kansas City Monarchs, 11-10 in 11 innings.39 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that “‘Buffer’ Hubert, a right-hander, has earned recognition for this assignment by the consistent form he has shown in Negro National League games. He was especially effective at Yankee Stadium in the Ruppert Cup Memorial series, where he won two games in as many starts with impressive twirling.”40

However, Hubert began to lose his shine. On July 24 he allowed 16 hits but still was victorious, 6-4 in 11 innings, over the Cuban Stars.41 On August 1, the Newark Eagles smacked Bill “Bud” Barnes and Hubert around for 20 hits in a 13-9 victory.42 Maybe it was the new ineffectiveness, or possibly the addition of new Elite Giants pitcher Jimmy Reese, but Hubert did not see much action down the stretch. Baltimore came up short by 3½ games to the Homestead Grays for the 1940 NNL title.

In January 1941, Hubert, still property of the Elite Giants, was part of a massive 11-player trade, sent by Baltimore owner Tom Wilson (also NNL president) to the New York Black Yankees.43 The Black Yankees reportedly were to send Johnny Washington, Charley Biot, Roy Williams, and Robert Clarke to the Elite Giants for Hubert, Red Moore, Tom Parker, Everett “Ziggy” Marcell, Bud Barbee, Henry Kimbro, Bill Perkins, and cash.44 However, Hubert, along with Specs Roberts, Bob Griffith, and Tom Parker, had been given a three-year NNL ban for jumping and playing in Mexico.45 Rather than pay a $100 fine to settle the issue, Hubert chose to ply his trade with the newly formed Miami Stars against the Pepsi-Cola Giants of Tampa.46 It was said that Hubert dropped out of the league for independent ball.47

Hubert began the 1942 campaign in New Orleans for spring training with the Cincinnati Buckeyes of the Negro American League. He shined against the Birmingham Black Barons on April 26 in an exhibition in Oklahoma City, and “just about had the number for the Black Barons but threw his arm out in the first part of the fifth inning and had to be relieved.”48  In a May 10 loss to the Memphis Red Sox, Hubert surrendered eight runs in the fourth inning before being replaced.49

By June 1942, Hubert joined the Baltimore Grays of the upstart Negro Major League.50 On June 28 newcomer Hubert tossed a seven-inning one-hitter in a 2-1 win over the 1301st Service Unit team of New Cumberland, Pennsylvania.51 Hubert and Baltimore lost 7-4 to the Cincinnati Ethiopian Clowns on July 5.52

Hubert pitched five games for the Homestead Grays in 1944, after his three-year Negro National League ban expired. He beat his old Baltimore Elite Giants 3-1, on May 13, with seven innings of seven-hit ball.53 He shut out the New York Cubans, 3-0, on June 4 on three hits over his former Clown teammate Dave “Impo” Barnhill.54 He tossed 6⅔ relief innings on June 19 in a 9-2 loss to Don Newcombe and Newark.55 The Grays won the Negro World Series.

In 1945 Hubert attended the spring-training camp of the Indianapolis Cardinals in the reconfigured Negro Southern League, where it was reported that his “curve ball has puzzled Negro league players for six years.”56 By late April, he signed with the Pittsburgh Crawfords of the United States Negro League. The Crawfords won the first half of the U.S. League. Hubert beat the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers 8-4 in seven innings on August 27 in Montreal,57 and again beat them on September 9.58

Hubert started 1946 back with the Crawfords. On April 28 the “tall gangling right-hander” earned the win with four relief innings of one-run ball in a 12-7 victory over Hoosier Beer in South Bend, Indiana.59 However, Hubert was released in May, and lost to the Crawfords later in the month as a member of the new Brooklyn Brown Dodgers.60 Both teams were part of the United States Negro Baseball League.61 Records indicate he later joined the Cincinnati Buckeyes and later rejoined his former Baltimore Elite Giants squad, but saw no league action. Lastly, he pitched and lost for the Philadelphia Stars on September 1 against the New York Cubans.

In 1948 Hubert pitched in five games in Canada, in the independent and integrated Quebec Provincial League for the Farnham Pirates.

By the 1950 Census, Hubert lived in Chicago with Mary and children Bernice, Westley, Donald, William J., Rita, and Evann, and was a steel mill chipper. Not much is available on Hubert after this time.

Willie Hubert died on May 19, 2000,62 at the age of 87 in the Bronx, New York, and is buried at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Seamheads.com, and MyHeritage.com.

Notes

1 The 1920 census, however, lists Hubert as being born in Georgia.

2 “Newark Displays Savvy in Training Camp,” Negro Star (Wichita, Kansas) April 5, 1935: 6.

3 “Miami Red Sox Whip Fort Pierce Negro 9,” Miami News, September 28, 1936: 11.

4 “Miami Red Sox Triumph over Ethiopian Clowns,” Miami News, October 26, 1936: 11.

5 “Ethiopians to Play Pirates Tomorrow Night,” Red Bank (New Jersey) Register, July 7, 1938: 18.

6 “Blues, Clowns Play Here Tonight,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), August 13, 1939: 25.

7 “Clowns Beat Jacksonville,” Miami News, April 19, 1937: 14.

8 “Norwalk Squad Plays Tonight,” Sandusky (Ohio) Register, July 13, 1938: 8.

9 “Ethiopian Clowns Play at Norwalk Wednesday,” Sandusky Register, July 12, 1938: 6.

10 “Win Florida Baseball Championship,” Chicago Defender, October 29, 1938: 9.

11 “Clowns and Red Sox to Play Again Sunday,” Miami News, December 8, 1938: 17.

12 “Dugout Doings,” New York Amsterdam News, March 25, 1939: 19.

13 “Dick Seay’s Return from S.A. Hailed,” New York Amsterdam News, April 29, 1939: 19. In the headline, S.A. stands for South America.

14 “Clowns Lose to Eagles, 6-4,” Miami News, April 10, 1939: 15.

15 “Yankees, Eagles to Play 2 Games,” Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Sentinel, June 20, 1939: 6.

16 “Giants Beat Stars Twice,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 9, 1939: 33.

17 William E. Clark, “The Sports Parade,” New York Age, July 22, 1939: 8.

18 “So You’ll Know Them,” Warren (Pennsylvania) Times Mirror, August 23, 1939: 8.

19 “Elites Clash with Eagles,” Baltimore Afro-American, July 22, 1939: 23.

20 “Baltimore and Newark Split Double-Header,” Washington Evening Star, July 24, 1939: 12; “Elites Divide 2 with Newark,” Baltimore Afro-American, July 29, 1939: 22.

21 “Negro Teams Halve Bill,” Birmingham Post, August 7, 1939: 8.

22 “Black Yanks Meet Giants Tuesday, 8:15,” Birmingham News, July 30, 1939: 16.

23 “Homestead Grays Take Black Yankee Team,” Phoenix (Arizona) Index, August 19, 1939: 4.

24 Buster Miller, “The Sports Parade,” New York Age, August 19, 1939: 8.

25 “Stars, Eagles, Giants, Grays, in Twin Bill,” Baltimore Afro-American, September 2, 1939: 22.

26 “20,000 to See Four Team Doubleheader at Ruppert Stadium,” New York Age, September 2, 1939: 8.

27 Ralph Boyd, “Elites Whip Eagles to Gain Championship Series,” Baltimore Afro-American, September 15, 1939:

28 “Elite Giants Win National League Championship,” Baltimore Afro-American, September 30, 1939: 21.

29 Buster Miller, “Elite Giants Top Homestead Grays to Win Ruppert Trophy,” New York Age, September 30, 1939: 8.

30 “Elites Win, 2-0, in Colored Final,” New York Daily News, September 25, 1939: 224.

31 Bob Luke, The Baltimore Elite Giants (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009), 50. Quote is from James A. Riley, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1994), 399.

32 “2,500 See Elite Giants Win Here,” Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Sunday Courier, May 19, 1940: 2.

33 “Elites, Grays Win in Twin Bill,” Baltimore Afro-American, June 1, 1940: 20.

34 William E. Clark, “Homestead Grays and Elite Giants Victorious in First 4-Team Double-header in N.Y.,” New York Age, June 1, 1940: 5.

35 “Elites Clip Eagles in Twin Bill,” Baltimore Afro-American, June 8, 1940: 20.

36 “Elites Increase N.N. League Lead,” Baltimore Afro-American, June 4, 1940: 18.

37 “Play Series Tilt Here Tomorrow,” Harrisburg Evening News, June 21, 1940: 15.

38 Morgen S. Jensen, “10,000 See Game in Yankee Stadium; Yanks Beats Tars,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 22, 1940: 17.

39 “Elites Nip K.C. Monarchs, Face Eagles,” Baltimore Afro-American, June 29, 1940: 22.

40 “Elite Giants Tangle with Bushwicks,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 28, 1940: 14.

41 “Elites Defeat Cuban Tossers,” Baltimore Evening Sun, July 25, 1940: 33. 

42 “Eagles Top Elites on Homers,” Jersey Journal (Jersey City), August 2, 1940: 13.

43 See Baltimore Afro-American, January 11, 1941: 19.

44 Hayward Jackson, “Black Yanks, Elites Complete Ten Player Deal,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 12, 1941: 17.

45 Luke, 78.

46 “Schoolboy Impo to Pitch for Clowns,” Philadelphia Tribune, March 20, 1941: 11.

47 Art Carter, “Rival Grays Opponents in Debut,” Baltimore Afro-American, May 6, 1941: 18.

48 “Cincinnati Win Close Game from Birmingham in Season Opener Sunday 4 to 3,” Cincinnati Black Dispatch, May 2, 1942: 12.

49 Sam Brown, “Memphis in Double Win over Cincy,” Chicago Defender, May 16, 1942: 20.

50 “Baltimore Grays Meet Richmond Hillsdales,” Baltimore Sun, June 7, 1942: 30; “Baltimore Grays Play Port of Richmond Nine,” Baltimore Sun, June 21, 1942: 27.

51 “Twin Bill Lost by Service Unit,” Harrisburg Evening News, June 29, 1942: 6.

52 “Clowns Retain Lead,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 6, 1942: 24.

53 “Homestead Grays Beat Baltimore in Opener, 3-1,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 1944: 31; “Grays Hand Jolt to Elite Giants,” Harrisburg Evening News, May 15, 1944: 15.

54 “Grays, Cubans Split; Giants Lose Twin Bill,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 10, 1944: 12.

55 “Homestead and Penbrook Lose,” Harrisburg Evening News, June 20, 1944: 13.

56 “Three Twirlers Join Indianapolis Cardinals,” Indianapolis Star, April 1, 1945: 38.

57 “Pitt Team Tops Dark Dodgers,” Montreal Star, August 28, 1945: 16.

58 “Crawfords Too Good for Foes at Ebbets Field,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 10, 1945: 12.

59 Bob Towner, “Hoosier Beer Loses Opener to Crawfords,” South Bend (Indiana) Tribune, April 29, 1946: 12.

60 “Pittsburgh Topples Brooklyn Nine, 14-7,” York (Pennsylvania) Dispatch, May 23, 1946: 26.

61 “Pittsburgh Opposes Brooklyn Ball Club,” York Dispatch, May 22, 1946: 16.

62 MyHeritage.com listed Hubert’s date of death as May 21, 2000.