James Kerr Hibbs (born September 10, 1944) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player whose eight-year career was punctuated by a brief, three-game trial with the California Angels of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. Hibbs was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

by trade, but his MLB experience was limited to three pinch hitting appearances at the outset of the 1967 season. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed during his active career.

Biography

Born in Klamath Falls,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, Hibbs graduated from high school in Ventura, California, and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where he was an All-American selection. He represented the United States in

baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics Baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport at the Tokyo games. It would become an official sport 28 years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics. It was the fifth time a baseball exhibition was held at the Olympics. The collegiate ...

as a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration sport ...

in Tokyo. During a series of games in Japan, he batted .379 with four home runs. Hibbs was chosen in the third round of the secondary phase of the January 1966 Major League Baseball draft by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. After hitting .309 with nine home runs during a year spent at the Rookie and Class A levels of the Dodgers' farm system, he entered the Rule 5 draft that fall, and the Angels acquired him. He remained on the Halos' 28-man, early-season roster when the 1967

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

season began and made his debut April 12 against Mickey Lolich of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, making a ground ball out to the

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

in the ninth inning, pinch-hitting for veteran

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Jim Coates to make the final out in the Tigers' 6–3 win at Anaheim Stadium. In his other two plate appearances, Hibbs struck out against Darold Knowles of the Washington Senators on May 6, and fanned against Jim O'Toole of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

on May 13. Retrosheetbr>box score: 1967-05-13
/ref> The three pitchers whom Hibbs faced were all left-handers. Hibbs was sent to the minor leagues when rosters were cut to 25 men later in May and played the remainder of his pro career in the Angels', Cincinnati Reds' and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

' organizations, through 1973. He batted .271 with 43 home runs in 553 games played. A member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame and the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame, Hibbs has authored two books on baseball technique, ''A Catcher's Life'' and ''Instant Baseball.''

References

External links

1944 births Living people All-American college baseball players Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Oregon California Angels players El Paso Sun Kings players Ogden Dodgers players Olympic baseball players for the United States People from Klamath Falls, Oregon Quad Cities Angels players San Jose Bees players Santa Barbara Dodgers players Baseball players from Ventura County, California Stanford Cardinal baseball players Tacoma Cubs players Wichita Aeros players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-bio-stub