Wilbur Huckle

Wilbur Allan Huckle (born November 25, 1941)note is a former professional baseball infielder in the New York Mets farm system, who achieved "fan favorite" status, despite never playing in Major League Baseball. Listed at 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) and 175 pounds (79 kg), Huckle threw and batted right-handed. He later was a manager in the Mets farm system.

Wilbur Huckle
Infielder / Manager
Born: (1941-11-25) November 25, 1941note
San Antonio, Texas
Bats: Right Throws: Right

Playing career

Huckle was a three-sport athlete at Harlandale High School in San Antonio, Texas, competing in football,[1] baseball,[2] and basketball.[3] He played college baseball at Sul Ross State College in Alpine, Texas, in 1961—when he hit .396 (23-for-58)—and 1962.[4][5]

Huckle played in the Mets' minor league system from 1963 to 1971.[6] He reached the Triple-A level in 1966, playing 67 games with the Jacksonville Suns.[6] He played 76 games with Jacksonville in 1967, and 64 games with the Triple-A Tidewater Tides in 1969.[6] In three seasons in Triple-A, Huckle had a .263 batting average with one home run and 58 RBIs.[6] He also played six seasons at the Double-A level and two seasons in Class A. Overall, Huckle played in 746 minor league games; defensively, he played 491 games at shortstop, 100 games at second base, 95 games at third base, and 3 games in the outfield (other appearances were as a pinch hitter), accruing a .944 fielding average.[6]

According to journalist Keith Olbermann, a photographer recalls that Huckle received a September call-up to the Mets in 1963, on the same day as Cleon Jones, but was optioned back to the minor leagues without appearing in a game.[7] This recollection was challenged by researchers contributing to the "Mets by the Numbers" website, who contend that Huckle indeed was invited to work out with the Mets in September 1963, but was not actually added to the major league roster.[8] Consistent with the latter account, Red Foley of the New York Daily News had written in mid-September 1963 that Jones and Huckle were working out with the Mets, but that neither player was on the Mets' roster.[9]

Career minor league statistics[6]
GPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSTB
746284925543086628519142244920251215.259.327.324.651827

Fan favorite
"Wilbur Huckle for President" campaign buttons

Huckle's reputation was presumably developed from spring training dispatches and broadcasts, augmented by the uniqueness of his name. In August 1964, during the Mets' first season at Shea Stadium, one of winning entries in the team's annual banner contest, which drew over 1000 entrants, was "The Metropolitan Party Nominates Wilbur Huckle for President".[10][11] At the time, Huckle was in his second professional season, playing for the Double-A Williamsport Mets in Pennsylvania.[6] "Wilbur Huckle for President" campaign buttons from the era can occasionally be found on online auction sites.

As far as appearance and position, one blogger remembers Huckle this way: "Wilbur was a Mets farmhand in the '60's, a shortstop who also played some third base. There was really nothing special about him except for his name and the fact that he looked exactly the way you might expect someone named Wilbur Huckle to look, with red hair and a million freckles."[12]

Huckle as a roommate

In 1966, Wilbur became the first professional baseball roommate of future Hall of Fame inductee Tom Seaver, during Seaver's first minor league season in Jacksonville, Florida.[13] Seaver recalled:

"My first year in professional baseball, I roomed with a fellow named Wilbur Huckle, who played the infield for Jacksonville. We had a rather unusual relationship. I never saw Wilbur Huckle in our room — at least not awake.

I never talked with him. I never heard him. I never ate a meal with him. When I came in at night, early or late, he was either out or asleep. And when I got up in the morning, he was always gone. He got up early and went on long walks by himself."[14]

Huckle's prowess as a roommate is matched only by his reputation as a teammate:

"Lots of guys tried, but nobody ever beat Wilbur Huckle getting into street clothes after a game... . Once, I heard, when Wilbur was playing in a lower minor league, his team was on a losing streak, and when they lost their sixth or seventh in a row, the manager started screaming at his players as they entered the clubhouse. "Sit down on the benches", he hollered. "This has gone too damn far. Just sit down and think about your mistakes. Think about your errors. Nobody's taking a shower until I say so." The manager was facing the whole team, scowling and storming, and right behind him stood Wilbur Huckle, fresh out of the shower, toweling himself dry."[14]

Post-playing career
Managerial career[6]
YearTeamLeagueWLPct.FinishRef.
1972 Batavia TrojansNY–Penn2940.4206th[15]
1973 Batavia TrojansNY–Penn3336.4785th[16]
1974 Batavia TrojansNY–Penn2049.2906th[17]
Totals3 Seasons82125.396 

After his playing career ended, Huckle managed the Class A Short-Season Batavia Trojans of the New York–Penn League for three seasons during their period as a Mets affiliate, but his teams accrued only a .396 winning percentage.[6] Huckle was reportedly fired by the Mets' director of scouting, Nelson Burbrink, when Huckle submitted a list of players on the squad, whom he felt were legitimate major league prospects, that only had a single name on it.[18] Burbrink felt that Huckle couldn't evaluate talent; however, the player that Huckle had named was catcher Ned Yost,[18] who went on to play six seasons in the major leagues. Of the players on Batavia's roster in 1974, only Yost and pitcher Bob Myrick eventually played in MLB.[19]

Notes

Huckle's birth date and location—November 25, 1941, in San Antonio, Texas—are as listed on a digitized "player contact card" originally created by The Sporting News.[20] Baseball-Reference.com lists Huckle's date of birth as December 23, 1937.[6] However, a 1937 year of birth is contradicted by contemporary newspaper reports, as Huckle was listed on a baseball roster as being 20 years old in September 1961,[21] and was referred to as a "22-year-old shortstop" in January 1964;[22] these align with a 1941 year of birth. Additionally, he was playing high school sports as late as the spring of 1960,[2] which also aligns with a 1941 year of birth.

References
  1. "End of Trail". San Antonio Express-News. September 19, 1959. p. 42. Retrieved August 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  2. "Clutch Hit". San Antonio Express-News. June 4, 1960. p. 44. Retrieved August 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  3. McLemore, Jim (December 15, 1959). "Basketball Battles: Local Highs Due Test". Austin American-Statesman. p. 30. Retrieved August 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  4. "Lobo Baseball Team Rates With The Best". Del Rio News-Herald. Del Rio, Texas. June 5, 1961. p. 6. Retrieved August 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  5. "UofA Unloads Big Guns; Mauls Sul Ross, 22-10". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. April 10, 1962. p. 31. Retrieved August 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  6. "Wilbur Huckle Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  7. Olbermann, Keith (25 April 2009). "The Washington Natinals". Baseball Nerd.
  8. "Huckleberry Found". Mets by the Numbers. April 30, 2009.
  9. Foley, Red (September 14, 1963). "'Streaking' Craig Out For No. 4 vs. Colts". New York Daily News. p. 27. Retrieved August 9, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  10. Foley, Red (August 24, 1964). "Met Banner Day! Win 2-1, 5-4". New York Daily News. p. 47. Retrieved August 9, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  11. Lewis, Dave (September 2, 1964). "Once Over Lightly (column)". Independent. Long Beach, California. p. C-1. Retrieved August 9, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  12. "Metscentric: Old Time Mets - Would You Believe Wilbur Huckle ?".
  13. "Tom Seaver Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  14. Seaver, Tom (1970). The Perfect Game. with Dick Schaap. New York City: Bantam Books. ASIN B000HQR9HO.
  15. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=14b8b20c
  16. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=222ee8d1
  17. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=9c025337
  18. Gregorian, Vahe (October 30, 2015). "Yost managing against club that drafted him". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. p. BB5. Retrieved August 9, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  19. "1974 Batavia Trojans". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  20. "The Sporting News Player Contract Cards–Wilbur Huckle". SABR. Retrieved August 8, 2020 – via LA84 Foundation.
  21. "San Antonio Team Roster". Battle Creek Enquirer. Battle Creek, Michigan. September 14, 1961. p. 17. Retrieved August 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  22. "Ex-Dodgers Hand Looms as Leading Met Rookie". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. January 10, 1964. p. 19. Retrieved August 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.

Further reading
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