View source for Jim Hibbs

{{short description|American baseball player (born 1944)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Jim Hibbs
|image=Jim Hibbs - Wichita Aeros.jpg
|position=[[Pinch hitter]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1944|9|10}}
|birth_place=[[Klamath Falls, Oregon]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 12
|debutyear=1967
|debutteam=California Angels
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=May 13
|finalyear=1967
|finalteam=California Angels
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Hit (baseball)|Hit]]s
|stat1value=0
|stat2label=[[At bat]]s
|stat2value=3
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=2
|teams=
*[[Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim|California Angels]] (1967)
}}

'''James Kerr Hibbs''' (born September 10, 1944) is an American former professional [[baseball]] player whose eight-year career was punctuated by a brief, three-game trial with the {{mlby|1967}}   [[Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim|California Angels]] of [[Major League Baseball]]. Hibbs was a [[catcher]] and [[outfielder]] by trade, but his [[MLB]] experience was limited to three [[pinch hitter|pinch hitting]] appearances at the outset of the 1967 season. He threw and batted [[right-handed]], stood {{convert|6|ft}} tall and weighed {{convert|190|lb}} during his active career.

==Biography==
Born in [[Klamath Falls, Oregon|Klamath Falls]], [[Oregon]], Hibbs graduated from high school in [[Ventura, California]], and played [[college baseball]] at [[Stanford University]], where he was an [[All-American]] selection. He represented the United States in [[baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics]] as a [[demonstration sport]] in Tokyo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv1n1/JOHv1n1e.pdf|title=Baseball at the Olympics|last=Pete|first=Cava|date=1991|access-date=May 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809200123/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv1n1/JOHv1n1e.pdf|archive-date=August 9, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> During a series of games in Japan, he [[batting average (baseball)|batted]] .379 with four home runs.<ref>[https://venturacountysportshalloffame.org/inductee/jim-hibbs/ Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame]</ref>

Hibbs was chosen in the third round of the secondary phase of the January 1966 [[Major League Baseball draft]] by the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]]. After hitting .309 with nine home runs during a year spent at the [[Rookie-level|Rookie]] and [[Class A (baseball)|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]] season began and made his debut April 12 against [[Mickey Lolich]] of the [[Detroit Tigers]], making a [[ground ball]] [[out (baseball)|out]] to the [[second baseman]] in the ninth [[inning (baseball)|inning]], pinch-hitting for veteran [[relief pitcher]] [[Jim Coates]] to make the final out in the Tigers' 6–3 win at [[Anaheim Stadium]].<ref>[[Retrosheet]] [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1967/B04120CAL1967.htm box score: 1967-04-12]</ref> In his other two plate appearances, Hibbs [[struck out]] against [[Darold Knowles]] of the [[Washington Senators (1961–1971)|Washington Senators]] on May 6,<ref>[[Retrosheet]] [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1967/B05060CAL1967.htm box score: 1967-05-06]</ref> and fanned against [[Jim O'Toole]] of the [[Chicago White Sox]] on May 13.<ref>[[Retrosheet]] [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1967/B05130CHA1967.htm box score: 1967-05-13]</ref> The three pitchers whom Hibbs faced were all [[left-handed|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]]' organizations, through 1973. He batted .271 with 43 home runs in 553 [[games played]]. A member of the [[Stanford Cardinal|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==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=h/hibbsji01 |fangraphs= |cube=|brm=hibbs-001jam}}

{{United States baseball roster 1964 Summer Olympics}}
{{1966 College Baseball Consensus All-Americans}}

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


{{US-baseball-bio-stub}}