James Gregory Hibbard (born September 13, 1964) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from –.

Career

Houston Astros

Hibbard was originally drafted by the Astros out of

Harrison Central High School (Mississippi) Harrison Central High School is a 6A public high school located near Lyman, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020–21 school year, it has a student body of 1,622 students and 144 faculty. The principal is Kelly Fuller. History In 1957, ...

in the 8th round of the 1984 draft. He decided, instead, to attend the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

and did not sign with the team.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals drafted Hibbard out of the University of Alabama in the 16th round of the 1986 draft. They later traded him with Chuck Mount, John Davis, and Melido Perez to the White Sox for Floyd Banister and Dave Cochrane.

Chicago White Sox

From 1989-1992, he compiled a 41-34 record with the club. His best season came in 1990, when he went 14-9 with a 3.16 ERA. Impressively, despite winning all those games and throwing 211 innings, he struck out just 92 batters. Hibbard only made 6 relief appearances as a White Sox, but did pick up his one and only career save. On August 1, 1992, Hibbard threw 4 shutout innings to nail down a 8-1 White Sox win over the Mariners and saving the win for starting pitcher Kirk McCaskill.

Florida Marlins

In 1992, the Marlins selected Hibbard with the 12th pick in the expansion draft. He did not last long in Florida, as they traded him that same day to the Cubs for Alex Arias and Gary Scott.

Chicago Cubs

Hibbard went on to pitch for the Cubs. In his lone season with the club, he finished with a 15-11 record, which earned him a 3-year deal with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

Seattle Mariners

Hibbard received a 3-year deal with the Mariners. His first season with the club was cut short due to a shoulder issue. He finished that season 1-5 and a whopping 6.69 ERA. Hibbard would go on to never pitch for the M's again as the chronic shoulder issues kept him from ever being the same. He officially retired from baseball in 1997.

References

External links

1964 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Appleton Foxes players Baseball coaches from Louisiana Baseball players from New Orleans Chicago White Sox players Chicago Cubs players Eugene Emeralds players Fort Myers Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Chicks players Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs baseball players Seattle Mariners players Vancouver Canadians players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1960s-stub