James Henry "Hub" Hart (February 2, 1878 – October 10, 1960) was a

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), ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who played for 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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

from 1905 to 1907. Listed at , 170 lbs, Hart batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Hart played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

as halfback at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Georgetown

James Hart was born in

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Everett was the last city in the Un ...

, in 1878. In 1901, he enrolled at

to study

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...

and was also a star

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

and

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team for four years. Prior to Georgetown he shortly attended

with fellow Georgetown back Joseph Reilly.

Football

On November 16, 1901, he solidified himself in Georgetown football history by scoring all three of his team's

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in a 17–16 win over the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

.Ferraro, Bill
"James (Hub) Hart (D'1905)"
. ''hoyafootball.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-07. He was selected All-Southern in 1901. Hart was named team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

. That season, he had a 99-yard run from scrimmage against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

; this is still a school record. His nickname, "Hub", originated from his central position on most of the team's plays. He was elected to the Georgetown Hall of Fame.

Baseball

Hart also played on the baseball team as a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

and catcher. He was considered the best college catcher in the country.

Major League Baseball

After earning his degree in 1905, he was signed by the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

's Chicago White Sox. He made his professional debut on July 16, 1905. During the 1905 season, he played in 11 games and batted .100. In 1906, Hart hit .162 for Chicago and .247 for the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

. He returned to the White Sox in 1907 and batted a respectable .271. However, that was his last major league season. From 1908 to 1912, he played in the minor leagues. He set a career-high in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 1909, hitting .307 for the Montgomery Climbers of the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

."Hub Hart Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-07. After retiring from baseball, Hart became a dentist. He served as the head football coach at

in 1910, compiling a record of 0–4–2. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 1960.

MLB batting statistics

Head coaching record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Hub 1878 births 1960 deaths American football halfbacks Major League Baseball catchers Boston College Eagles football coaches Boston College Eagles football players Chicago White Sox players Georgetown Hoyas football players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Montgomery Climbers players Utica Utes players Manistee Champs players Sacramento Sacts players All-Southern college football players Sportspeople from Everett, Massachusetts Baseball players from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Coaches of American football from Massachusetts Players of American football from Middlesex County, Massachusetts