Born in Blackfoot, Idaho, Luby grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and briefly attended Creighton University.

[1][2] He threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) tall and weighed 185 lb (84 kg).

Luby the player was a fixture in the Pacific Coast League, performing as a regular for the Oakland Oaks (1938–43) and San Francisco Seals (1946–48), and batting over .300 three times.

Named skipper of the unaffiliated Salem Senators of the Class A Western International League for 1951, Luby began a long tenure as a key figure in professional baseball in the Pacific Northwest.

He served as manager and general manager of the Senators and Eugene Emeralds of the WIL, president of the Northwest League (the WIL's identity after 1954), and GM of the Emeralds when, as members of the Pacific Coast League, they were the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.