Gil Hodges, Baseball's Great First Baseman
Hodges Led the Mets to World Championship in 1969
Dec 22, 2008
He was loved by players and fans alike, and during his career as player and manager he showed strength, determination and integrity. He was always a gentleman on the field. His early death at the age of forty-seven in 1972 was felt throughout baseball and shocked his legions of fans and followers.
Early Years
Gilbert Ray Hodge (his birth name) was born in Princeton, Indiana, on April 4,1924 and died in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 2,1972, when he suffered a heart attack after playing a golf game during the spring training season. Thousands of fans were heartbroken that such a young man...he was two days shy of his forty-eighth birthday...had passed away. Hodges had begun his baseball career when in late1943 he played one game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He joined the Marines and was out of baseball until 1947 when he rejoined the team and was given the first base slot by manager Leo Durocher.
Brooklyn Dodgers
Hodges was a three-time Golden Glove recipient with with the Dodgers and his quick footwork was legendary. On August 31,1950, he slammed four homers to beat the Boston Braves and in 1951 his 40 home runs were second only to Ralph Kiner's 42. Again in 1954 he reached a career milestone when he hit .304 with 42 homers and an RBI of 130. He held the record for grand slams from 1957 to 1974.
1952 World Series
IN 1952 the World Series was played between New York Yankees and the Dodgers. This subway series was one of the greatest disappointments in Hodges' career. He didn't get a hit at 21 times at bat and alarmed the fans so much that prayers were said for him in many Brooklyn churches.The Yankees went on to win the series. Yet in the next year's World Series he hit .364 and was a standout.
During the 1956 World Series he won the first game with a home run and in the 1959 fall Classic he did the same thing, winning the fourth game for the Dodgers. Hodges ended his playing career with the New York Mets, where he hit the first homer in the history of the club on April 11,1962, in St.Louis. In 1963 he went to Washington to take over as manager of the Washington Senators, a luckless team struggling to stay afloat. After five years he returned to the Mets as manager and in 1969 led them to the World Championship, beating the Baltimore Orioles in five games.
Baseball Hall of Fame Shame
The shameful end to this story is that Gil Hodges, one of the greatest players in major league baseball, has never been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Gil Hodges was still manager of the Mets when he suffered the heart attack that took his life in 1972.
Source
The Ballplayers Edited by Mike Shatzkin Arbor House William Morrow New York 1990
For further reading about baseball see Philadelphia Phillies and Satchel Paige
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