Better Late Than Never

Today marks the day that many people live, breathe and die for.  I don't mean the fact that 'CSI' is on, and it isn't payday.  Baseball season starts.  I used to live baseball and could rattle off the stats of so many players it frightened people. 

But baseball changed.  Or I did.  Along the way, I retained my love of the golden and silver eras of baseball, and I still follow the box scores.  Every year I anxiously await the Hall of Fame inductions knowing this is going to be the year.

And it never is.

When is Gil Hodges going to be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame?

The Hall has quite a few men that truthfully do not belong.  Take a look at the statistics of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers or Frank Chance.  This particular trio made it on the basis of a poem.  Rabbit Maranville?  He had to have made it for his defense.  It is said that 'integrity and character' are two of the traits the committee look into.  If this is the case, why are Babe Ruth, Leo Durocher, Hack Wilson, Paul Waner, Mickey Mantle, and Ty Cobb enshrined?  What is known about them now was common knowledge when they were inducted.  And it was known about them when they were involved with baseball.

Yet Hodges ---Who was called the strongest man in baseball during the era of Mantle and Ted Kluszewski --- does not have a plaque, despite many attempts by former teammates and fans.  And when one takes a look at his life, Hodges was a man of strong character who, in addition to being an excellent ballplayer, helped to mold the lives of those around him, several of which are in the Hall of Fame.

He never once led the National League in a single offensive category, but if you check the records, throughout the 1950s, Gil Hodges had more runs batted in than any other National League player.  When Brooklyn won the World Series in 1955, the score of the seventh game was 2-0.  Hodges drove in both runs.

Hodges was more than likely the most loved athlete of his era.  In 1952, he was 0 for 21 in the World Series.  His slump continued as the 1953 season began.  Not once was he booed, although stars such as Stan Musial had been booed in St. Louis and Mickey Mantle would be booed in Yankee Stadium.  But to boo Gil Hodges was against the rules.  He was sent letters of advice, rosaries, good luck charms, etc.  One priest told his congregation, "It's too hot for a sermon.  Everyone go home and pray for Gil Hodges."  When he broke his slump with a single, Hodges received a standing ovation, although they were playing at the Polo Grounds --- enemy territory for the Dodgers.

He had unique ways of breaking up brawls.  The first time, he lost his temper, which rarely happened, and picked up an opposing player, lifting the man over his head and throwing him into the brawl.  When he did it a second time, everyone stopped to watch him do it two more times, and decided it was time to stop fighting.  The second time, his roomie Don Drysdale (a Hall of Famer) was fighting Brave Johnny Logan when Brave Eddie Mathews (another Hall of Famer) jumped on Drysdale's back.  All of a sudden, Mathews --- a strong man himself ---felt something on his foot as Hodges dragged him like a rag doll to the Braves dugout, asking the team, "Where do you want him?"

As a manager, he did nothing but improve his teams.  He took the Washington Senators from an eighth place to fourth in four years, despite having little talent on the squad.  His players always respected him for the fact he would never chastise anyone in public, always getting someone aside.  In 1968, Hodges took over the New York Mets, considered to be baseball's best joke.  The following year, they were 100-to-1 shots to win the Eastern Division.

They won the World Series, beating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in five games.  While baseball historians have credited this Ron Swoboda's catch, or Donn Clennedon's hitting, or Jerry Koosman's pitching, every player on that team says the same thing . . . the season of "The Miracle Mets" would never have happened had any other man but Hodges been at the helm.  Pitcher Tom Seaver (another Hall of Famer) said Hodges never made a mistake the entire season.

Those associate with him say Hodges would have been one of the all-time great managers, but we'll never know, as he passed away three days before his forty-eighth birthday from a heart attack.  Since then, his former teammates and players have realized the lessons he taught them, and very few of them have to do with baseball.  Mainly they were that God, family, country are your main priorities.  Baseball is fourth.

Teammate Pee Wee Reese summed up Hodges better than anyone.  A father of three girls, he stated that if he ever had a son, he would have wanted him to be just like Gil Hodges.  No finer compliment can be paid a man.

With all the love shown over the years to Gil Hodges, he doesn't need the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But with all the hullabaloo baseball has had the past several years, the Hall of Fame needs Gil Hodges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Hodges

http://www.gilhodges.com/index.php