Gil Hodges

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Gil Hodges
Gil Hodges 1960.png
First baseman / manager
Born: April 4th, 1924
Princeton , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
Died on: April 2, 1972
West Palm Beach , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
Suggested: Right Threw: Right
Debut in Major League Baseball
  With the  Brooklyn Dodgers October 3, 1943
Last MLB assignment
May 5,  1963  with the  New York Mets
MLB statistics
(until end of career)
Batting average    , 273
Home runs    370
RBI    1.274
Teams

As a player

As a manager

Awards

Gilbert Raymond Hodges (born April 4, 1924 in Princeton , Indiana , † April 2, 1972 in West Palm Beach , Florida ) was an American baseball player and manager . As a first baseman , Hodges was 18 seasons in Major League Baseball . During that time, Hodges made 2,071 appearances for the Dodgers and Mets .

Hodges won the World Series three times in his career . Two times with the Dodgers (1955 and 1959) and once with the Mets ( 1969 ).

Early years

Hodges, who was born in Princeton, moved with his parents to Petersburg, Indiana at the age of 7, where he later also went to high school. There he had his first sporting successes. He successfully represented his high school in four sports. In addition to baseball, he was also active in soccer, basketball and athletics. In 1941 he went to Saint Joseph's College, where he was active on the team for two years. In 1943, Hodges signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers and played a game that year.

During World War II , Hodges was active in the United States Marine Corps , fighting in the Battle of Tinian and the Battle of Okinawa . For his achievements in the corps, Hodges was awarded the Bronze Star .

Player career

Brooklyn Dodgers (1947-1957)

After the end of the war, Hodges got a few assignments as a catcher in 1947 . Since the Dodgers already had an excellent catcher on their team in Roy Campanella , Hodges was appointed to first base by the manager.

In the 1948 season, Hodges was then regularly used and convinced with very good performances. On June 25, he managed a hitting for the cycle during the 1949 season . In the same year he was invited to his first of eight All-Star Games and received the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.

In the years that followed, Hodges was a constant with the Dodgers, who were peppered with stars such as Roy Campanella, Sandy Koufax , Pee Wee Reese , Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider . In 1955, he finally won the World Series with his team , where he himself contributed a home run in game 4 .

LA Dodgers (1958-1961)

After the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958 , Hodges was able to convince again with constant performance. Between 1957 and 1959 he won the newly launched Gold Glove Award three times in a row . When he won the World Series in 1959 , he again managed a home run. In his last two seasons for the Dodgers in 1960 and 1961, Hodges was able to break some records. Among other things, he set a team record in RBIs (1254) and a National League home run record for right-handers (351).

New York Mets (1962–1963)

With the expansion draft of the National League in October 1961, Hodges finally returned to New York. There he was still active as a player for two years. The newly formed Mets franchise was among the worst teams in baseball history at the time. In the first season in 1962, the team won only a quarter of all games and ended the season just like in Hodges last year 1963 as bottom of the National League.

Gil Hodges was used 65 times in the Mets. During this time he scored 37 hits and nine home runs.

Managerial career

From the middle of the 1963 season, Hodges was active as a manager at the Washington Nationals . Up to and including 1967 he was able to increase the team's victory rate every season, but the Nationals never managed to post a positive record at the end of the season.

Gil Hodges returned to New York for the 1968 season and a year later led the Miracle Mets to victory in the 1969 World Series . The Mets were blatant underdogs against the Baltimore Orioles , who had gone through the regular season with 109: 53. Before the start of the series, it was suspected that the starpitcher Tom Seaver could win Game 1, but the Orioles would subsequently beat the Mets. But the exact opposite was the case. Seaver lost Game 1 and the World Series seemed lost. However, the Mets were able to win all of the next four games and took the 1969 World Series 4-1.

In the two following seasons, Hodges led the Mets in 3rd place in the division and missed the playoff participation quite clearly.

death

The jersey number 14 will no longer be awarded to Hodges in honor of the New York Mets.

Gil Hodges died surprisingly two days before his 48th birthday of a myocardial infarction in West Palm Beach, Florida. He had recently played golf there with other Mets coaches. Three years earlier, Hodges had suffered a first minor heart attack.

In the following 1972 season it was decided that Hodges jersey number 14 will never be awarded again by the Mets. In addition, the team competed in black jerseys in his honor this season.

Hodges is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gil Hodges Dies of Heart Attack (English)
  2. ↑ Hodges, Stricken by Mild Heart Attack (English)
personal data
SURNAME Hodges, Gil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hodges, Gilbert Raymond (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American baseball player
DATE OF BIRTH April 4, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Princeton , Indiana
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 1972
Place of death West Palm Beach , Florida