Once again, Gil Hodges is snubbed by the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee. I wonder what it will take to get Hodges into the Hall. You can argue that there are members in the Hall right now who are less deserving than the former Brooklyn first baseman. 

Hodges played the majority of his career with the Dodgers, first in Brooklyn, then in LA. His last two seasons were spent as a member of the newly formed New York Mets. Hodges was a lifetime .273 hitter. He had an on base percentage of .359 and a slugging percentage of .487. He was an outstanding first baseman, winning the gold glove award from 1957 through 1959. For his career, Gil hit 370 homeruns and had 1274 RBI. He was 79 hits short of 2000 which may be contributing to not getting elected to the Hall.

In contrast, Hall of Fame member Ralph Kiner had fewer RBI and one less home run than Hodges. And defensively, Kiner could not hold a candle to Gil. Kiner’s home run ratio during a five year period is what got him into the Hall and deservedly so. There is no question that Kiner should be in the Hall but so should Hodges and Ralph would agree.

Hodges played on seven pennant winning teams, six for Brooklyn and one in Los Angeles. He was a member of the world championship team in 1955 that finally defeated the New York Yankees. It was the only world championship in Brooklyn’s history.

Hodges was also a member of the 1959 world championship Los Angeles Dodgers and he was named to the National League All Star team six times.

In the 1952 World Series, Hodges had a miserable time not getting a single hit in 21 at bats. That’s the year a priest in Brooklyn, during Mass, asked his parishioners to pray for Gil Hodges. But the following year, Hodges batted .364/.440/.500 in the series. And in the Brooklyn world championship season, he hit .292/.357/.417. His best post season occurred in ’59 when Gil batted .391/.417/.609 in six games for Los Angeles. Gil was a great clutch hitter who contributed greatly to the Dodgers success of that era.

After playing eleven games for the Mets in 1963, Hodges was traded to the Washington Senators for outfielder Jimmy Piersall. But Hodges did not go there to play, he became the Senators Manager. He managed in Washington through 1967 then was traded back to the Mets for pitcher Bill Denehy and cash.

Hodges managed the Mets to their first world championship in 1969 and was named manager of the year by the Sporting News. With his career as a player and his World Series win with the Mets as manager, Gil Hodges deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He was a man who represented himself, his teams, and the game with utter class and distinction. He was a dominant player at his position during the mid 1950s and it’s a shame he was not elected to the Hall of Fame today. Hopefully the Veterans Committee will eventually do the right thing and vote Hodges in next year.

Mets Notes: Mets Hot Stove will air live tonight at 7:00PM with the latest Winter Meeting news. The show will also air live the next three nights with replays at midnight.