By Bill Hall Gil Hodges is already a multi hall of famer. He’s a member of the United States Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, the Tri-State Sports Hall of Fame, the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame and the New York Mets Hall of Fame. Willie Mays, by consensus of most fans one of the greatest players ever to appear in the major leagues said, “Gil Hodges is a Hall of Fame man.” Yet Gil Hodges is still absent from the one Hall of Fame that matters most to many who fondly remember him: The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. A dedicated group of Hodges fans has been working through the summer and fall to change that. They’ve launched an online petition supporting his election, which can be found at: ipetitions/petition/gil-hodges-belongs-in-the-baseball-hall-of-fame So far, more than 2,000 individuals and organizations have signed on: hundreds and hundreds of fans, sixteen major league players, and a distinguished list of baseball executives, umpires, announcers, beat writers and historians. As one of the leaders of the effort put it: can all these people be wrong? Hodges’ absence from Cooperstown provokes a range of reactions. Many fans assumed Hodges had been enshrined long ago. Some are baffled that he’s not in; some are angry. But all realize that it’s impossible to change the past, so the best thing is to move ahead with a positive approach. They point out that Hodges earned more votes than any candidate not chosen by the Baseball Writers Association of America; that he once came within a single vote of being chosen by the Veterans’ Committee; that in addition to the many notables who have signed the petition, Hall of Famers Ralph Kiner, Joe Morgan, Yogi Berra, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer and Joe Torre have endorsed the Hodges candidacy, in addition to the previously mentioned Mays. Others will cite Hodges’ playing and managing record; the Gold Gloves; the number ten position on the all time home run list at the time of his retirement; the seven National League pennants and two world titles as a player, as well as one as a manager. Still others note the “integrity, sportsmanship and character” clause in the Hall’s own criteria and point to ample evidence that Gilbert Ray Hodges was off the charts in those areas. His work on behalf of needy children, his wide respect among his fellow players and fans (he’s known as the only home player never to be booed in Brooklyn) and perhaps the greatest evidence of the reverence and respect he enjoyed, the story of the priest who spoke to his parish one warm Sunday morning while Hodges was in the midst of a prolonged slump: “It’s far too hot for a homily. Keep the commandments and pray for Gil Hodges.” Although sources in the Hodges campaign haven’t confirmed it, at least some members of the group are believed to be appealing to a higher power on this good and decent man’s behalf one more time. #14in14
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 03:34:35 +0000
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