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Gilbert Raymond Hodges
Washington Senators
Manager
Born: April 4, 1924, Princeton, IN
Signed: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent, September 6, 1943
Major League Teams: Brooklyn Dodgers 1943, 1947-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1961; New York Mets 1962-1963
As a Manager: Washington Senators 1963-1967; New York Mets 1968-1971
Died: April 2, 1972, West Palm Beach, FL (age 47)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2022
Jackie Robinson called Gil Hodges, "The core of the Brooklyn Dodgers." Originally a catcher, Hodges moved to first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940s where he'd be a mainstay for the club throughout the next decade and including their move west to Los Angeles. Hodges had seven straight seasons of 100 RBIs or more between 1949 and 1955, and his bat helped lead the Dodgers to World Series titles in 1955 and 1959. He never won an MVP, but the eight-time All-Star was a perennial MVP vote getter. Considered one of the finest defensive first baseman of his era, he won three Gold Gloves. His 361 career home runs are second on the Dodgers' all-time list behind Duke Snider's 389 and he finished his playing career as a member of the expansion Mets. In 1,921 career games he hit .273 with 370 home runs and 1,274 RBIs.
Hodges retired as an active player when the Mets traded him to the Senators on May 23, 1963 for Jim Piersall (#172), and Hodges assumed managerial duties for the departed Mickey Vernon. His years with the Senators were fairly dismal as the team never finished above sixth place. He took over at the helm for the Mets in 1968 and led the club to their first improbable World Championship title in 1969 with a miraculous victory over the heavily favored Orioles. Hodges passed away unexpectedly during spring training 1972, felled by a heart attack after a round of golf with his Mets coaches.
Hodges is considered to be one of the best players from his era not currently in the Hall of Fame, and he'll next earn consideration in December by the Golden Era Committee. His #14 was retired by the Mets in 1973 and he was elected into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1982.
Jackie Robinson called Gil Hodges, "The core of the Brooklyn Dodgers." Originally a catcher, Hodges moved to first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940s where he'd be a mainstay for the club throughout the next decade and including their move west to Los Angeles. Hodges had seven straight seasons of 100 RBIs or more between 1949 and 1955, and his bat helped lead the Dodgers to World Series titles in 1955 and 1959. He never won an MVP, but the eight-time All-Star was a perennial MVP vote getter. Considered one of the finest defensive first baseman of his era, he won three Gold Gloves. His 361 career home runs are second on the Dodgers' all-time list behind Duke Snider's 389 and he finished his playing career as a member of the expansion Mets. In 1,921 career games he hit .273 with 370 home runs and 1,274 RBIs.
Hodges retired as an active player when the Mets traded him to the Senators on May 23, 1963 for Jim Piersall (#172), and Hodges assumed managerial duties for the departed Mickey Vernon. His years with the Senators were fairly dismal as the team never finished above sixth place. He took over at the helm for the Mets in 1968 and led the club to their first improbable World Championship title in 1969 with a miraculous victory over the heavily favored Orioles. Hodges passed away unexpectedly during spring training 1972, felled by a heart attack after a round of golf with his Mets coaches.
Hodges is considered to be one of the best players from his era not currently in the Hall of Fame, and he'll next earn consideration in December by the Golden Era Committee. His #14 was retired by the Mets in 1973 and he was elected into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1982.
Postscript - Gil Hodges was elected into the Hall of Fame in December 2021 by the Golden Days Era Committee, and he'll be inducted posthumously in July 2022.
Building the Set
July 8, 2020 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #122
In need of some cardboard therapy as we approached the four month anniversary of the start of our social distancing, I went on a mini eBay binge the first week of July. We had a vacation planned for the last week of June, first week of July, and that vacation had been unceremoniously cancelled at some point in April. Major League Baseball was showing signs of coming back, the Black Lives Matter movement was finally gaining momentum, the pandemic showed no signs of going away any time soon and a complete lack of intelligent national leadership wasn't helping anything or anybody. I needed some old baseball cards.
17 cards arrived on July 8th, including this Hodges card purchased from Dean's Cards for what I thought was an extremely low price of $3.50. I browsed the Dean's Cards eBay store, setting a reasonable budget and determined to click Buy It Now on 10 cards. Another group of 7 cards were won in eBay auctions from Greg Morris Cards on the same day. The 17 cards added put us just over the 20% completion point for our 1965 Topps set.
I specifically sought this card out as I had recently finished reading Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer. Of the Dodgers players featured prominently in the book, only Hodges has a card in the 1965 Topps set. The Dodgers manager during the time Kahn covered the club for The New York Herald Tribune was Chuck Dressen (#538), and Dressen also has a manager's card in this set. It was while researching Dressen's card, purchased in May, I decided I needed to read the book and I'm genuinely glad I did. It was one of those rare books where I didn't want it to end and I thoroughly enjoyed Kahn's narrative of the key players from the 1952/53 Dodgers and what became of them. If you've not already read it, and you're reading this blog, you should definitely check it out.
The Card / Senators Team Set
Hodges first received a Senators manager's card within the 1964 Topps set, and this photo appears to be from that same photo session. The biography on the back of the card sums up Hodges' career to that point nicely. His four home run performance came on August 31, 1950 against the Boston Braves, a game the Dodgers won 19-3. He victimized four different pitchers - Warren Spahn (#205), Normie Roy, Bob Hall and Johnny Antonelli. Hodges was the 14th pick by the Mets in the expansion draft, and he hit the first home run in Mets franchise history on April 11, 1962.
1965 Season
In his third season as the Senators' manager, Hodges guided the team to a 70-92 record, improving on their 62-win season from 1964. The club finished in 8th place, 32 games behind the Twins, with only the Red Sox and Athletics beneath them in the standings.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #100
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22): 1951-1952, 1954-1972, 1989
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2019 Topps Archives #144
493 - Hodges non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/16/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #98 Bob Miller - Los Angeles Dodgers
July 8, 2020 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #122
In need of some cardboard therapy as we approached the four month anniversary of the start of our social distancing, I went on a mini eBay binge the first week of July. We had a vacation planned for the last week of June, first week of July, and that vacation had been unceremoniously cancelled at some point in April. Major League Baseball was showing signs of coming back, the Black Lives Matter movement was finally gaining momentum, the pandemic showed no signs of going away any time soon and a complete lack of intelligent national leadership wasn't helping anything or anybody. I needed some old baseball cards.
17 cards arrived on July 8th, including this Hodges card purchased from Dean's Cards for what I thought was an extremely low price of $3.50. I browsed the Dean's Cards eBay store, setting a reasonable budget and determined to click Buy It Now on 10 cards. Another group of 7 cards were won in eBay auctions from Greg Morris Cards on the same day. The 17 cards added put us just over the 20% completion point for our 1965 Topps set.
I specifically sought this card out as I had recently finished reading Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer. Of the Dodgers players featured prominently in the book, only Hodges has a card in the 1965 Topps set. The Dodgers manager during the time Kahn covered the club for The New York Herald Tribune was Chuck Dressen (#538), and Dressen also has a manager's card in this set. It was while researching Dressen's card, purchased in May, I decided I needed to read the book and I'm genuinely glad I did. It was one of those rare books where I didn't want it to end and I thoroughly enjoyed Kahn's narrative of the key players from the 1952/53 Dodgers and what became of them. If you've not already read it, and you're reading this blog, you should definitely check it out.
The Card / Senators Team Set
Hodges first received a Senators manager's card within the 1964 Topps set, and this photo appears to be from that same photo session. The biography on the back of the card sums up Hodges' career to that point nicely. His four home run performance came on August 31, 1950 against the Boston Braves, a game the Dodgers won 19-3. He victimized four different pitchers - Warren Spahn (#205), Normie Roy, Bob Hall and Johnny Antonelli. Hodges was the 14th pick by the Mets in the expansion draft, and he hit the first home run in Mets franchise history on April 11, 1962.
1965 Season
In his third season as the Senators' manager, Hodges guided the team to a 70-92 record, improving on their 62-win season from 1964. The club finished in 8th place, 32 games behind the Twins, with only the Red Sox and Athletics beneath them in the standings.
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First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #100
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22): 1951-1952, 1954-1972, 1989
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2019 Topps Archives #144
493 - Hodges non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/16/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #98 Bob Miller - Los Angeles Dodgers
Next Card: #100 Ken Boyer - St. Louis Cardinals
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