Gilbert Raymond Hodges (1924 - 1972)

Born 4 Apr 1924 in Princeton, Indiana

Ancestors

Died 2 Apr 1972 at age 47 in West Palm Beach, Florida

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Biography

Gilbert Hodges is Notable.

Gilbert played baseball for the New York Mets and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Gilbert Ray Hodges, ne Hodge (April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman and manager who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982.

Gil was the son of Charles P. Hodges and Irene Horstmeyer Hodges. He was the second son and middle child of three children. His older brother, Robert, was born in 1923 and his younger sister, Marjorie, was born in 1929. Charles was a coal miner according to the 1930 US Census.

Gil played four sports at Petersburg High School, lettering seven times. He was initially recruited by the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball in 1941, but declined the offer and instead enrolled on an athletic scholarship at St. Joseph's College with the hope of becoming a college coach. While at St. Joseph's Gil enrolled in the Marine ROTC program. As a sophomore, he was again recruited by a major league scout and sign on with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He played in his first game for the Dodgers in October, 1943, their last game of the season. He played poorly and eleven days later enlisted in the Marines.

Hodges served as a gunner for the 16th Anti-Aircraft Battalion. First assigned to Hawaii, he then went to Tinian, in the South Pacific. In April 1945, Sergeant Hodges, now assigned to his battalion’s operations and intelligence section, landed on Okinawa with the assault troops and was subsequently awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for heroism under fire. Gil was honorably discharged in February 1946.

He returned to the Dodger organization for Spring training that year. He converted from back up catcher to first baseman by Coach Leo Durocher in the 1948 season and while he initially had mixed success at first base, eventually became a Dodger's stalwart. Hodges, along with Jackie Robinson, Pee Ree Reese, Roy Campanella, Billy Cox and Carl Furillo would lead the Dodgers to the National League Pennant in 1949 and help establish the Dodgers as a perennial winner throughout the 1950s.

Gil played for the Dodgers from 1947 until 1961 when he was chosen by the expansion New York Met's club. He retired as an active player in 1962 and went on to coach the Washington Senators from 1963-67 and the NY Mets from 1968-71. Gil was a 3 time world series champion - twice as a player and once as a coach. He was awarded the Gold Glove for his work at first base three times and was an eight time all star. While he is in the Met's Hall of Fame and his jersey number has been retired by the Mets, he has missed out on being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hodges is generally considered to be the best defensive first baseman in the 1950s. Hodges and Duke Snider are the only players to have the most home runs or runs batted in together during the decade with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hodges was the National League (NL) leader in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each. He ranked second in NL history with 1,281 assists and 1,614 double plays when his career ended, and was among the league's career leaders in games (6th, 1,908) and total chances (10th, 16,751) at first base. Hodges also managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in Fall Classic history.

In December 1948, Gil married Joan Lombardi and they settled in Brooklyn. They raised four children - Gil, Jr., Cynthia, Irene and Barbara. Joan died on April 2, 1972.

Gil died of a heart attack on the golf course in 1972. He was a life long smoker. He is buried in Brooklyn’s Holy Cross Cemetery.

Sources

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Hodges

"United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHMN-JGC : 8 December 2015), Gilbert R Hodges in entry for Charles P Hodges, 1930.

"United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JYXW-BZ3 : 20 May 2014), Gilbert Hodges, Apr 1972; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

Find A Grave - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=487

Society for American Baseball Research - "Gil Hodges" written by John Saccomanhttp://sabr.org/bioproj/person/c8022025