New York Mets’ fans got some good news on Sunday, when Gil Hodges, the skipper of the Amazin’ Mets, or Miracle Mets team if you prefer, was deservedly elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Golden Days Era committee of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame elected four new members for enshrinement in Cooperstown on Sunday: Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso and Tony Oliva.
Additionally, the Early Baseball Era committee of the Hall elected two new members for enshrinement: Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neill.
Led by Hodges, those 1969 Mets finished 100–62, eight games ahead of the Cubs, taking the National League pennant. Five games were enough to take the first World Series in the franchise history.
The Mets’ legend as a manager had a nice playing career, too
During his playing days, Hodges was universally regarded as one of the better defensive first baseman of the 1950s. As it turns out, he had some thump in his bat, too, hitting 370 career home runs with a .273/.359/.487 line and a 121 wRC+. He played most of his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, then was in Los Angeles for the franchise’s first four seasons after moving to the west coast, and was a member of the Mets’ first season, in 1962.
The Mets’ legend had a nice playing career, too
Hodges is an eight-time All-Star (1949–1955, 1957), a three-time World Series champion (1955, 1959, 1969), a three-time Gold Glove Award winner (1957–1959), is in the Mets’ Hall of Fame, and had his number 14 retired.
He had six seasons with 30 home runs or more, and a couple with more than 40. He was a six-win player in his prime, in 1954 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and that’s the year in which he hit a career-high 42 home runs.
Hodges is truly a Mets legend, and his enshrinement is backed by numbers and accomplishment as a player and as a manager.