Yankee4Life

Tony Lazzeri Day after day at Salt Lake City, Utah in 1925, Bill Essick, a scout for the New York Yankees, watched a young infielder named Tony Lazzeri. Essick reported to Ed Barrow, the Yankees’ business manager (general manager) that Lazzeri was hitting the ball exceptionally well, batting .355 and hitting 60 home runs. “But the air is thin out there,” Barrow told Essick. “The air may be thin but this player is solid,” Essick responded. Scouts from all the major leagues were watching Lazzeri. Most also felt that the altitude in Salt Lake City helped Lazzeri’s batting average. They were wary of signing him, knowing other recent players with impressive numbers playing in that altitude had not succeeded. But there was another reason the scouts shied away: Lazzeri was an epileptic. But this was in Lazzeri’s future. In 1922, 18-year-old Tony Lazzeri joined Salt Lake City as a utility infielder, playing third and first. He was paid $250 a month. Lazzeri, who threw right-handed and batted from the right side, had difficulty hitting a curve ball and started his professional career poorly, hitting only .192 in 45 games. In 1923 Lazzeri was sent to Peoria, Illinois, of the Three-I League for more experience. He had a good first month but was then benched while the manager tried out two other players at second. Lazzeri sat on the bench for three weeks until he was called on to pinch hit in the ninth inning of a game against Terre Haute. With two men on the bases and two runs behind, Lazzeri hit a home run that won the game. After that big hit, he became the regular second baseman on the club, playing in 135 games, hitting 14 home runs, and batting .248. Lazzeri rejoined Salt Lake City that fall. Returning to Salt Lake City in 1925, Lazzeri got his first real chance under the team’s new manager, Oscar Vitt. Lazzeri had a sensational season playing in 192 games (in those days the PCL played a 197-game schedule). He batted .355 with 252 hits, 52 doubles, 14 triples, 222 RBIs, and 60 home runs, the most ever hit in professional baseball. Lazzeri also scored 202 runs and stole 39 bases. The New York Yankees took an interest in the young slugger. At that time the Salt Lake City club had a working arrangement with the Chicago Cubs. Knowing that Lazzeri had epileptic episodes off the field, the Cubs were afraid to buy him. The Cincinnati Reds also passed him up, and Garry Hermann, owner of the Reds, wrote to Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert and told him why his club had not bought Lazzeri. Ed Barrow sent Ed Holly, another scout, to Salt Lake City to look at Lazzeri. Holly reported he was sensational. He also confirmed reports about Lazzeri’s medical disorder. Wanting to know more, Holly went on to San Francisco and looked into Lazzeri’s family history. Barrow, meanwhile, sent head scout Paul Krichell to Salt Lake City to watch Lazzeri. He also asked Bob Connery, president of the St. Paul Baseball Club of the American Association to see Lazzeri play. Barrow received good reports. Holly found that no other members of his family were affected and that Lazzeri’s insurance company was willing to increase his policy. Connery reported that Lazzeri was great. Krichell also told Barrow that the stories about Lazzeri’s episodes, or fits as they were known, occurred only off the field. “As long as he doesn’t take fits between three and six in the afternoon, that’s good enough for me,” said Barrow. As it turned out, Lazzeri’s epilepsy never affected him on the playing field. The public never knew he had the disorder. Ed Barrow purchased Lazzeri’s contract from Salt Lake City in the fall of 1925 for players Frank Zoeller and Mack Hillis and $50,000, a considerable amount of money at that time. Subsequently, Lazzeri signed a contract with the Yankees for $5,000 on March 30, 1926, and reported to Spring Training at St. Petersburg, Florida. Lazzeri was 22 years old. Although Lazzeri played shortstop at Salt Lake City, Yankee manager Miller Huggins wanted him at second base. Huggins worked with him on switching positions and taught him to make the double play. Meanwhile, Huggins played another highly prized rookie, Mark Koenig, at short. With two rookies in the infield, the sportswriters felt that the Yankees could not contend for the pennant in 1926. They predicted that the team would finish the season in the second division for the second straight year. But Koenig and Lazzeri played well together in the field and helped the Yankees win the pennant that season. Lazzeri played in all 155 games in 1926, hitting .275, with 162 hits, 28 doubles, 14 triples, 18 home runs, and 114 runs batted in. Lazzeri’s home run total (18) was third in the league behind Babe Ruth (47) and Al Simmons of the Athletics (19). Lazzeri’s runs-batted-in mark (114) tied George Burns of the Indians for second place behind Ruth (146). As a rookie, he also stole 16 bases, sixth best in the league. The Strikeout: The 1926 World Series saw the Yankees play the St. Louis Cardinals. With the series tied at two games apiece, Herb Pennock and Bill Sherdel found themselves in a mound duel in St. Louis. With the score tied at two in the tenth, Lazzeri’s sacrifice fly gave the Yankees a 3 to 2 lead, which Pennock held in the bottom of the tenth. The victory gave the Yankees a 3 to 2 lead in the series. After returning to New York for Game Six, Grover Cleveland Alexander won his second game and tied the series at three games apiece, setting the stage for the seventh and final game. The Cardinals led by a score of 3 to 2 in the seventh inning of the deciding game of the ’26 World Series. In the home half of that frame, however, the Yankees loaded the bases against St. Louis starter Jesse Haines. The knuckle-balling Haines, whose 13-4 win-loss record helped the Cards capture their first franchise pennant, had already shut out the Yanks in Game Three of the Series; that would not happen again to the Yankees for sixteen years. What happened next is the stuff of history, legend, folklore, and fake lore. Cardinal second baseman-manager Rogers Hornsby, after a long conference with Haines and his infielders, summoned Grover Cleveland Alexander from the bullpen. Alex had beaten the Yankees the day before to even up the Series and had celebrated afterward. Depending on the account one chooses to believe, Alexander had been dozing or fast asleep in the bullpen, was still drunk or hung over or stone cold sober. Whatever his physical and mental state, Alexander had nowhere to put Lazzeri when he got down to business. Lazzeri took the first two pitches, a ball followed by a strike. He teed off on the third pitch and sent a shot down the left field line into the seats — ten feet foul. Alex followed up with one of his infamous low-and-away curves. Lazzeri swung and missed by at least eight inches. Alexander stopped the Yankees in the eighth, surrendered a two-out walk to Babe Ruth in the ninth. Ruth ended the Series being thrown out trying to steal second, and the legend was born. Nineteen twenty-seven was a historic year for the Yankees. Known as Murderers’ Row, the ’27 Yankees became a legend. Paced by the long-ball heroics of Ruth (60 home runs, 164 RBIs, .356 batting average) and Gehrig (47 home runs, 175 RBIs, .373), the Yankees won 110 and lost 44, winning the American League pennant by 19 games. Recovering from the Series to have an outstanding season, Lazzeri was a major contributor on that historic club with 18 home runs (third in the American League behind Ruth and Gehrig), 102 RBIs, and a batting average of .309. He was also the anchor of the infield. In addition to playing second base, Lazzeri also filled in at shortstop and third base due to the occasional injuries to Joe Dugan and Mark Koenig. Popular with his teammates and respected by his opponents, Lazzeri was a leader, cool under pressure, quick thinking, and considered by many as one of the smartest men in the game. Even Miller Huggins acknowledged him to be the brains of the Yankee infield. Lazzeri took charge when events called for steady nerves. Lazzeri was an excellent fielder, and for a smaller man compared to the likes of Ruth, Gehrig, and Meusel, he could hit the ball exceptionally far. He also had the knack of hitting with men on base, becoming one of the best “clutch” hitters in baseball. Beloved by the Italian community, the New York Times even compared him to Christopher Columbus at a time when Lazzeri was playing shortstop. “He didn’t discover America,” wrote the Times, “but Columbus never went behind third for an overthrow to cut-off the tying run in the ninth inning.” Lazzeri played second base for the Yankees through 1937. He batted a career-high .354 in 1929 and hit two home runs in the 1932 World Series, one a grand slam. (In 1932, the Baseball Writers Association named him the best second baseman in the game.) The next year, Lazzeri played in the first All-Star Game. On May 24, 1936, Lazzeri set an American League single-game record with eleven RBIs by hitting a triple and three home runs (two of the home runs were with the bases filled) in Shibe Park. That same month, he set records for most home runs in three consecutive games (6) and four consecutive games (7). After his conditional release by the Yankees on October 17, 1937, Lazzeri signed with the Chicago Cubs as a player-coach. Lazzeri played for the Chicago Cubs in 1938 and appeared in the fall classic against the Yankees. He finished his major league career with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants in 1939. Despite an outstanding career with the Yankees, the strikeout against Alexander in the 1926 World Series was never to be forgotten. Baseball fans talked about it for years. Lazzeri was always reminded of it. While Lazzeri was still an active ballplayer, Grover Cleveland Alexander went into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938. His plaque read: He won the 1926 world championship for the Cardinals by striking out Lazzeri with the bases full in the final crisis. For his part, Lazzeri had the distinction of being the only player to have his name on a bronze plaque while not being a member of the Hall of Fame. A look back at his career with the Yankees showed that Tony Lazzeri helped the Yankees capture six American League pennants and five World Championships. During his twelve years with the Yankees, Lazzeri batted .293 with 1784 hits, 327 doubles, 115 triples, 169 home runs, and 1157 RBIs.

10 out of 10, 60 seconds. Can't get too excited because these were easy ones today.

8 out of 10, 39 seconds. Decent ones today and I agree with Laroquece - soccer is not my thing and never will be.

6 out of 10, 72 seconds. I guessed on a few.

4 out of 10, 57 seconds. Guessing blind today and it showed!

4 out of 10, 74 seconds. Oh what a day. I usually do good on difficult baseball questions but not today.

10 out of 10, 43 seconds. With these questions everyone should do very well today just like Laroquece and myself.

8 out of 10, 79 seconds. Forget my score, this one was tough!

10 out of 10, 46 seconds. Finally back on track, but with questions like these it was easy.

7 out of 10, 36 seconds. Very deceiving today. I only knew three of them. The others that I got right was just plain dumb luck.

6 out of 10, 74 seconds. Not an easy one today. Here are the final scores for February First place: Fiebre, 44 points. Second place: Yankee4Life, 41 points Third place: Laroquece, 39 points. It was a close one in February and with Fiebre’s win he now has won three out of the past four months. The knowledge that he and laroquece have of sports in general gets them a lot of points over me because I don’t know soccer at all and when I get one right it’s just by guessing and they do a better job of guessing where some guy went to college. I do ok on the difficult baseball questions and that is how I get my points. Anyone on this website is welcome to join.

5 out of 10, 51 seconds. Not a good way to end the month.

4 out of 10, 68 seconds. What a lousy performance.

9 out of 10, 46 seconds. I clicked on the wrong answer!!!

7 out of 10, 92 seconds. This was a tough one.

10 out of 10, 48 seconds. A good comeback after the last two days.

Rube Oldring A prominent and popular member of the Philadelphia A’s dynasty of the Deadball Era, Rube Oldring patrolled the outfield grass of Columbia Field and Shibe Park for twelve seasons. He combined power, speed, and average for Connie Mack‘s championship teams of the 1910s, although frequent injuries limited his playing time. When healthy, Rube was described by Irwin Howe, the official statistician for the American League, as “a fast and reliable outfielder, good at laying down a bunt, and…a fast and intelligent baserunner.” Rube hooked up with the Hoboken, New Jersey, club in 1905, when a scout for the Montgomery, Alabama, team of the Southern Association spotted the young right-hander and offered him a contract. Oldring played 67 games in the outfield and at shortstop, first base, and third base for Montgomery in 1905, batting .272 and stealing 23 bases. Connie Mack received a tip about Rube from Tom O’Brien, the Montgomery manager, and purchased Oldring’s contract near the end of the season. During spring training in 1906, Rube battled several players for a starting position and was told he had earned the starting third base job. The same day he received this welcome news, Oldring broke his right ankle sliding into third base and missed the start of the season. He returned to action in June, playing in 59 games, primarily at third. Rube had a powerful arm, and often overthrew first base, resulting in 16 errors in 49 games at the hot corner. When Oldring received his contract for 1907 there was a letter from Mack enclosed. “From this day on you will be my center fielder,” Mack wrote. “You will have all the room you want and will not have to throw the ball over anybody’s head.” For the next ten years, Rube patrolled the outfield for the A’s. He played primarily in center field, moving to left field later in his career. The A’s were beginning to assemble their championship team and finished a close second to Detroit in 1907 and again in 1909. They finally emerged as champions in 1910, well ahead of second place New York. Rube had the best year of his career that summer, finishing in the top ten in the American League in batting average (.308), slugging percentage (.430), hits (168), total bases (235), doubles (27), triples (14), and home runs (4). To prepare his underdog team for the World Series against the Chicago Cubs, Mack arranged a series of exhibition games against an American League all-star team. Unfortunately for Rube, he sprained his knee trying to dodge a fly ball he had lost in the sun; Oldring did not contribute to the A’s surprising five game upset of the Chicago Cubs. The A’s won the American League championship again in 1911, and Oldring had another fine season, batting .297 with 84 runs scored, 21 stolen bases, and 26 sacrifices. This time the A’s faced the New York Giants in the World Series and Rube got his biggest thrill in baseball when he hit a three-run home run off Rube Marquard in Game Five. The A’s repeated as world champions, beating the Giants in six games. Philadelphia’s string of championships stopped in 1912 as they slipped to third, fifteen games behind the Red Sox. Oldring batted .301 in 99 games, but ended up suspended by Connie Mack on September 6 for being out of condition. His roommate for 10 years, Chief Bender, was suspended at the same time. As Rube later told the story, the two of them drove to New York from Washington, rather than traveling with the team, and stopped to visit some friends along the way. The Chief dropped Rube at home in New York at 3 a.m. and proceeded to the team hotel. It was not the first such incident, and the next day, Mack called Oldring as he entered the clubhouse. “Rubie, you go in and take off that uniform. You’re going home. And you’re going to stay there. You’re not going west with us. Just try getting to bed before three o’clock if you wanna play baseball.” In 1913 the A’s and Oldring returned to their championship form. The A’s finished first by 6½ games and Rube batted .283 with 101 runs scored and 40 stolen bases. Rube shifted to left field in 1913, and also filled in at shortstop for a week while Jack Barry was hurt. The A’s took the World Series from the New York Giants, and Oldring contributed in Game Four with one of the finest catches of the Series. With runners on the corners and one out in the top of the fifth, Oldring snagged a sinking liner off the bat of pinch-hitter Moose McCormick, and then prevented the runner on third from tagging up on the play. The Athletics went on to win the game, 6-5, and the Series in five games. That year the Philadelphia fans honored Rube as the most popular baseball player in the city, and awarded him a new Cadillac. The Philadelphia team won its fourth pennant in five years in 1914. Rube’s statistics slipped somewhat that year as he suffered several nagging injuries that cut his playing time to 119 games. In that year’s World Series against the Braves, Rube, like most of his teammates, had a horrendous series, collecting only one hit in 15 at-bats. Unlike his fellow Athletics, however, Rube had a unique excuse for his woes at the plate. Right before the World Series began, Rube announced that he was getting married. A woman who saw the news in the paper filed charges of non-support and desertion, claiming she was his common-law wife, Helen I. Oldring. The Boston Braves fans picked up on the story and razzed Rube continuously throughout the Series. After the A’s stunning loss in the 1914 World Series, Connie Mack began dismantling his championship team. Rumors had Oldring ticketed for New York, but 1915 found Rube still with Philadelphia. The team went from first to last, winning only 43 games. Rube hit a career high six home runs–three times more than anyone else on the team–but his batting average slipped to .248 and he played in only 107 games. Rube and his wife had settled on a farm in New Jersey and he announced his retirement from baseball. However, Mack persuaded him to return to the A’s again for the 1916 season. Rube played in 40 games before being given his unconditional release on July 1. He returned to his farm, but was enticed to play for his hometown New York Yankees, due to injuries to their outfielders. Rube played in 43 games for New York, before the Yankees released him on September 9. Rube sat out the 1917 season to tend to his farm, but Connie Mack prevailed on him to return to the A’s one more time in 1918. Rube played in 34 games before hanging up his spikes for the final time in the major leagues. His batting average was a career worst .233. Due to his age, Rube was exempt from the War Department’s work-or-fight order, but he took a job playing baseball in the shipyards anyway. Following the end of the war, Rube embarked on a peripatetic journey through the minor leagues. In 1919, Rube took a player/manager position with the Richmond Colts in the Virginia League, leading them to the pennant. Over the next six years, Oldring spent time playing and managing in Suffolk, Seattle, New Haven, Richmond again, and Wilson (NC), before finally rounding out his baseball career with a third stint in Richmond in 1926. In 1,239 games over thirteen seasons, Oldring posted a .270 batting average with 616 runs, 205 doubles, 76 triples, 27 home runs, 471 RBI, 197 stolen bases and 206 bases on balls. He finished his career with a .959 fielding percentage.

5 out of 10, 45 seconds. Guessing all the way.

Jim Davenport Davenport made his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 1958, taking the team's first at bat on the West Coast, striking out against Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Seals Stadium. His best season was 1962, when he batted .297 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs and made the All-Star team for the only time in his career. In the first of 1962's two MLB All-Star games, played July 10 at DC Stadium, Davenport took over for Ken Boyer as the National League's third baseman in the sixth inning with the Senior Circuit ahead, 2–1. In the eighth frame, his single off Dick Donovan set up Maury Wills' insurance run, as the Nationals ultimately won 3–1. Davenport played errorless ball in the field over the game's last four innings. That same season, Davenport was critical to the Giants' winning their first pennant since moving to San Francisco five years before. After going four for nine (.444) in the first two games of the 1962 National League tie-breaker series against the Dodgers, including a home run off Sandy Koufax in Game 1, Davenport drew a bases-loaded walk off Stan Williams in the ninth inning of the decisive Game 3 to get credit for the game-winning RBI in the Giants' eventual 6–4 victory, which gained them their first NL title since 1954, when they played in New York City. In the 1962 World Series that followed, he started all seven games against the New York Yankees, but could muster only three hits in 22 at bats (.136), although he drew four more bases on balls. Defensively, he made three errors in 21 total chances at third base. The Giants lost the Series in seven games. However, Davenport was known for his fielding, leading National League third basemen in fielding percentage each season from 1959–1961 and winning a Gold Glove at third base in 1962. Davenport played 97 consecutive errorless games at third base from July 26, 1966 to April 28, 1968, a record that stood until it was broken by John Wehner in the 1990s. He had a career batting average of .258 with 77 home runs and 456 RBIs, with 1,142 career hits, also including 177 doubles and 37 triples, in 4,427 at bats. He played in 1,501 regular-season games in 13 years, the fourth-most in San Francisco Giants history after Willie McCovey (2,256), Willie Mays (2,095) and Barry Bonds (1,976). His 1,130 games played at third base are the most in Giants' history.

Al Simmons. Spud Chandler. Harry Heilmann. Yogi Berra. Pete Reiser. Sam Crawford. James "Cool Papa" Bell. William "Dummy" Hoy. Ferris Fain. Ty Cobb. Fred Merkle. Jose Canseco. Napoleon Lajoie. Harry "The Cat" Brecheen. Don Drysdale. Sandy Koufax. Gary Carter. Bob Fothergill. Pete Browning. Lou Brock. Charlie Gehringer. Tommy Henrich. Rollie Fingers. Deion Sanders. Dizzy Dean. Tommy John. David Cone. Earle Combs. Ted Williams. Honus Wagner. Joseph Jefferson Jackson (Shoeless Joe) Bernie Williams. Walt Weiss. Joe Dimaggio. Nolan Ryan. Billy Herman. Herb Pennock. Bobby Shantz. Gaylord Perry. Mickey Mantle. Carl Furillo. Juan Marichal. Wesley Branch Rickey. Charles Albert Bender (Chief). George Halas (Papa Bear) Thurman Munson. Jimmie Foxx. Vida Blue. Sadaharu Oh. Steve Dalkowski. James Rodney "J.R." Richard. Rick Manning. Willie Mays. Roy Campanella. Johnny Podres. Steve Bedrosian. Andy Van Slyke. Bill Mazeroski. Ernie Banks. Billy Williams. Glenn Beckert. Dale Berra. Josh Gibson. Hugh "Sir Hugh" Duffy. Van Lingle Mungo. Rube Waddell. Rabbit Maranville. Leo Durocher. Tom Seaver. Walter Johnson. Roger Maris. Eddie Collins. Bill Dickey. Babe Ruth. Lou Gehrig. Lefty Gomez. Stan Musial. Whitey Ford. Hiram Bithorn. Charlie Keller. Sam Rice. Bob Lemon. Hugh "Losing Pitcher" Mulcahy. Walter "Boom Boom" Beck. Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown. Joe Medwick. Bobby Thomson. Arlas Taylor. Willie Stargell. Roberto Clemente. Bob Prince. (Pirates announcer contributed by Don Spa.) Hugo Bezdek. Rod Carew Babe Herman. Ken Harrelson. James Creighton. Hank Aaron. Wally Pipp. Ted Kluszewski. Mickey Cochrane. Preacher Roe. Terry Moore. Christy Mathewson. Tony Gwynn. Bill Wambsganss. Greg Maddux. Carl Yastrzemski. Joe Page. Ron Guidry. Luke Appling. Richie Ashburn. Mark Belanger. Duke Snider. Ron Hunt. Bill Terry. Bob Shawkey. Ken Singleton. Nap Rucker. Mike Schmidt. Mel Stottlemyre. Paul O’Neill. Jackie Robinson. Mickey Rivers. Elston Howard. Bobby Richardson. Hideo Nomo. Allie Reynolds. Willie Randolph. Joe Adcock. Al Kaline. Howard Ehmke. George Sisler. Roy White. Miller Huggins. Connie Mack. Frank Robinson. Mark Koenig. Jim Gentile. John Henry "Pop" Lloyd. Waite Hoyt. Red Ruffing. Billy Martin. Derek Jeter. Bucky Dent. Hank Bauer. Sparky Lyle. Ed Figueroa. Norm Cash. Willie Horton. Hal Trosky. Mariano Rivera. Bill Freehan. Tony Conigliaro. Carl Erskine. Bing Miller. Elmer Valo. Hoyt Wilhelm. Eddie Cicotte. Grover Cleveland Alexander. Arky Vaughan. Pie Traynor. Tris Speaker. Lena Blackburne. Gil Hodges. Jim Davenport. Rube Oldring. Tony Lazzeri. Carl Mays. Lou Boudreau General Crowder. Eddie Waitkus. Joe Black. Vic Raschi. Urban Schocker. Bob Meusel. Pee Wee Reese. Charlie Dressen. Clyde Milan. Jack Bentley. Roger Peckinpaugh. Pete Gray. Don Mattingly. Ray Schalk. Mel Ott. Chris Chambliss. Luis Aparicio. Tommy Holmes. Alejandro Carrasquel. Dave Concepcion. Frank Baker. James "Hippo" Vaughn. Ken Williams. Vean Gregg. Ben Chapman. George Pipgras. Lou Finney. Luis Tiant. Stuffy McInnis. Baby Doll Jacobson. Oscar Melillo. Chick Hafey. Lu Blue. Mule Haas. Don Zimmer. Specs Toporcer. Schoolboy Rowe. Johnny Mize Updated to 4-11-25

Gil Hodges After Gil Hodges’s sophomore year in college, he was offered a contract by local sporting goods storeowner and part-time Dodgers scout Stanley Feezle. The lure of playing in the major Leagues was too much this time, and Hodges left St. Joseph’s and signed with Brooklyn, who then sent him to Olean, New York. He worked out with the Class-D Oilers but did not appear in a game. Brooklyn called up the 19-year-old Hodges late in the 1943 season. He made his debut at Crosley Field on October 3, the Dodgers’ last game of the year. Facing Cincinnati’s Johnny Vander Meer, Gil went 0-for-2 at the plate and made two costly errors at third base. Eleven days later, he entered the Marine Corps and was sent to Hawaii, first to Pearl Harbor and later Kauai. Hodges served as a gunner for the 16th Anti-Aircraft Battalion. From Hawaii he went to Tinian, the sister island of Saipan 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. Don Hoak, a future Dodgers teammate, said, “We kept hearing stories about this big guy from Indiana who killed [Japanese soldiers] with his bare hands.” Discharged in February 1946, Hodges went to spring training with Brooklyn. The solidly built Hodges stood a half-inch over 6-foot-1, and weighed 200 pounds. He batted and threw right-handed, and was considered big for a baseball player of that era. However, Hodges was a gentle giant, often playing the role of peacemaker during on-field brawls. His hands were so large that teammate Pee Wee Reese once remarked that he could have played first base barehanded but wore a mitt because it was fashionable. Dodgers president Branch Rickey sent the now 22-year-old Hodges to the Newport News (Virginia) Dodgers, the club’s entry in the Class-B Piedmont League, where he was converted from infielder to catcher. Gil played 129 games, hitting .278 with eight home runs for Newport News. For his efforts, Hodges was named to the all-league team. He went to the historic and tumultuous Dodgers 1947 spring training and made the team. He was the second-string catcher but played just 24 games behind the plate as the backup to Bruce Edwards. On May 17 at Forbes Field, Hodges, batting for pitcher Harry Taylor, singled off Pittsburgh’s Fritz Ostermueller for his first major-league hit. Gil hit his first major-league home run on June 18, at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. His blast came in the seventh inning against Cubs starter Hank Borowy, and broke a 3–3 tie. Hodges appeared in 28 games overall in 1947, hitting an anemic .156. He clearly needed more playing time, but he was not going to get it behind the plate. With Roy Campanella on the way to take over for Edwards, another position change for Hodges was in order. The next spring Dodgers manager Leo Durocher “put a first baseman’s glove on our other rookie catcher, Gil Hodges. . . Three days later,” Durocher said, “I’m looking at the best first baseman I’d seen since Dolph Camilli.” By 1949 the Brooklyn Dodgers were poised for the most productive period in the franchise’s history. The fabled lineup was in place: Roy Campanella behind the plate, Hodges at first, Jackie Robinson at second, Pee Wee Reese at short, Billy Cox at third, Duke Snider in center, and Carl Furillo in right with a rotating cast in left. The team did not disappoint; Brooklyn won the National League pennant, edging the St. Louis Cardinals by one game. Hodges was now a key contributor. His first career grand slam came on May 14 off the Braves’ Bill Voiselle. Hodges hit for the cycle on June 25 in a 17–10 victory at Forbes Field. Gil hit a single, a double, a homer, and then a triple before hitting his second homer of the game in the ninth. He was 5-for-6 with four RBIs for the day. The next two years, 1950 and 1951, brought consecutive second-place finishes. Hodges’s power numbers continued to improve, as he averaged 36 home runs and 108 RBIs for the two seasons. He established his career high in runs scored in 1951 with 118, one of three seasons in which he topped 100. He also established a career high in strikeouts, 99, which led the league. (He finished in the NL top 10 in strikeouts 11 times in his career.) In the 1951 All-Star Game, Hodges went 2-for-5, including a two-run homer. However, his biggest day came on August 31, 1950, when he became the fourth major leaguer to hit four home runs in a nine-inning game. He went 5-for-6 and had nine RBIs that night at Ebbets Field, hitting the home runs off four different Boston Braves pitchers. His 17 total bases also tied a major-league record. The Dodgers won pennants in 1952 and 1953, only to fall again each time to the Yankees in the Series. In 1952, Hodges hit 32 home runs and drove in 102, while in 1953 he had 31 home runs and 122 RBIs, despite hitting just .181 through May 23. The 1954 season saw the Dodgers finish in second place and Hodges post career highs in batting average (.304), home runs (42), RBIs (130), and slugging (.579). It was his second consecutive year over the .300 mark. Hodges had 19 sacrifice flies, yet another career high, which also led the major leagues by a wide margin. On the last day of the regular season, September 26, Hodges had a solo shot and provided the only run rookie Karl Spooner needed for a 1–0 Dodgers victory. The homer was the 25th Gil hit at Ebbets Field in 1954, establishing a new club record. His 42 homers and 130 RBIs were both second in the National League in their respective categories. It was the closest he would come to winning a home run or an RBI title. In 1955 the Brooklyn Dodgers won their first and only World Series. Hodges, now 31 years old, contributed 27 homers, 102 RBIs and a .500 slugging percentage to the Dodgers’ first-place finish. Brooklyn clinched the ’55 pennant on September 8 with a 10–2 drubbing of Milwaukee, the earliest a team had clinched the pennant in the 80-year history of the National League. Hodges would appear in two more World Series, 1956 and 1959. He continued to play as a regular over the span of those years, averaging 26 home runs and 82 runs batted in. Hodges homered once in each Series; in the 1956 seven-game series loss to the Yankees, he had a hand in 12 of the Dodgers’ 25 runs, and he batted .391 in the 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers series win over the Chicago White Sox. In that Series, he won Game Four with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth that snapped a 4–4 tie. In all, Hodges played in 39 World Series games compiling a .267 average (35-for-131) with five homers, 21 RBIs, and 15 runs scored. Hodges was active for parts of four more seasons, but knee and other injuries limited his playing time. Despite the Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles, the Hodges family maintained their home in Brooklyn, and after the 1961 season, the newly formed New York Mets selected Gil in the first National League expansion draft. He hit the first home run in Mets history, on April 11, 1962. Overall, he appeared in 54 games for the woeful ’62 Mets, hitting .252. Hodges began 1963 as an active player, but retired when the two-year-old Washington Senators asked him to be their manager. After clearing waivers, he was traded to Washington for outfielder Jimmy Piersall on May 23, ending his playing career. Each season after Hodges’s arrival, the expansion Senators improved on their record from the previous season, peaking with a 76-85 record in 1967. On December 4, 1964 Senators management engineered a seven-player trade with the Dodgers. The Senators received Hodges’s former teammate, slugging outfielder Frank Howard, pitchers Phil Ortega and Pete Richert, first baseman Dick Nen, and third baseman Ken McMullen. These players were the core of the Senators franchise for the next several years and helped Hodges bring the Senators from tenth place to their surprising sixth-place finish in 1967. Although he had one year left on his contract, Hodges would not be around to guide the Senators in 1968. When Wes Westrum resigned as manager of the New York Mets in September 1967, the Mets sought out Hodges as his replacement. Senators general manager George Selkirk did not want to lose Hodges, he eventually relented, aided by a Mets payment of $100,000 and a player to be named (pitcher Bill Denehy was sent to the Senators on November 27). Hodges then signed a three-year, $150,000 contract to manage the Mets. The Mets had never finished above .500, but they were just four games below that mark at the 1968 All-Star break. They could not maintain the pace, however, and lost 46 of the remaining 80 games. On September 24, 1968 the 44-year-old Hodges suffered a “mild” heart attack during a game in Atlanta. In addition to the stress, which he always kept bottled up, and his father’s early death from an embolism, he also had developed a smoking habit on Okinawa, contributing factors for an attack so early in life. Hodges’ first winning season as manager came with the 1969 Mets, a team that went 100-62, 27 wins more than the previous year. They were led by rising star pitchers Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and promising youngster Nolan Ryan, as well as left fielder Cleon Jones and center fielder Tommie Agee. What is truly remarkable about Hodges’ managerial achievement, besides the 27-win improvement from the previous season, was the fact that the Mets only had two players (Jones and Agee) who had enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title. In fact, Hodges platooned at catcher, right field, and all the infield positions. While the Mets did not finish above the league average in any major offensive statistic, they had one more run allowed than the league leading St. Louis Cardinals. Projecting wins based on runs scored and runs allowed (Bill James’ Pythagorean Projection), the Mets were expected to have 92 wins. They wound up with an even 100. The Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, with four future Hall of Famers on its roster, in three straight games in the NL playoffs. The New Yorkers outscored the Braves by an aggregate score of 27-15. In the first game, despite five earned runs surrendered by eventual Cy Young Award winner Tom Seaver, the Mets won 9-5, capped off by a five-run rally in the top of the eighth which included a two-run single by pinch-hitter J.C. Martin. The Mets accomplished this victory without an appearance by eventual World Series MVP Clendenon, as the Braves did not start any lefty hurlers. Speaking of the World Series, Hodges and the Mets defeated the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles (also with four future Hall of Famers, including manager Earl Weaver) in five games in the World Series, making the Mets the first expansion team ever to participate in and win a World Series. The Mets had lost the first game but swept the next four, outscoring the O’s 14-5 in the process, a dominating effort by his young pitching staff. Hodges was voted Manager of the Year for turning the lovable losers into World Champions. The Mets finished with identical 83-79 records in each of the next two seasons. For Hodges, there would be no more championships. The spring of 1972 saw the first modern players strike. On April 2, Easter Sunday, Hodges played golf at the Palm Beach Lakes golf course in Florida with coaches Joe Pignatano, Rube Walker, and Eddie Yost. The first two were old Brooklyn Dodger pals, while Yost had been with Hodges since the Senators days. As they walked off the final hole of their 27-hole day toward their rooms at the Ramada Inn, Pignatano asked Hodges what time they were to meet for dinner. Hodges answered him, “7:30,” and then he fell to the pavement. He was pronounced dead of a coronary at 5:45 p.m. in West Palm Beach. He was just 47 years old. The Mets were scheduled to open the season in Pittsburgh on April 7, the day of the funeral, but the players agreed to forfeit the game to attend. The Pirates graciously canceled the game, which was not played anyway because of the lingering strike. Coach Yogi Berra took over the stunned Mets as Hodges’s replacement and led the Mets back to the World Series in 1973. Hodges’s funeral Mass easily could have been held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, but that would have not been in keeping with his unassuming ways. During his funeral Mass, held at his Flatbush parish church, Our Lady Help of Christians, the Reverend Charles Curley said, “Gil was an ornament to his parish, and we are justly proud that in death he lies here in our little church.” Hodges led all major-league first basemen of the 1950s in the following categories: home runs (310), games (1,477), at-bats (5,313), runs (890), hits (1,491), runs batted in (1,001), total bases (2,733), strikeouts (882), and extra-base hits (585). He made the All-Star team eight times, every year from 1949-55 and again in 1957, the most of any first baseman of the time. In addition, Hodges was considered the finest defensive first baseman of the era, winning Gold Gloves the first three years they were given out (1957-59, and there were no separate AL and NL awards). Also, he was second among all players in the 1950s in home runs and RBIs, third in total bases and eighth in runs. Not to mention the managerial feat of 1969.

5 out of 10, 75 seconds. I guessed on most of them.

5 out of 10, 52 seconds. Ouch!