Gil Hodges was a player for the Dodgers. The color slides are from UPI.
The archive of Bettmann.
The only baseball player who has been eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame since it was established in 1936 is Gil Hodges, but he has not been elected. Eight of the next nine players who finished below him eventually made their way to the Hall of Fame, after Hodges finished third in 1981 with 60.1% of the vote. The writers couldn't vote for Hodges because of the Hall of Fame's financial incentive, so why hasn't he followed?
The BBWAA failed to choose a single candidate in the year. The Pre-Integration Era Committee inducted three long-deceased people that year. It was one of the least attended ceremonies in recent memory, with the Hall of Fame reporting 2,500 fans in Cooperstown that weekend. In comparison, the ceremony in which Mariano Rivera and five others were inducted drew 55,000 fans.
Fans aren't going to see the deceased get in the Hall of Fame because of the comparison. When Brooklyn won its only World Series in 1955, a 10-year-old that was alive would be 76 years old. How many die-hard fans would travel to Cooperstown to see his plaque up close and personal?
Looking at recent Eras Committee votes, the chances of Hodges decreasing have been downward. Nine of the 12 votes needed for the hall of fame were received by Hodges in 2011. Almost half of the voting pool was comprised of Hank, Al, Kaline, Kiner, Robinson, and Lasorda. The rest of the committee was not interested in pushing for Hodges to be in the constitution.
In the 2015 vote, Hodges appeared on less than three ballots from a panel younger than the voters in 2011. The committee assigned to the Golden Days ballot doesn't add any hope to his chances. While the trio of Bud Selig, John Schuerholz and Joe Torre might lean towards Hodges as one of their four choices, rumblings have pointed to the rest of the committee supporting younger living candidates like Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva.
One of the most spirited discussions come voting time is his candidacy. Roy Campanella's vote was voided in 1993 because he did not attend the meeting in person. The decision by Williams added more fuel to the fire.
The New York Faithful Held Hodges in high esteem.
The Dodgers and Mets fans in New York still adore him because of his World Series victories. There is a school and a bridge in Brooklyn. The number 14 was retired by the Mets and placed in the Hall of Fame.
He was one of the best first baseman of his era. The first ever Gold Gloves were won by him. During his career, he hit over 30 home runs. His career home runs were the most by a right-handed hitter in the National League.
He was one of the most respected figures in baseball. Frank Howard shared how many people in baseball viewed Hodges' persona when he was a teammate with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Howard said that he was probably the most fundamentally sound player and manager that had ever played in the big leagues. The epitome of presence, class, charisma, he would walk into a room and the room would light up.
Is he the type of candidate that will get young baseball fans to visit the Hall of Fame? Young kids would find worthy emulating a picture of excellence from the Golden Era. His supporters hope that voters will focus on how an upstanding citizen would add to its ranks, rather than how he could move the turnstiles.
