Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player and Manager. He played first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940s and 1950s. A right-handed first baseman, he is credited with implementing the "in the vicinity play," the tactic in which a player runs off the base while catching the ball so as to give the appearance of completing the out. During World War II (WWII), he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, receiving a Bronze Star Medal for heroism under fire. After his retirement as a player, he became field manager of the New York Mets and led them to their first World Series win, beating the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. He died of a heart attack at age 47 during spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida prior to the 1972 baseball season. In 2022, Hodges was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum via the Golden Days Era Committee.
Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player and Manager. He played first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940s and 1950s. A right-handed first baseman, he is credited with implementing the "in the vicinity play," the tactic in which a player runs off the base while catching the ball so as to give the appearance of completing the out. During World War II (WWII), he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, receiving a Bronze Star Medal for heroism under fire. After his retirement as a player, he became field manager of the New York Mets and led them to their first World Series win, beating the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. He died of a heart attack at age 47 during spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida prior to the 1972 baseball season. In 2022, Hodges was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum via the Golden Days Era Committee.
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HODGES
GILBERT R.
1924 — 1972
WITH AN UNDYING LOVE
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