I was researching some Mets team speed metrics the other night when a strong series of thunderstorms came through my town and knocked out power in my area. My wife worked late because her building still had power and my St. Bernard and Maine Coon Cat were safely huddled under the dining room table.
So, while I sat there in candlelight, I wrote this:
I Remember Hodges
In a flash it was all over,
Gil Hodges now had passed.
A heartbeat never heard again,
..and our chances didn’t last.
If you’d been with Rube and Yogi,
Yost and Piggy too.
We might have won a few more flags
from the team which we all knew.
God Bless you now, Gil Hodges.
God bless you till this day.
I still get a teary eye.
When I reminisce ‘bout Shea.
You put that team together,
made players out of kids.
The Miracle of ‘69
was the name of what you did.
I heard Seaver talk about you,
at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Why you aren’t in there too
is a baseball cryin’ shame.
The years go rollin’ by us,
on a steady forward track.
So grab your mitt from off the shelf
pick lumber from the rack.
The candle now is burnin’
in an odd and eerie way.
But I still remember Hodges…
How he taught the Mets to play.
We’re deep into October…
And the skies are turnin’ gray.
I’m just thinkin’ ‘bout Gil Hodges
and the spirits roaming Shea.
God bless you now Gil Hodges.
God bless you till this day.
I still get a teary eye,
when I reminisce ‘bout Shea.
If you want to give it a listen, go to:
I remember Gil…from sitting behind the first baseline at Ebbits when I was 7 with my Dad…and then at Shea in 69 the year I was discharged from the Navy in time to see my team black cat and all beat those cubbies….Cleons final catch in left..the celebrations.. the tickertape parade..my view from 23rd and Park Ave…and then we lost him during Spring Training…. oh what could have been..
Tragic loss. Two or three more years would have made a huge difference in history.
Thanks for sharing that Jim. Its a tragedy in all directions and dimensions. Gil is truely a hero in Mets history. I think that often goes under appreciated. What the future would have held under a lengthy operation guided by #14 can only be imagined. That he doesnt have have a home in zip 13326 defies any reason, as does the fact we dont enter Citi Field through the Gil Hodges Rotunda. I have a Mets-themed Hodges lapel pin that has the number 14 and says, “Gil Hodges, Quiet Hero”. Nuff said.
Yes good point. I’m not against Jackie Robinson or any of the achievements he means for NYC or the nation. But Hodges is NY.