Gil Hodges
There have only been three people who have worn the number 14 in Mets history – Gil Hodges, Ron Swoboda, and Ken Boyer. Of the three Hodges has the lowest WAR as a member of the Mets, but when you break it all down, Hodges is the only choice for the best Mets player to ever wear the number 14.
Hodges was an original Met after spending the first 16 years of his career with the Dodgers. One of the reasons the Mets selected him in the Expansion Draft was he was a beloved Brooklyn Dodger, and he was a borderline Hall of Famer. In his brief playing career with the Mets, Hodges would hit the first homer in Mets history, and he would retire with the 10th most homers in Major League history.
In 1963, the Mets traded Hodges to the Washington Senators where he would become the team’s manager. Four years later, the Mets were making a trade with the Senators to bring Hodges back to New York so he could manage the Mets. While we talk about Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Noah Syndergaard, and Yoenis Cespedes, this could have been the best trade the Mets ever made.
While many focus on the miracle, and rightfully so, lost in the shuffle was his immediate impact. Prior to Hodges being hired, the Mets had lost 100 games in five of their first six seasons, and they never won more than 66 games in a season. In Hodges first year, the Mets avoided the 90 loss mark. Yes, the Mets were still under .500, but that was a 12 game improvement.
It was during that 1968 season where Hodges put the first touches on what would become the most shocking season in Major League history. In that year, he began platooning players to get the most out of their respective abilities, and he pushed the Mets towards a five man rotation. That certainly helped Jerry Koosman, who was an All-Star and finished second to Johnny Bench in the Rookie of the Year voting.
In that magical 1969 season, the Mets were actually two games under .500 entering June. As far as the Mets went, that meant they were having a great year. Little did everyone know what was going to happen next.
After an 11 game winning streak, the Mets were six games over .500, but still, they were not much of a factor yet as that pulled them up to seven games behind the Cubs. The Mets were still alive but trailing significantly through July. It was on July 30, when Hodges made a move which may have ignited the team again.
In an extra inning game, Hodges not only pulled star Cleon Jones for not hustling, but he would go out to left field to do it. That was emblematic of his leadership and demand for accountability. For what it is worth, years later, Jones showed no bitterness, and he spoke about how great a leader Hodges was.
With a little help from a black cat, the acquisition of Donn Clendenon, great pitching, and Hodges out-managing Hall of Famer Leo Durocher down the stretch, the Mets would miraculously win 100 games.
It would be in that World Series where Hodges would show how great and quick thinking a manager he was. After a Game 1 loss, he took the unusual step of allowing Clendenon to address the team. Then, in Game 5, he would help swing the momentum of the clinching game:
With Dave McNally dealing, and the Mets down 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth, there was a pitch Jones believed hit him in the foot. As the story goes, Hodges turned to Koosman and had him swipe the ball against his freshly polished shoes to make sure there was a mark on the ball. Seeing the mark on the ball, Home Plate Umpire Lou DiMuro awarded Jones first base.
The Orioles were incensed and lost their cool. Two pitches later, McNally allowed a home run to Clendenon pulling the Mets to within one, and the Mets would eventually pull off the 5-3 and win their first ever World Series.
That season Hodges won the Sporting News Manager of the Year, and the Mets became the first ever team to have a 15 game improvement before winning the World Series. Until the Marlins won the 1997 World Series, the Mets were the fastest expansion team to win a World Series.
The Mets were not able to win the division again under Hodges, but they also would be above .500 in each of the ensuing two years. Hodges was one of the driving forces behind the Mets acquiring Rusty Staub. Finally, he got his wish on the eve of the 1972 season, and Hodges was able to talk with Staub at Easter services. However, with the medicals being reviewed, Hodges was unable to tell Staub about the trade, nor was he going to be able to manage him in 1973 when the Mets won their second pennant.
He never would as Hodges would die of a heart attack. That heart attack devastated Mets fans and Dodgers fans alike. It devastated all of baseball. Jackie Robinson was reported to have said, “Next to my son’s death, this is the worst day of my life.”
With his death, Hodges was easily the best manager in Mets history, a mantle many still believe he should hold to this day. He now ranks third all-time in manager wins and fifth in winning percentage. He was the first ever player to have his number retired by the Mets, but as we all know, his number was retired for his impact as a manager. Ultimately, he was posthumously inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.
There are those who believe he should one day be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. When you consider his guiding the Miracle Mets and his lasting impact on the game, it is hard to argue with those people. For now, he is the greatest Met to ever wear the number 14.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series highlighting the best players in Mets history by highlighting the best Met to wear a particular uniform number. In this case, this is not saying Hodges was the 14th best in Mets history, but rather the best Met to wear the number 14.
Previous
1.Mookie Wilson
2.Mackey Sasser
3. Curtis Granderson
4. Lenny Dykstra
5. David Wright
6. Wally Backman
7. Jose Reyes
8. Gary Carter
9. Todd Hundley
10. Rey Ordonez
11. Wayne Garrett
12. John Stearns
13. Edgardo Alfonzo
(3) Cleon Jones – He caught a fly ball off the bat of Davey Johnson, fell to a knee, and the 1969 Mets were World Series champions. In that series, it was his foot which was hit which led to Gil Hodges bringing the shoe polished ball from the dugout. Was the best position player on that 1969 team, and his 7.0 WAR that season lasted as the team single-season record for nearly 30 years. During 1973 run to the division title, starting the key relay in the famous “Ball on the Wall” Play. Hit .284/.356/.444 in postseason play.
(14) Donn Clendenon – Acquired from the Montreal Expos at the 1969 trade deadline in the Mets first ever trade deadline acquisition with the team as a buyer. Gave a speech to team after they lost Game 1 of the World Series helping the team rally to win four straight. First ever Mets player to be named World Series MVP. All three home runs in that series came with the Mets behind or the game tied. Had a somewhat forgotten strong 1970 campaign.
While there are many potential pitfalls, the New York Mets hiring Carlos Beltran as the 22nd manager in team history is amazing, and it is cause for celebration.
By and large, it does seem like Mets fans are celebrating. Perhaps, it is because he is replacing an unpopular Mickey Callaway. It could be that after all this time the fans who had a certain level of frustration with him realized they were unfair, and with time having passed, they can better appreciate him. Whatever the case, the fans are excited, and that’s great.
Another factor here is after years where there was a hang up over Beltran wanting to sign with the Yankees in 2005, he made his intentions known he wanted to be a Met. As a result, Beltran only interviewed for the Mets job eschewing opportunities with the Cubs and Padres.
He now becomes the Mets first ever Hispanic manager. For what it’s worth, he was also their first true Hispanic superstar. As such, he is fully aware of what he’s taking on, and to that end, there’s arguably no one better to handle all that is coming his way.
His reward is not just being the Mets manager, but he’s also going to get to manage the Mets when they play in his home of Puerto Rico.
In Beltran, the Mets are getting a savant. As described in the book Astroball, Beltran picked up on things before the analytically driven team could. He also helped bring the team together as one unit. He accomplished that not just by being multilingual but a leader interested in making everyone in that clubhouse comfortable feeling like a member of the team.
With Beltran coming home to the Mets, we can envision how well it worked when other former Mets managed this team.
Gil Hodges engineered the 1969 Miracle Mets. Bobby Valentine was the first Mets manager who led the team to back-to-back postseasons. Most recently, Willie Randolph led the 2006 Mets to within an at-bat of a pennant.
Speaking of that at-bat, Beltran handled that with the class and dignity which has come to define him. He’s overcome both that and injuries to build a Hall of Fame career. He overcame all of that and some hard feelings which existed at the time he was traded for Zack Wheeler to not just want but to get the Mets manager job.
In the end, Beltran is back with the New York Mets where he belongs. After all these years, the fans love him, and he loves this team. He’s now coming home to where everything is possible.
He can guide the Mets to one or more World Series. He can join Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza in the Hall of Fame. His 15 will hang in left field with Casey Stengel‘s 37, Hodges’ 14, Seaver’s 41, Piazza’s 31, and soon Jerry Koosman‘s 36.
In fact, when all is said and done, Beltran could emerge as one of the most beloved figures in Mets history. To be able to even contemplate this is incredible, and it is a reason why Beltran returning to HIS Mets is a dream come true.
While it is not an official policy, the Mets organization will only retire the numbers of players who enter the Hall of Fame wearing a Mets cap. That is why the only Mets players who have their numbers retired are Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza. If the Baseball Hall of Fame honored Gary Carter‘s choice, he would have gone into the Hall of Fame with a Mets cap, and as a result, his number would have been retired as well.
That would have pleased many Mets fans who want to see his number be retired. More than Carter, Mets fans seem to want to see Keith Hernandez‘s and David Wright‘s numbers retired. With respect to those two, chances are neither enter the Hall of Fame, and just like Carter, chances are Hernandez is inducted into the Hall of Fame wearing a Cardinals cap.
Much of the Carter and Hernandez push is related to both players being key veterans on the 1986 World Series team. Oddly enough, the same case has not been made for Davey Johnson.
Back in 1984, Frank Cashen tabbed Johnson to be the Mets manager. He was entasked with leading a Mets team to not just win a World Series, but really to just win games. The Mets had not been over .500 since 1976, which was Seaver’s last full season with the Mets. Seaver was back in 1983 only for the Mets to lose him again.
The winning happened immediately. Behind Rookie of the Year Dwight Gooden, and a young core which included Darryl Strawberry, Wally Backman, Ron Darling, and Sid Fernandez, the 1984 Mets finished second place in the National League East with a 90-72 record. This began a string of eight straight seasons where the Mets would finish second or better in the division. Johnson would oversee six of those seasons.
The 1985 Mets won 98 games, which was then the second most wins the Mets had ever accumulated. They were that close to winning the division. Entering 1986, Johnson would declare the Mets were the team to beat, and his team would back him up. Their 108 wins is the third most ever by a National League team.
When you include the postseason, the 1986 have won more games than any other National League team over the past century.
Yes, this does speak to how great the 1986 Mets were, but it also speaks to Johnson’s managerial abilities. He was ahead of his time using data and statistics to inform his decisions. Yes, those 1980s Mets teams were talented, but it was Johnson who got everything out of those talented teams by optimizing his team’s lineups.
This is why Johnson would become the first ever National League manager to have 90+ wins in each of his first five seasons.
He’s also the only Mets manager with two 100 win seasons. He joins Gil Hodges as only one of two Mets managers to win a World Series, and he was the first Mets manager to go to two different postseasons.
Johnson is the Mets all-time leader in wins and winning percentage. He is second only to Terry Collins in games managed. He is second to Bobby Valentine in postseason wins, which is partially a function of Major League Baseball adding an additional postseason round when they added the Wild Card in 1994.
Despite all of these records and his impact on the franchise, Hodges and Casey Stengel remain the only two managers who have had their numbers retired by the Mets. Given how the standards to retire manager numbers (to the extent there is any) is far lower than for players, it is odd how nearly 30 years after Johnson managed his last game, he has not had his number retired.
His number not being retired may become more of an issue going forward as once again he is a candidate on the Today’s Game ballot for the Hall of Fame. With his having a better winning percentage than Hall of Famers like Bobby Cox (a manager who also has just one World Series to his credit), and his being only one of two managers in MLB history to lead four separate franchises to to the postseason, there is a real case to be made for Johnson’s induction.
If inducted, he is likely going to enter the Hall of Fame as a member of the Mets. If so, any and all excuses to not retire his number have gone by the wayside. Of course, that is unless you are not of the belief Johnson has not done enough to merit having his number retired anyway.
Given how his number has not been retired, it is certainly still up for debate whether it should or should not be retired by the Mets organization. Going forward, when debates happen,,when taking into account standards already set forth coupled with the impact on the organization, Davey Johnson should probably be first in line when it comes to having his number retired.
Part of Mets lore is Game 5 of the 1969 World Series when Gil Hodges brought a ball from the dugout to show that a Dave McNally pitch had actually hit Cleon Jones on the foot.
The very next batter, Don Clendenon, would take McNally deep to cut the Orioles lead to 3-2 en route to the Mets winning that game 5-3 securing the first World Series In Mets history.
The funny thing is the shoe polish wasn’t Jones’. Rather, it belonged to Jerry Koosman, who was instructed by Hodges to swipe the ball on his cleat so he could present it to the umpires.
To this day, we never quite found out if the ball really hit Jones’ foot. What we do know is that proved to be a pivotal moment in a shocking upset.
While it certainly was not of the same magnitude or lasting impact, we can now say Todd Frazier is up to the same level of trickanery as Hodges.
.@SteveGelbs reveals the TRUTH behind the @FlavaFraz21 diving “catch” on Monday. Video don’t lie! pic.twitter.com/P4a1gBQIXe
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 5, 2018
While everyone initially believed this to be a play reminiscent of the one Derek Jeter made against the Red Sox (which is absurd as Jeter caught that ball in fair territory and continued to run into the stands), it was much more like Hodges and Koosman.
As Frazier explained, he didn’t make, or rather, complete the catch. Instead, as luck would have it, there was a rubber ball laying on the ground. Frazier picked up the ball, showed it to the umpire who then ruled Alex Verdugo out, and he tossed the ball back into the stands.
Eventually, the Mets would tie the game and win it with a Brandon Nimmo pinch hit three run homer. The homer came too late to give Jacob deGrom the win.
However, in a season where deGrom has received criminally low run support, at least players like Frazier are looking for any which way to help deGrom win the Cy Young.
The Mets Fan
My name is Rudy Sheptock, and I am on Twitter as @RudyOrangeAndBlue. I am a full time Minister and a part-time DJ! My daily midday Radio Show is called Rudy On The Radio and it’s heard Monday-Friday from Noon until 2PM on LIFT FM here in Cape May County, NJ. I have been married 36 years and have four kids and four grandkids. I love social media and enjoy the many friendships I have made via Twitter and Facebook.
How You Became a Mets Fan
I became a die hard Mets Fan in the mid 1960s because of my Dad. He grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers Fan, and when they and the Giants left for California, there was no way my Father was going to root for the Yankees. So when the Mets came along, he began to root for them and passed his love of the Orange and Blue on to me! Because I never do anything halfway – I was in for life!
Favorite Mets Player
My first Mets Autograph was Gil Hodges, but my first hero was Tom Seaver. I patterned everything I did after Tom. I would listen to the Mets on the Radio and would be perfectly in-sync with Seaver even though I could not see the game. I wore either 14 or 41 all thru my playing days. I also taught both my sons the drop and drive style of Seaver’s pitching. I have tons of Seaver memorabilia all over my house! I cried the day they traded him to the Reds! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
Favorite Moment in Mets History
While my oldest Son was born in 1986 and that magical season, nothing will ever compare to the Summer of 1969! After so much losing, the Mets were finally winning! And I loved Gil Hodges and the innocence of that era for me cause I was 10 years old! Seaver’s almost perfect game! I was at Banner Day that August when the Mets swept the Padres 3-2 in both games. The double-header that the Mets won against the Pirates where both games were 1-0 with Jerry Koosman and Don Cardwell driving in the runs! Ken Boswell singling in Cleon Jones against the Expos to put us in first place! And the day we won the World Series! I was in Baseball Heaven! I am so glad I was alive and well because that Team was my Team! Cleon and Tommie Agee! Jerry Grote and Donn Clendenon! I remember riding my bike thru the old neighborhood screaming We Won The World Series! Childhood at it’s best! Even the Mets on the Ed Sullivan Show!
Message to Mets Fans
Real Mets Fans are a unique breed! We are never confident. We always expect the worst and are pleasantly pleased when our Team comes through. We despise the Yankees! We love Bob Murphy. We miss Shea Stadium! The chant of Let’s Go Mets still gives us Goosebumps and we can still hear Jane Jarvis play the organ in our souls! We love Wilmer Flores and can’t understand why the Wilpons are still around! We can call our Mets Bums but will defend them to the death! We bleed blue and orange! Love to hear Put it in the Books and will always stick around for the Happy Recap! I was a Mets Fan at 7 years old and now at almost 60- I still love them!
Over the past week, the Mets have had a number of bullpen meltdowns, and it just seems like no matter what Mickey Callaway does he is making the wrong decision. After the 12-2 start, the Mets have dipped down a few times to .500, but they have not fallen below that .500 mark quite yet. Criticism is starting to come from all directions including from Mike Francesca, who from his shiny new Twitter account, jabbed, “Imagine the problems the Mets would be having if the team wasn’t in the hands of a pitching guru?”
Considering it’s after Memorial Day, which has long been an unofficial litmus test for teams, now is as good a time as any for the Mets Bloggers to proffer what their level of confidence is in Callaway:
Michael Baron (MLB)
It’s hard to conclude anything – positively or negatively – in 2 months. It’s just not fair. We can definitely argue he has made mistakes, hope he has learned lessons, and dealing with the balance between stats, plans and gut feelings. But it’s 50 games – I’m hoping the next 50 games show growth in these areas. But it would help if his players could execute and he had more tools in his bag.
Roger Cormier (Good Fundies)
He’s still in my circle of trust. I don’t understand why he told every reliever to suddenly perform as awfully as possible, but maybe he read about an Argentinian tech company who used a similar unorthodox team building exercise to eventually acquire record fourth quarter sales numbers? You just don’t know with that guy. But seriously folks, it doesn’t matter what order he puts in the veteran, high-priced relievers and Jason Vargas if they are all bad, so I don’t see how you can yell at Mickey for AJ Ramos turning into the world’s most charismatic pumpkin. And because he doesn’t want a phone call from Frederick and/or Jeffrey, Jose Reyes gets a start or two a week.
Mark Healey (Gotham Baseball)
It takes more than two months to undo eight years of foolishness. The Mets FIP last year was 4.49; this year it’s at 3.92 despite brutal starts by key pitchers. Sure, his lineup choices are odd, his in-game decisions even odder, but they resemble some of Terry Collins‘ head-scratchers. What’s the common denominator? A meddlesome COO (Reyes) and a front office that seems to be scripting the daily lineup and BP usage. That’s my take, anyway. I have confidence in Mickey. Let’s see if he can start wresting more of the in-game stuff away from the suits.
Joe Maracic (Loud Egg)
My feeling is the manager can win or cost a team around 5 games per season. I think he’s doing fine but baseball managers have always been later on my list of team priorities, right below training and medical staff.
Metstradamus (Metstradamus Blog)
Sometimes, it’s incumbent on the players to make plays. Not everything can be traced back to a bad managerial move. Now should be the time to look at Sandy and what kind of depth he has set the team up with to endure something like this.
Greg Prince (Faith and Fear in Flushing)
I don’t not trust him. How’s that? Unfair to withdraw one’s faith one-third into a manager’s first season, though the impression I get is 1) he’s groping for answers, patterns and/or a change of luck; 2) actually managing is more difficult than doing it in theory. I’m sure we’d all discover the same had we really impressed in our interview for the job.
James Schapiro (Shea Bridge Report)
Mets Daddy
While we have been rightly focusing on the bullpen meltdowns and Callaway’s missteps in causing some of those meltdowns, we are missing some of the real good he is doing. Amed Rosario is blossoming, and Brandon Nimmo has made himself into a real good Major League leadoff hitter under his watch. We’ve also seen Callaway coax a second (or third) act out of the careers of Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Bautista, and Devin Mesoraco.
While we expected Callaway to pull a Rumplestiltskin and weave a gold out of a collection of broken arms, his job is much more than that. He’s in charge of a full 25 man roster, and there is enough there with his work with the full roster to believe he was the right man, and that he will continue learning and growing on the job.
While there may be some question about the job Callaway is doing and his future as a manager, one thing is for certain – this is a terrific group of writers, and I encourage everyone to take the time out to read their excellent writing on Callaway and all things Mets.
There’s a famous Easter Sunday Mets story as detailed by Matthew Silverman of metsilverman.com details on his site. Even with there being a player strike, Rusty Staub and who he thought was rival Mets manager Gil Hodges would have a warm conversation leading Rusty to exclaim, “Wow! Easter Sunday brings out the best in everybody.”
What Rusty didn’t know and couldn’t know because of the strike was part of the reason Hodges was so nice to him was the Mets had swung a trade the night before to obtain the larger than life right fielder.
What Rusty didn’t know and couldn’t know at the time was this was the last time he would ever talk with Hodges. Tragically, without any warning, Hodges would die the next day. Like many Mets fans and players, Rusty never got to say good-bye. Rather, he was just left with the warm memories of a Mets great believing it was Easter Sunday that brought the best out in a fierce competitor.
If you excuse the sacrilege of a former altar boy for a moment, maybe it wasn’t Easter Sunday which brought out the best in Hodges, maybe it was Rusty.
While the City of Montreal may claim Rusty, he was definitively a Met. Considering the larger than life figure he was, I’m sure we will hear the Astros and Tigers fans claim Rusty as their own. That’s what happens when you have a player who is both great on the field and great off of it.
Personally, I never knew Rusty from his playing days. I was too young to remember him and his 1985 season where he did nothing but pinch hit. Really, the only thing I know of Rusty as Met is the exploits which were touted during the videos on Diamondvision played during rain delays or the tales my father would tell me about how great he was in the 1973 World Series.
No, I remember Rusty as a great Mets ambassador. The advertisements for his charity events for the New York Police & Fire Widows & Children’s Benefit Fund. Hearing about the fundraisers for the event was a big part of the season for a Mets fan. Contributing to it was all the more so. Considering this being his post-retirement’s life’s work, his tireless efforts after 9/11 should come as no surprise.
I also remember the broadcasts. Back when Rusty was calling games, he and Ralph Kiner were one of the reasons you tuned in. Sure, they tended to be Mets homers, but you could excuse it a bit with the old stories and enthusiasm they had for the Mets. It was really no different than listening to your dad and uncles sitting around a table talking which watching a Mets game.
Personally, my favorite Rusty memory was from a few years back. While on a plane from Ireland, Rusty suffered a heart attack. In a situation which would have killed nearly anyone, Rusty survived, and he lived to tell about it. More than than, he relished it, and if you’ve ever listened to him during a Mets game, you knew he could spin a tale.
Those are the memories that we should all miss. For those who watched him play, I’m sure you will miss him all the more.
And now, 46 years after he became a Met, he now leaves us. In a somewhat fitting and tragic fashion, he departs us during the Easter Triduum. After all he has done for the Mets and City of New York, he now rests peacefully. Hopefully, when we all think back upon his life, we will all recall how like Easter Sunday, Rusty brought out the best in all of us.
With the Mets signing Todd Frazier, the organization has yet again went out and brought home a local boy to play for the hometown team. It is something we have seen from the organization throughout their history starting with Ed Kranepool, and it is a new focus we have seen with this organization with them drafting Long Islanders Steven Matz, Justin Dunn, and Anthony Kay.
With the Mets illustrious, and in the case of Bobby Bonilla, infamous hometown players coming home to play for the Mets, in a new feature on Mets Daddy, Mets bloggers have come together to answer the question about who is their favorite hometown Mets players:
Michael Baron (MLB.com)
As the Mets embark on their managerial search, it’s interesting to note that of the Mets 20 managers only eight have been hired for another job. For some, there were extenuating circumstances. Casey Stengel broke a hip. Gil Hodges passed away. Terry Collins is retiring or being forced into retirement depending upon your point of view.
With that said, for the most part, managing the Mets is typically a final step in a manager’s career. As noted there were eight exceptions. Can you name them? Good luck!
Salty Parker Wes Westrum Joe Torre Yogi Berra George Bamberger Davey Johnson Jeff Torborg Bobby Valentine