A bad April Fool’s joke

Gil Hodges with Brooklyn

In a cruel April Fool’s Day joke that is no joke, a special committee for the baseball's Hall of Fame 36 years ago today overlooks Leo Durocher, Phil Rizzuto, Joe Gordon and Gil Hodges for induction.

Durocher, Rizzuto and Gordon eventually reach the Hall of Fame well before 2022 – leaving the continued omission of Hodges, the longtime Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman and manager of the 1969 Miracle Mets, as an on-going bad joke to Hodges’ most ardent supporters.

The joke ends two years ago as Hodges finally gets elected to the Hall – 50 years after he unexpectedly passes away of a heart attack two days shy of his 48th birthday.

“No one had more impact on my career than Gil Hodges,” Mets pitcher and Hall of Famer Tom Seaver later says. “Playing for him was a learning experience, and he was a tower of strength.

“Not everybody liked him, but everybody respected him,” Seaver says. “He went about his job in a very professional manner, and it caused me to do the same with my job.”

Gil Hodges with Tom Seaver in 1969