Gil Hodges

[toad]

Anybody out there have any Gil Hodges glove photos or can tell me what Brands he endorsed? I have a buddy asking me.
Thanks,
Toad

[vintagebrett]

He endorsed Sonnett, Wilson, Franklin and I'm sure there are many others.

[toad]

He endorsed Sonnett, Wilson, Franklin and I'm sure there are many others.

Thanks Brett,
He was also a member of the first Rawlings Gold Give Team in '57

[softball66]

Gil was on the first gold glove team. Can anyone name the other nine? It was a combination of both leagues (later they voted separate teams for each NL and AL. I've got four of the originals on a gold glove baseball. Two more still alive that I need.
Hodges had his endorsement with Wilson and of course Sonnett came with that when Wilson acquired that company. I don't believe he had any other (signature) endorsements but was on some block letter style mitts like Franklin.
He should be in the Hall of Fame in my estimation: both as a player and manager.
Trivia question: who did he replace at first base for the Dodgers?

[ebbets55]

He also appeared on Denkert mitts.

JD

http://www.baseballglovecollector.com/g ... +Front.JPG

[softball66]

I stand corrected J.D. Thanks! I peeked into the glove finder and saw Hutch, Ken Wel and several more spin offs from Wilson and Denkert, a J. C. Higgins (Sears) and Western, Pennant etc.
Also, there are eight other original gold glove winners besides Hodges, five of whom are still alive.
Interesting to see the 1b mitts of Hodges in the Wilson catalogs, never a top of line mitt, only one year on a personal model. That was occurring in the 1950s-60s when Wilson was putting "Ripper" Collins and "Lefty" O'Doul names on the Wilson personal models, this was after their careers were over.

[robin_buckeye]

Roy McMillan of the Reds was the 1st GG SS.
Didn't Jackie move to 2nd to make room for Hodges at 1st?

[softball66]

Right on Robin! Roy was first, beat out Luis Aparicio, not bad. I did a feature story in our newsletter about Roy and what gloves he used, etc. He went to school with my mother in law.
I think Hodges was originally a catcher and when he came up they shifted him to 1b. Right, he did replace Robinson who went to second which leads to next question. Why, with Robinson's great speed (UCLA track man) did he NOT play outfield? Why 1b, then 2nd??
I've got Roy's, Minnie's, Al's and Shantz on my baseball. Need Willie and Malzone.

[Cowboy7130]

The official Gil Hodges website (gilhodges.com) implies that Hodges entered the majors as a third baseman. Why was Jackie Robinson at first at first (on first, first? first at first?), instead of the outfield or at his eventual position of second base? Why was Hodges, a third baseman, moved to first? I have a few ideas about first basemen that have been rattling around in my head for a while now ....

It was a different game back then. There was much less emphasis on the home run, much more emphasis on line drives, singles, grounders moving runners up, sacrifices, etc. Thus, there were not as many fly balls for speedy outfielders to run down in the deep gaps of the ballparks. However, more ground balls required better infielders at all four infield positions. Thus, Jackie Robinson was a great athlete playing first base, with the athletic skills to move to second base. When a comparable athlete was available, say, a third baseman with good reach and range like Gil Hodges, Robinson could make the move to second.

Why was Robinson not in the outfield? Think about Little League baseball. Where do the lesser-skilled players at the lower levels get stuck? Right field? Left field? Yep. At that level, with fewer fly balls leaving the infield, the need for good athletes in the infield and a good first baseman is much greater. (Well, most Little League coaches, anyway. See contrarian example, below.)

I think a lot of managers and coaches consider first base a 'throw-away' position in today's game. Put in a big guy with limited range (he only really has to move to his right, anyway), who doesn't have the speed or the arm to play the outfield, and as long as he can clobber the ball at the plate he can be an All-Star. I saw it when my lefty, natural first baseman son was a 10-year old. The coach put a fat kid at first, and put 'Cisco' behind the plate ... as a lefty! Cisco had a great year, but the fat kid never caught more than two throws from third in a row, and he had to hit the ball to the fence to get a single. Scoops for throws in the dirt to nail a runner, or moving even a couple of feet to his right to stop a slow roller, were out of the question. The same thing happened to Cisco in Senior League. I saw it when I was the JV coach and the varsity coach (my 'boss' who politely listened to my suggestions and then did what he wanted anyway) put a great lefty athlete in right field and a mediocre player at first because he could hit a little. I saw it when I was the varsity high school baseball coach, and other teams had the big guy on first.

Two MLB examples: In Chicago, Frank Thomas was expendable as a mediocre first baseman but prolonged his career as a DH. A more glaring example - David Ortiz was the focus of some anxious speculation among Boston fans last year when it was decided he would play first in the World Series. The Red Sox replaced a good-hitting, reliable first baseman (Kevin Youkilis) with a power-hitting DH who had not played first in a long, long time ... so long in fact that some journalists speculated that he would have to borrow a mitt!

And there you have my theories about Gil and Jackie, and the Modern First Base Coaching Theory Hypothesis. My theories may be all wet, but at least they were free!

[softball66]

Great plug in Cowboy! I speculated like you did on the Robinson question about his skill abilities and why not the outfield. Glover Jay Feldman found out for me from an old Dodger follower was that Robinson HAD A WEAK ARM! That's why the move to second when Gil was brought up. Gil had played catcher some though 3b seemed to be his natural position... "After his 1946 military discharge he returned to Brooklyn and saw play as a catcher in 1947, joining the team's already solid nucleus..." But I did the same sort o f reasoning that Cowboy did trying to figure that out on Robby.
Now let me pose this question and I never get clear answers on this because it's so surprising. Who led the Dodgers in home runs in 1947 and how many did they hit? This one throws everyone because they remember the power days of Hodges, Snider, Campy.
Let's play another little glove game: name the endorsers or glove brands for the starters: Campy: Wilson; Hodges, mainly Wilson; Robinson, Caprico/Dubow; Reese, Denkert; Cox?; Furillo, Dubow; Snider, Rawlings; lotsa leftfielders.

[BretMan]

From a baseball standpoint, the "weak arm" probably makes a lot of sense.

One other thing I seem to remember from the numerous Robinson documentaries and biographies is that, at least initially, he was placed at first base because there was some concern for his safety.

It was feared that if Robinson were isolated, alone out in the outfield that he would be the target of all manner of projectiles from the stands, possibly even in danger from the fans themselves.

[Thudhugger]

1947 Dodgers Home Run Kings (plural) were Jackie Robinson and PeeWee Reese both hit 12 dingers that year.

And yes I was surprised to see Reese as the long ball leader.

Thud

[robin_buckeye]

I recently watched the "Jackie Robinson Story" made in 1950 and starring Jackie himself. It stated that Jackie felt that 2nd was his natural position, but that he went to 1st because the Dodgers had a solid 2nd baseman (Stanky) but not such a good situation at 1st.