#Amazing September 21

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This month the #Coach4adayChallenge for September is to profile a biography of someone. Today will focus on a leader who became the leader of a team that was called AMAZING.

Some pretty AMAZING things happened in 1969 including man’s first walk on the moon. Yet in the world of Major League Baseball the NY Mets became known as the AMAZING Mets and their manager was Gil Hodges. He died at the age of 47 after playing 27 holes of golf at Palm Beach Lakes golf course.

Gil Hodges and the AMAZING NY Mets

Gil Hodges was an Indiana-born kid who began his MLB career in 1943 with one game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He didn’t play another until 1947 when he returned from military service during WWII.

During those missing MLB seasons, Hodges was an anti-aircraft gunner who fought at the battles of Tinian and Okinawa. He received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V” for his heroism under fire.

When he came back to baseball in 1947 with the Dodgers he was a teammate of Jackie Robinson in his first year. From 1949 to 1955 Gil Hodges was an all-star performer. In 1955, Hodges won his first World Series when the Dodgers took down the New York Yankees. In 1959, now playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he won another. This time, it was the Chicago White Sox who fell victim to his club.

The roster of the expansion NY Mets in 1962 included a lot of veteran players who were on the back side of their playing careers including Gil Hodges. He played with the Mets in 62 and 63. In 1963 he stopped playing and became the manager of the Washington Senators. In 1968 he became the manager of the NY Mets.

The Mets were a dismal baseball team until Hodges arrival. In his first year they won 73 games a franchise record and then in 1969 they had an AMAZING season going 100-62.

Here is a YouTube Video on how that AMAZING season ended with the Mets winning the 1969 World Series.