Happy Birthday Gil Hodges

 Happy Birthday to the late and great Gil Hodges!

Gil Hodges Career Statistics (1943;47-63):

.273 BA, 1,921 HITS, 370 HR, 1,274 RBI, 1,105 RUNS, .359 OBP

• 8x All-Star

• 3x Silver-Slugger

• 3x Gold-Glove

Gil Hodges made the Hall of Fame on the Golden Days Era Committee last year. As a player, he was one of the better defensive First-basemen of all time and one of the better Right handed sluggers of his time. He averaged a stat line of .284-32-112-.375 for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for seven years. He won the World Series in 1955 and 1959 as a player. When his career ended, he got into Managing and guided the Amazing Mets to their first World Series championship in 1969. Unfortunately, a couple of years later, he was taken at 47.

While it took nearly 50 years after his death to finally get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Gil Hodges was always and still is celebrated in baseball, including the Dodger and Met organizations. He will forever be remembered as one of the great pieces of those Dodger teams in the 1950s and as a guy who transitioned from a winning player into a winning manager. 

Written & Published by Robert Dobek

Follow on Twitter @RobTheYankee

References:

1. Gil Hodges' Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hodgegi01.shtml

Happy Birthday Don Sutton!

   Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Fame Starting Pitcher Don Sutton. Most of his career took place with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he started and finished his career. He also pitched for the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels.

Career Statistics & Accolades (1966-1988):

324-256 W-L, 3.26 ERA, 3,574 SO, 5,282.1 IP, 1.142 WHIP (756 Starts)

• 4x All-Star

• 1980 MLB ERA Leader

• Led league in WHIP three times

Sutton pitched in four All-Star games, leading the league in WHIP four times, and led the MLB in ERA in 1980 at 35. While he was never considered flashy or ever had that one standout season. It's worth knowing that he was going up with guys like Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer, Nolan Ryan, and other pitchers that blew him away in his career. While he was never considered the best pitcher of his time, that doesn't take anything away from the great career he had. In his twenty-three-year career, he threw for over 200 Innings in twenty of those years. Early in his career, he heavily relied on his fastball and curve, but as his career wore on, he developed a solid Slider, Screwball, and Changeup. With those pitches, he carved out a career that resulted in over 300 Wins and 3,000 Strikeouts—a lifetime 3.26 ERA and a 1.142 WHIP throughout 5,582.1 Innings Pitched and 756 Starts, which earned him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In retirement, he spent some years as a successful broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves.

Written & Published by: Robert Dobek

Follow on Twitter: @RobTheYankee

References:

1. Don Sutton Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suttodo01.shtml

2. Wolf, Gregory H. Don Sutton via SABR: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/don-sutton/