Gilbert Raymond Hodges was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. An eight-time All-Star, he anchored the infield for the Dodgers through six pennant winners and two World Series titles before leading the New York Mets to their first World Series title in 1969. One of the most beloved and admired players in major league history, Hodges was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, fifty years after his sudden death.
Born in Princeton, Indiana, Hodges was the son of a coal miner. He grew up in Petersburg, Indiana where he was a four-sport athlete in high school, before attending Saint Joseph's College where he played baseball and basketball. He dropped out to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers, making his debut at age 19 before being joining the United States Marine Corps during World War II, receiving the Bronze Star Medal after serving in combat as an anti-aircraft gunner during the battles of Tinian and Okinawa in the Pacific theatre.