On Sunday July 24, I made the trip to Cooperstown to be part of the induction ceremony of this year’s class to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I was there to watch Gil Hodges, who I wrote about in January, be inducted posthumously. In addition to Gil, there were six other former baseball players being honored: three posthumously – Minnie Miñoso, Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neil – and three others who were present – Jim Kaat, Tony Olivia and David Ortiz aka Big Papi.
If you are a baseball fan, but have never attended the induction ceremony, it is celebration of the best baseball can offer. Fifty-thousand or so travel many miles to be part of the festivities. The huge, open field of the Clark Sports Center, located about a 15 minute walk south of the village’s Main Street, is dotted with lawn chairs, umbrellas, tents, signs, and uniforms of many teams. This year, there were plenty of flags from the Dominican Republic, the native land of Big Papi, being waved proudly from those of Dominican heritage.
The field is already crowded when I arrive at 11:30, two hours before the scheduled start time of the ceremony. I put my folding chair down on an open spot near the center but pretty far back from the stage. When I return from a quick walk to get water, I’ve been surrounded. To my left are three chairs with those seated wearing a Mets, Yankees and Red Sox jersey, respectively. I commented that this is a great mix. The Mets fan said that they have a fourth person with them, a Phillies fan, but he forgot a chair.
To their left are a large group of Dominicans. They are having an animated conservation, talking loudly, smiling and laughing, and enjoying some really big cigars, whose smell reminded me of my youth at Shea Stadium. To my right are five people who quietly sat there with a large cooler of Coronas. My only judgement on them was that they had no idea who Tommie Agee was, but I refrained from telling them to go on YouTube to watch Game 3 of the 1969 World Series.
The ceremony gets underway on time with the usual welcome to Cooperstown by Jane Forbes Clark, Chair of the Hall of Fame and introduction of today’s master of ceremonies, Brian Kenny from the MLB Network. He noted that due to bad storms forecast for later in the afternoon, some usual features, like video montages for each for the inductees shown on the huge screen and across the live televised feed, would be omitted to get the crowd out of there before the thunderstorms arrived. It was greatly appreciated; the ceremony still lasted three hours. And it was a good call; the ceremony was over at 4:30pm and Cooperstown was drenched by 5:15pm. Then comes what can only be described as a living “Field of Dreams” moment. The previously-inducted Hall of Famers are introduced one by one – a who’s who of those that were the best in the game. As noted in the introductions, only 1% of ballplayers are selected to the Hall of Fame. It’s a surreal experience seeing all these greats in one place. Included in that group was Sandy Koufax, inducted in 1972 and the oldest Hall of Famer attending at 86 years old. He started the first major league game I attended against the Mets in 1966 and I was glad I returned to my house before leaving to grab some extra tissues.
Now it’s time for the newest honorees or those representing them to be introduced followed by the plaque presentation ceremony and a speech by the inductee or those selected to speak on his behalf. Former pitcher Jim Kaat thanked his catchers over his twenty-five year career; several were in attendance. Tony Oliva thanked his adopted city of Minneapolis where he met his wife despite he not knowing any English and she no Spanish. Minnie Minoso’s wife talked about her late husband’s enduring love of baseball and the organizations who supported him. Hall of Famer Dave Winfield spoke about Bud Fowler, whose life I knew little of. As an African-American born in Fort Plain, New York and raised in Cooperstown, Bud played professional baseball in the late 1800s, going from team to team before owners established a “gentleman’s agreement” that only white ball players should have that privilege. Buck O’Neil’s niece, Dr. Angela Terry, thanked the selection committee for its broad interpretation of selection criteria to include the totality of contributions to the game, not just statistics and mentioned his favorite phrase “man oh man, nothing could be better.” Today’s marque inductee was Big Papi, the larger than life ballplayer who helped the Boston Red Sox end their long World Series championship drought in 2004, then helped contributed to two more World Series titles in 2007 and 2013. He spoke glowingly about the island nation he grew up, encouraged those present and watching to visit the island and its pristine sandy beaches, and thanked his Boston teammates, many of whom were in attendance.
In the middle of these speeches was Irene Hodges, Gil’s daughter. She spoke of her humble father who would have been proud to be there. He loved baseball, but didn’t get to play it right away; after his major league debut for the Dodgers in 1943, he enlisted in the Marines, and saw combat in Okinawa, earning a bronze star. While there, he showed the native children the game of baseball. Irene spoke of her father’s character, never any pretense or thought he was better than anyone. During the 1950s, he was the premiere first baseman, with the most home runs, runs batted in, hits and games played. He always wanted to win, but as Irene said, never to the point of putting himself above anyone else. “Never lie” was his credo according to Irene; you should look into a mirror and respect the person you see. He demonstrated this ethic with his Dodger teammates, with his players while managing, and with his family. He was part of the Brooklyn community. She noted that, while managing, some players feared him. Some complained about his managerial style of platooning players. But they all respected him. Four of those players from the world championship 1969 Mets were there, as well as the widow of the aforementioned Tommie Agee and the late Tom Seaver’s daughter Sarah. At Seaver’s induction 30 years earlier – my first induction ceremony – Seaver closed his speech tearfully noting his two greatest regrets where that neither his late mother or Gil Hodges were there.
Irene noted that he was a supporter of teammate Jackie Robinson and shared this story; one I had not heard. One game, the opposing dugout was “heckling” Jackie, but I assume it was much more than heckling. Gil, a quiet but imposing figure at six foot one, had had enough. He walked over to the opposing dugout and said “if anyone else has anything to say, come out right now and we’ll settle it.” No one came out or said anything. This powerful moment might be the reason Jackie wept at Gil’s funeral in April 1972, saying that next to his own son, it was the worst day of his life. Jackie passed away several months later.
When the ceremony was over, I gathered my belongings and walked back to town, along with most of the gathered who decided not to wait for shuttle buses. On the way back, someone on his Victorian front porch was giving away beer to passersby. While tempted, I opted for the free bottles of water the kids across the street were giving away in exchange for a donation to a children’s hospital. Refreshed, I saw someone ahead of me with a Hodges jersey so I struck up a conversation. He had flown up from Virginia to be there. A native Brooklynite, he saw Gil play when he was a kid and promised that he would never step foot in Cooperstown until Gil was in the Hall of Fame. He made good on his promise.
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Author: Greg Pattenaude
