Gil Hodges - Death and Impact

Death and Impact

On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, Hodges was in West Palm Beach, Florida completing a round of golf with Mets coaches Joe Pignatano, Rube Walker and Eddie Yost when he collapsed en route to his motel room at the Ramada Inn. Hodges had suffered a sudden heart attack and was rushed to the Good Samaritan Hospital where he died within 20 minutes of arrival. Pignatano later recalled Hodges falling backwards and hitting his head on the sidewalk with a "sickening knock", bleeding profusely and turning blue. Pignatano said "I put my hand under Gil's head, but before you knew it, the blood stopped. I knew he was dead. He died in my arms." A lifelong chain smoker, Hodges had suffered a minor heart attack during a September 1968 game.

The baseball community was shocked and devastated at the sudden loss of one of baseball's most beloved players. A symbol of Brooklyn, many former teammates were grieved at the loss of Hodges. Jackie Robinson—himself ill with heart disease and diabetes—told the Associated Press, "He was the core of the Brooklyn Dodgers. With this, and what's happend to Campy (Roy Campanella) and lot of other guys we played with, it scares you. I've been somewhat shocked by it all. I have tremendous feelings for Gil's family and kids." Robinson himself died of a heart attack approximately six months later on October 24, 1972 at age 53.

Duke Snider said "Gil was a great player, but an even greater man." "I'm sick", said Johnny Podres. "I've never known a finer man." A crushed Carl Erskine said "Gil's death is like a bolt out of the blue." Don Drysdale, who himself died of a sudden heart attack in 1993 at age 56, wrote in his autobiography that Hodges' death "absolutely shattered me. I just flew apart. I didn't leave my apartment in Texas for three days. I didn't want to see anybody. I couldn't get myself to go to the funeral. It was like I'd lost a part of my family."

The wake was held at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in the Midwood section of Brooklyn on April 4, what would have been Hodges' 48th birthday. It was later estimated that approximately 10,000 mourners had attended.

Television broadcaster Howard Cosell was one of the many attendees at the wake. According to Gil Hodges, Jr., Cosell brought him into the backseat of car, where Jackie Robinson had been crying hysterically. Cosell then held Hodges, Jr., and said, "Next to my son's death, this is the worst day of my life."

Yogi Berra succeeded him as manager, having been promoted on the day of the funeral. The American flag flew at half-staff on opening day at Shea Stadium, while the Mets wore black armbands on their left arms during the entire 1972 season in honor of Hodges. The following year, on June 9, 1973, the Mets honored Hodges by retiring his uniform number 14.

Hodges was survived by his wife Joan Lombardi, whom he had married on December 26, 1948, and his son and three daughters. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.