Mets and Brooklyn Dodgers legend Gil Hodges elected to Hall of Fame

Time to rejoice in the streets of Brooklyn, in all the spots where they still pine for the Dodgers and worship the fabled Boys of Summer. Time, too, to celebrate in Queens, where a former Marine once helped author a baseball miracle. And folks in Southern Indiana may raise a toast, applauding the son of a local coal miner who grew into an unforgettable man.

Heck, anyone anywhere who appreciates diamond talent, brains, and character should enjoy this. Today’s game may be frozen in a lockout, but here’s something to warm your baseball heart: Gil Hodges, a beloved star from the game’s good old days, has made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Finally.

Hodges, the brawny first baseman with a quiet demeanor and staggering strength, got 12 of 16 votes from the Golden Days Era Committee on Sunday, enough to add him to the Cooperstown roll that already includes famous Dodgers teammates such as Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Duke Snider.

It’s been a long journey to Cooperstown for Hodges, who spent 15 fruitless years on the ballot of the Baseball Writers Association of America, though he came closer without getting elected than any player not currently under consideration by the BBWAA. He was also considered multiple other times by different Veterans Committees before gaining election.

On this ballot, Hodges faced tremendous competition from worthy candidates such as Dick Allen, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Minnie Minoso, and Roger Maris.

Critics of Hodges have long noted that some of his playing numbers might be sub-Hall standard -- he never led the National League in a major category other than games played, for instance. And while he gets props as a manager for winning the World Series with the 1969 Miracle Mets, he had only three above-.500 seasons in nine years piloting the Washington Senators and Mets.

But Hodges’ candidacy has always been rooted in the sum of the man and everything he did in baseball, in life, ultimately added up to a plaque. He was a brilliant defensive first baseman who won three Gold Gloves and was known for his enormous, yet soft, hands. He hit 370 career home runs and had seven seasons with at least 100 RBI.

He may not have won a home run title, but only one man hit more homers and drove in more runs through the 1950s than Hodges -- his teammate, Snider. Hodges was a vital component of seven pennant-winning teams, including the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, when “Next Year” finally happened, and the Dodgers’ first title in Los Angeles, in 1959. On Aug. 31, 1950, Hodges became just the seventh player to hit four homers in a single game.

As any living member of the ‘69 Mets will tell you, Hodges was a canny tactician with a quick mind adept for anything from clubhouse cribbage games with Rube Walker to baseball’s inner game. Hodges devised a platoon system that season that helped a pitching-rich club blaze past the Chicago Cubs, dump Hank Aaron and the Atlanta Braves in the first-ever National League Championship Series, and stun the powerful Baltimore Orioles in a five-game World Series most thought would be lopsided the other way.

For years, the men who played for Hodges in that magical summer have wondered how many more times they would’ve sprayed Champagne on each other in the Shea Stadium clubhouse had Hodges not died suddenly of a heart attack in 1972 at just 47 years old.

Hodges’ playing career and managing career added up to an accomplished time in the game. To those who knew him, though, the Hall-of-Fame maker is Hodges’ character. If there were a metric for integrity, he’d probably be among baseball’s all-time leaders in that category.

A decorated Marine, he lost more than two full seasons of baseball to World War II. He earned a Bronze Star in the Battle of Okinawa. A devout Catholic, he never swore, wouldn’t snap at umpires, and kept much of his war experiences to himself, even when it came to family.

And Hodges was there for Robinson as Robinson faced ongoing racism after breaking baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Hodges was a source of support for Jackie Robinson, squashing on-field attempts by racist opponents to get at Robinson, or providing longtime friendship.

Robinson once called Hodges “the heart and soul of the Brooklyn Dodgers” and famously told Gil Hodges, Jr. that the day of his old teammate’s funeral was, next to when Robinson’s own son died, the worst day of his life.

In an era when wretches -- and worse -- populate the BBWAA ballot every year, it’s refreshing that Hodges is going in as part of the Class of 2022. Cooperstown just became a better place.

So celebrate, whether you’re from Brooklyn, like Hodges’ widow, Joan, who is 95 and still lives there, or Flushing, or Indiana. Or anywhere else, too. It’s a great day for anyone who loves baseball.

Gil Hodges is in the Hall of Fame. Finally.