On April 2, 1972, New York Mets manager Gil Hodges collapses just minutes after completing a round of golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, and dies of a heart attack. The popular Hodges dies just two days before his 48th birthday. Hodges had guided the Mets to their “miraculous” World Series championship in 1969.
In a surprise move, the Mets’ Tommie Agee steals home with the bases loaded in the 10th to give the Mets a 2 – 1 win over the visiting Dodgers. Agee bunts and reaches base on an error, steals second base with two outs and goes to third on the throw. After two walks he takes home to pin the loss on Jim Brewer.
1969 – The New York Mets win their fourth straight game from the Baltimore Orioles with a 5 – 3 triumph behind pitcher Jerry Koosman, who throws a five-hitter, to take the World Series in five games. In the 3rd inning, Baltimore takes a 3 – 0 advantage after home runs by pitcher Dave McNally and outfielder Frank Robinson. After a strong argument by Mets manager Gil Hodges in the bottom of the 6th inning, Cleon Jones is awarded first base when shoe polish on the ball proves he was hit by a pitch, and Jones scores on a home run by Donn Clendenon. An inning later, Al Weis ties the game, 3 – 3, with a solo home run, and in the 8th, Ron Swoboda’s double and two Baltimore errors give New York two more runs and the World Championship. Clendenon is named Series MVP.
Exactly one year after their manager suffered a heart attack in the dugout during a game against Atlanta, the Mets give Gil Hodges a reason to breathe a bit easier when the team clinches a tie for the NL East flag by beating the Cardinals, 3-2, on an 11th inning walk-off single stroked by Bud Harrelson off Bob Gibson. Prior to the Shea Stadium victory, Linton H. Bishop, Jr., the skipper’s cardiologist, had sent him a telegram that read, “Happy to see you’re No. 1. Hope your team does as well as your heart.”
1969 – Denis Menke and Jim Wynn launch grand slams in the same inning as the Astros crush the Mets, 16-3 and 11-5 in a twinbill at Shea Stadium . The double slam was the first National League occurance in 79 years. So hot were Houston’s bats that Larry Dierker took Nolan Ryan deep in the nightcap and Fred Gladding broke an oh-for-the-decade slump with a bloop single for the only hit in his career.
Mets manager Gil Hodges, during a game against the Braves in Atlanta, suffers a mild heart attack. The New York skipper, who will die of a massive coronary in 1972, is hospitalized until October 20, when doctors give him a clean bill of health, but warned him about the continued risks of stress and smoking.
Bat Day at Candlestick Park is postponed when the Mets refuse to play their scheduled game in San Francisco, out of respect for recently assassinated New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, whose funeral is being held today. Prompted by baseball commissioner William Eckert’s edict to cancel games only taking place in New York and Washington, the team, led by first baseman Ed Kranepool, had voted to take this action, even under the threat of forfeiting the contest, a decision that is fully supported by manager Gil Hodges and the organization.
The Mets complete the deal that brings Senator skipper Gil Hodges (321-444, .420), who still had a year left on his contract with Washington, to New York to become the team’s fourth manager in the brief history of the five year-old franchise. The Amazins’ obtain the beloved former Dodger and original Met by sending 21 year-old right-hander Bill Denehy and $100,000 in reparations to nation’s capital.
Gil Hodges, with a year remaining on his contract to manage Washington, inks a three-year deal to become the Mets skipper, ending the speculation Yogi Berra, now a coach with the team, would be offered the job to replaced the recently-resigned Wes Westrum. New York agrees to pay significant reparations to the Senators and to send a player from the 40-man roster to Washington to get the fan-favorite former Dodger.
Wes Westrum (57-94) resigns as manager of the Mets following a 4 – 3 loss to the Dodgers. Coach Salty Parker takes over and will be 4-7 for the rest of the season. Two days later the board of directors announces it will try to obtain Gil Hodges as manager.
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