When Gil Hodges retired from playing in May 1963, he was third all time in home runs by a right handed hitter, behind only Jimmie Foxx and Willie Mays, who only passed Hodges in April 1963! Hodges creamed 370 home runs, with two seasons of 40+, and had seven straight seasons of 100+ RBIs form 1949 to 1955. Any coincidence these were the peak Brooklyn Dodgers seasons? So why isn’t Gil Hodges in the Hall of Fame? We can only wonder. Since Hodges passed away in 1972 (while manager of the New York Mets), single signed baseball examples are very difficult to locate. This creamy-toned “Wilson Official Little League” baseball has been signed “To Ray Best Wishes Gil Hodges” in blue ball point pen on the south panel. A light scrape affects the word “Wishes” and the ball has light scrapes on another side panel. This baseball comes with a full LOA from JSA (Y29846).

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