One of the reasons that we started the Gil Hodges "Unforgettable Fire" Award was created by the QBC Braintrust and Greg Prince from Fear and Faith In Flushing is because of this travesty of Gil not being put in the Hall of Fame. If you heard about any of the players who had played for Gil talk about him, you would think he was a no brainer being put into the hall. So we at the QBC want to pay homage to him year in and year out with our Unforgettable Fire Award.
From The NY Daily News
Ed Kranepool and Art Shamsky, teammates on the Miracle Mets team that went from laughingstocks to world champions in 1969, are also teammates on this: Gil Hodges, who managed that team to a 100-win regular season and a 7-1 postseason, belongs in Cooperstown.
“I think he should definitely be in the Hall of Fame," said Shamsky. “He was a terrific ballplayer and a great manager, and if you put those two together, how can you keep him out?"
Hodges was on the writers ballot for the Hall of Fame for 15 years, coming closest in 1983, his final year of eligibility, but still falling 12 percentage points short of the 75% needed for election. Since 1987, his name has come up for consideration by the Veterans Committee – now called the Golden Era Committee – and came within one vote of election in 1993. But in recent years, his support has waned; in 2014, he got only 3 of the required 12 votes for election.
Read more here.
Hopefully when 2020 comes around Gil can get in. Finally. We at QBC will still keep presenting our award to the person/player who most represents the ideals that Gil Hodges embodied. This years recipient might be at the QBC in person but if they are not we do have a video acceptance from them. This person really does embody Gil's ideals.
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