Going To Bat For Hodges

Randy Hedden, 56, is an artist who painted a 52’ mural of the late, great Mets manager and Brooklyn Dodger, Gil Hodges.

This mural is located in Petersburg, Indiana, and is located next to a law office in the small town where as a high schooler Hedden mowed grass for Hodges' mother.

Hedden hopes this mural helps to one day have Hodges enshrined in the National Baseball Hall Of Fame.

Hedden, who met Hodges after the Mets won the 1969 World Series, said, "He was a very unassuming guy. He would just walk around and blend right in."

Hedden, along with yours truly, can’t comprehend why Hodges is still not a member of the Hall. Hedden believes that Hodges, who hit 370 HR’s and was elected to 8 All Star Games, has not gotten his due because "out of sight, out of mind, and Hodges never tooted his own horn" and many of his teammates have also died.

According to the article, “Part of the mural features Hodges at bat, with people visible in the stands behind him. Several people paid $100 to have the faces of deceased family members painted into the mural.”

Many of Hodges friends have shown up to see the mural, and according to Hedden, “They got real emotional. No one's there to bat for him, but we will with this mural."

Source: Chicago Tribune - AP