Vin Scully: My thoughts on Gil Hodges

LA Dodgers' website ^ | November 29th, 2021 | Vin Scully

[Hebrews 11:6]

When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, the Hodges family settled in a house two blocks from me in east Long Beach. Been a fan ever since.

[ifinnegan]

That’s cool.

Where’s east Long Beach?

[ought-six]

I grew up in L.A. in the 1950s, and I remember the Dodgers coming to L.A. from N.Y. I saw a few Dodgers games when they played at the Coliseum (for old guys like me, do you remember the high left field screen/fence?). Those were great times: Gil Hodges; Sandy Koufax; Duke Snider; Don Demeter; Wally Moon; Ron Fairly; Charlie Neal; just to name a few.

[Robert DeLong]

Interesting story. Thanks for posting. 🙂

[ComputerGuy]

He hit four home runs in a single game in 1950.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Carson St. @ Woodruff Av., 25 miles SE of downtown LA.

[nickcarraway]

The Dodgers manager was taking a great risk letting his players meet with General MacArthur. Could lead to insubordination.

[Hebrews 11:6]

257’ down the left-field line, 440’ to right-center. The first time Willie Mays saw that, he exclaimed, “What did they do to you, Duke?”

[Hebrews 11:6]

The only Dodger to do so until Shawn Green.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Old Dodgers never die, they....

[ifinnegan]

Thanks. Near the great LGB airport. I didn’t know people referred to east Long Beach.

[rockinqsranch]

Back in the day it was called Belmont Heights. It’s where I grew up. Corner lot at 3rd, and Euclid. A quiet residential area just above Belmont Shore. Lots of memories. Schools were Fremont Elementary, Jefferson Jr. High, and Wilson High. Then the Army.

[4Runner]

April 18, 1950, I was just shy of two years old. Look at the scoreboard behind Gil in that photo. Schaefer Beer. Holy cow. Never knew he served as a Marine in WW II.

[Hebrews 11:6]

No one messed with Gil Hodges.

[Roccus]

Loved my Brooklyn Dodgers.

Always wanted to be on Happy Felton’s Knothole Gang...never got there.

Once they moved, they were dead to me.

As long as I cared about baseball, I never rooted for that team from LA.

[Roccus]

The “h” and the first “e” in Schaefer lit up to signal hit or error. Look close and you can see the light tubes, especially in the “h”.
There was a box on the roof behind home plate for (I believe) the PA announcer. It also had a hit/error indicator.

[chrisinoc]

Carson St. @ Woodruff Av., 25 miles SE of downtown LA.

---

My mother worked at the Vons store on that corner from 1966 to 1986.

[rexthecat]

Where’s east Long Beach?

Who's Gil Hodges?

[Hebrews 11:6]

That was our store. I walked past it twice daily going to Lakewood High, ‘63-’66.

[Exit148]

Evidently he once had been looking at a home in my little town in NJ, but passed it up. I rarely go by that house without thinking of him.