Gil Hodges elected into Baseball Hall of Fame

Nearly 60 years after his playing career ended, Gil Hodges has been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

On Sunday, Major League Baseball announced that Hodges received the number of votes required from the Golden Days Era ballot. This honors players who primarily played from 1950-1969. In order to be elected, he needed 12 of 16 votes. He received exactly 12 votes. Hodges joined Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso and Tony Oliva as selections by the committee.

“When you mention all-time greats in Dodger history, Gil Hodges is among the finest to ever don Dodger blue,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. “We are thrilled that he will finally take his place in Cooperstown alongside the games greats and look forward to honoring him next year.”

Hodges first appeared on the ballot in 1969, and spent a full 15 years on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot. He got up to 50 percent by his third year on the ballot (1971), and reached 60.1 percent in his eighth year (1976), but the highest he ever reached was 63.4 percent in 1983, which was his final year on the ballot.

Hodges has gotten close in recent years, as in 2011 he received nine votes on the Golden Days Era ballot. In 2014, Hodges received less than three votes.

Many have been campaigning for Hodges to be elected into the Hall of Fame, including Vin Scully.

In order to have your number retired by the Dodgers, a player needs to be in the Hall of Fame. Well, with Hodges now officially in, hopefully we’ll see the Dodgers retire his No. 14 in 2022.

Here’s where Hodges ranks in Dodgers history:

• 361 home runs (2nd)
• 1,254 RBI (2nd)
• 3,357 total bases (3rd)
• 2,006 games (4th)
• 1,088 runs (5th)
• 43.3 bWAR (7th)
• 1,884 hits (9th)