The Gil Hodges Story: Honoring the ‘soul of a champion’

It took a half-century after his death for Gil Hodges to be inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Despite his eight All-Star Game appearances and three World Series victories — including managing the 1969 “Miracle Mets” to the world championship — committee votes always fell short because he had never led the league in any statistical category. But baseball’s Golden Era Committee finally saw fit to elect him to the Hall in 2021, and that year’s documentary Soul of a Champion: The Gil Hodges Story is said to have played a role in influencing that vote.
 
The 30-minute film, available on YouTube and at www.gilhodgesfilm.com, is a stirring profile of the devoutly Catholic Hodges as a player but more so as a man who earned the admiration of fans and fellow players alike. Produced by Spirit Juice Studios in collaboration with Catholic Athletes for Christ, it uses archival footage and modern-day interviews to paint a portrait highlighting his character, integrity, and leadership.

Hodges’ playing career was solid but perhaps unspectacular. Over an 18-year career mainly with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, he batted .273, hit 370 home runs, and was a reliable fielder. But he was so much more.
 
"Gil stood out as not only one of the game’s finest first basemen but also as a great American and an exemplary human being, someone who many of us were in awe of because of his spiritual strength,” legendary sportscaster Vin Scully wrote in an online essay before the 2021 Hall of Fame vote. “I often heard Dodgers players refer to Gil as a ‘saint.’”

The documentary discusses Hodges’ World War II service and his abiding friendship with teammate Jackie Robinson, the first black player in the Major Leagues, whom he defended from the racism and rejection of other players.
 
His sudden death of a heart attack in 1972 at the age of 47 was widely mourned. But his legacy stands as proof that one does not need to check one’s Catholic faith and values at the door regardless of profession.