[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 211 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S8938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Remembering Gil Hodges

  Finally, Mr. President, I close with a bit of joyful, long-awaited 
news not only for Mets fans all over the world, but for Brooklynites 
and those who have ancestry in Brooklyn that have spread across the 
country.
  Sunday night, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced that, 
after decades of waiting, Brooklyn's wonderful Gil Hodges--one of the 
great defensive first basemen of his era, a longtime member of the 
Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, and a manager of the Mets presiding 
over the ``Miracle Mets'' 1969 World Series championship--has finally, 
finally, earned his place in Cooperstown.
  Some of the earliest memories I have are listening and watching the 
Dodgers with my dad. Gil was an essential figure of that era--a hero of 
the 1955 World Series, an eight-time All-Star, three-time Golden Glove 
winner. I think he was the first to win the Golden Glove. He was such 
an amazing fielder at first base, as well as Greg Gibbons.
  And what a nice guy he was. One of the highlights of my life each 
year was to go trick-or-treating and knock on Gil Hodges' door. Who 
would come out and give us candy? The great man himself while he was a 
Brooklyn Dodger. That was an incredible, incredible situation. And so 
it shows you what a nice guy he was. He is a caring guy.
  As much as he was a titan of the game, he was a central part of our 
Brooklyn family, and we all admired the fact that he lived in Brooklyn, 
right near all of us. Year after year, from one decade to another, Mets 
fans have waited for this great player to receive Hall of Fame 
recognition. The wait is over. Gil is in that hall.
  I congratulate Mrs. Hodges and the whole Hodges family for receiving 
this honor. And I want to congratulate, of course, all the other 
inductees in the Hall of Fame, among them many history-making, barrier-
breaking athletes who have made the sport what it is today.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.