THE Gil Hodges Community Garden is a green spot in gritty Gowanus, at Carroll Street and Denton Place. It was founded as early as 1982, but over 30 years later in 2013 it became the first of NYC’s community gardens to incorporate bioswales, rain gardens and permeable pavers into a storm water management system that captures storm runoff and prevents toxic water from draining into the nearby Gowanus Canal, which believe me, doesn’t need any more pollution.
For 18 years, playing for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, native Indianan and first baseman Gil Hodges was the epitome of silent strength, compiling 370 home runs and over 1200 runs batted in, playing impeccable defense for a Brooklyn Dodgers team that repeatedly made the World Series but only captured the ring once, in 1955. Breaking in as a catcher in 1943, Hodges saw combat in World War II, losing two seasons to the war, but hit his stride once he switched to first base. Hodges made the All-Star team eight times, received Most Valuable Player votes nine times and was finally elected by the MLB Veterans’ Committee to the Hall of Fame in 2021, some 49 years after his death.
After his playing career ended in 1963, Hodges turned to coaching and managing, helming the Washington Senators from 1964 to 1967 and the New York Mets from 1968 until his death in April 1972 at 47, overseeing the Mets’ unlikely run to a World Series victory in 1969. Always a heavy smoker, Hodges succumbed on the golf course to a heart attack.
Hodges embraced his status as a Brooklyn transplant and maintained a residence with his family on Bedford Ave. from his Dodgers days until his death. A short stretch of Bedford Ave. between Aves. M and N in Midwood is co-named for him, as was the Marine Parkway Bridge connecting Flatbush Avenue with the Rockaway peninsula. This little-known garden may be the first of his namesakes, though.
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12/6/22
2 comments
I think you have to change your characterization of “Gritty Gowanus” as high budget apartments rise from its shores.
While Gil Hodges may have only won one World Series in Brooklyn, he DID get a ring for winning in 1959 as a Los Angeles Dodger.