You see, we had the box of the Jell-O and there on the bottom of the box we had the ballplayers and the frazzle snazzle and the bleeble blabble...
OK, OK, I'll turn off the Cosbyizer.
Continuing the theme of Gil Hodges in snack form, this is a 1963 Jell-O card.
The picture on the front is one of the best I've ever seen of Gil as a Mets' player, and the text makes plain why it's a travesty that he is not in the Hall of Fame. To wit:
“Gil holds two NL records-- for most HRs by a right-handed batter (370) and for most grand slams (14). He is tied for most consecutive seasons (11) with 20 or more HRs... In 1957 he received the Gold Glove Award as outstanding major league fielder at 1B and the NL Gold Glove Award for 1st baseman in 1958-59.”
So power hitting at then-historical levels, fielding prowess, not to mention a leadership role on the 1955 Dodgers club that beat the Yankees is not enough to garner more than 63.4% of the vote? I mean, Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez rate, but not Gil?
Even this card ends up giving Gil the business. Right there at the bottom of the text box is a small line that reads as follows:
“Note: Gil had no Grand Slams in 1962.”
What the what? Who in the wide world of sports thought it was necessary to insert this little finger-wagging nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah of a note to this card?
Was it you, Trebek?
