Seventy-one years ago, today, the hearts of my mother and of every Brooklyn Dodgers fan were broken by Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants. Thomson hit the pennant-winning home run off of Brooklyn's Ralph Branca, winning the 1951 National League title for the Giants and a date with the Yankees in the World Series. Spoiler alert: the Giants won the pennant (just ask Russ Hodges) but the Bombers won the Series.
Sixty-four months ago, today, my heart broke. Ten days shy of her eighty-ninth birthday, my all-time favorite Brooklyn Dodgers fan died. Earlier this year, when it was announced that Gil Hodges was finally being enshrined in the Baseball Hall-of-Fame, I thought of Mom and I smiled. On September 17, 2022, Joan Hodges, Gil Hodges' widow, died. Joan Hodges was ten days shy of her ninety-sixth birthday.
While I have never met any of the three Hodges' children and likely never shall, I feel as if I have a keen appreciation for how each of them feels - today and every day. They miss the hell out of a woman each was lucky to call "Mom".
I am in touch with that emotion.
-AK
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