Why Hodges is Hodges….

One of the most frequent questions we at THP get is….who is Hodges?

The short version is when Josh and I were discussing starting the business eight years ago, we didn’t want it to call it something funky like “Buzz PR” and since his last name is Dare, we didn’t think a PR firm with the word “dare” in it was appropriate.

So we searched for some common ground in our lives and found it in the 1969 Mets.  Both products of the northeast, we both followed the Miracle Mets as kids (me being MUCH younger than him).  And after quickly ruling out names that included Cleon, Agee and Shamsky, we settled on naming the company after the team’s manager, Gil Hodges.

A rock solid player for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 50’s and later an original Mets player in 1962.  Mr. Hodges later managed the Washington Senators and as manager led the Mets to the World Series upset of all time beating the Baltimore Orioles in five games in 69.

Hodges is known for his quiet yet powerful demeanor and his ability to lead by example, great attributes for a company we thought at the time and we still think today.

The pictures in this post are from our Twitter friend @mikevooss, who sent them to us this morning after visiting the new Mets Hall of Fame at CitiField last night.  The first is of Hodges’ Mets uniform, the second is of Hodges’ original players contract in 1962.  Thanks Mike so much for these pics.

An aside, we think that Mr. Hodges deserves appointment to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and hope one day the Veterans Committee comes to its senses and votes him that honor.

You also now know why our phone number ends with the digits “1414.”