A Comparison Between Hall of Famer Ron Santo and Gil Hodges

Ron Santo played third base for 15 seasons, most of them with the Chicago Cubs. Gil Hodges played first base for 15 full seasons, most of them with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Santo batted .277 with a .362 on-base average, a .464 slugging average and 342 home runs

Hodges batted .273 with a .359 on-base average, a .487 slugging average and 370 home runs.

Santo hit at least 30 home runs in a season four times, with a high of 33 in 1965.

Hodges hit at least 40 home runs in a season twice, with a high of 42 in 1954. He hit at least 30 home runs four other times.

Santo averaged 25 home runs and 96 RBI over a 162-game season while Hodges averaged 29 home runs and 100 RBI over a 162-game season.

Santo's best season was probably 1964, when he batted .313/398/.564 with 30 home runs and 114 RBI. In 1954, Hodges hit .304/.374/.579 with 42 home runs and 130 RBI.

Ron Santo was a solid defensive third baseman. Gil Hodges was arguably the greatest right-handed defensive first baseman in baseball history, with three straight gold gloves from 1957 to 1959.

Hodges was an integral part of pennant winners in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1959.  The latter two seasons he was a world champion.

Santo never played for a pennant winner.

Both players were members of teams that collapsed on the way to the pennant (or in Santo's case, division title).

The 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers had a 13.5-game lead on Aug. 13. The New York Giants won the pennant.

The 1969 Chicago Cubs held a 9.5-game lead over the New York Mets, managed by Hodges, on Aug. 9, 1969. Everyone knows how that turned out.

Hodges' managing career is a major factor. He led the Mets, a team that had finished ninth in 1968, 24 games behind the pennant winning St. Louis Cardinals, to one of the greatest miracles in history.

Ron Santo was a fine broadcaster.