If Your Birthday is April 4th…

 
...you share it with Ronny Mauricio.  Long touted as the Mets most talented infield prospect, he made his MLB debut in 2023, but has been sidelined since the winter of 2024 by a serious knee injury.  Tall and lanky, he impressed with 20 or more home runs in '21, '22 and '23 -- adding 20 more stolen bases his last two years.  Said to be within a month of returning to minor league action, he could provide a boost to the Mets later this year, or help bring back pitching depth in a possible trade.

Mauricio shares his birthday with one of the most revered names in Mets franchise history:

Gil Hodges, beloved 1st baseman of the Dodgers "Boys of Summer, who made the borough his home -- even after the franchise moved to LA -- then helped re-launch National League ball with the original 1962 Mets.  He hit the expansion franchise's first home run -- one of the 369 in his Cooperstown-bound career.  A no-nonsense ex-Marine, he retired to become manager of the then-struggling Washington Senators; impressive work in DC led to his taking over the Mets in 1968.  A year later, he helped transform baseball's onetime lovable losers into World Series champions and kept the Mets contenders the next two seasons.  

Gil's sudden death on April 2nd, 1972 remains one of the saddest days in franchise history.  This pair of photos shows how the Mets pay tribute to him at their Florida home in Port Saint Lucie. with a biographical plaque and his retired number mounted on a soaring palm tree.


 

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