Harold Morris "Gomer" Hodge

Baseball player and coach, Hodge was born in Rutherfordton. Now deceased, he had a long career, playing in 80 Major League games with a batting average at .205 and 83 at-bats.

Hodge was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cleveland Indians. He played for the Dubuque Packers first; he later played for the Salinas Indians, Pawtucket Indians, Portland Beavers and Savannah Indians, among others. Legend has it that he got his nickname, Gomer, from a teammate on the Burlington Indians team in 1964, due to his resemblance to the actor/singer Jim Nabors who played Gomer Pyle on TV. Hodge played his last game in 1971.

He began a new baseball career in 1973 as coach for the Cleveland Indians organization, and later served as manager and coach for Milwaukee, Montreal and the Boston Red Sox before retiring in 1995.

His son, Nicholas Hodge talks about the many happy memories of his father's baseball career. When Hodge was playing for the Red Sox, Nicholas remembers going to spring training with him. They ate together, breakfast and lunch, players and coaches, working out and

practicing, laughing and working hard.

"Dad hit his one and only homerun over The Green Monster' at

Fenway Park against Roger Moret..he would always tell me," Nicholas

said.

He also remembers his father always brought a crockpot with him on the road, providing a meal of black beans and rice, bread and meat for the young players - many from the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico or Korea.

"Dad would be so proud, and I know today, he is looking down upon all of us and smiling," said Nicholas Hodge, Harold Morris 'Gomer' Hodge passed away from Lou Gehrig's Disease in 2007.