In Jan-Feb, the 18 men who make up the Veterans Committee will assemble their yearly review of former players now waiting, off-stage, for an invitation to become part of baseball's Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame has provided the Veteran's Committee with six specific criteria to be considered when evaluating a player for induction at Cooperstown. In no particular order, since no Hall of Fame rule establishes one to be any more of less important than the others, they are:

• Record
• Ability
• Character
• Sportsmanship
• Integrity
• Contribution to the Game

The issue here isn't Gil Hodges deserving a spot in the Hall of Fame. The underlying issue has a much to do with the values that those players, now representing baseball at Cooperstown, possess. Youngsters take the statistics on baseball cards as the sole measurement of a player's value to the game because adults spend too much time counting home runs and too little time considering the character of those who produce these hits. The game is more than just numbers. Baseball is humanity in uniform. It is impossible to open a book that documents the history of baseball and not find Hodges. He was one of the "Boys of Summer." He was a vital part of that great team of the late 1940's and 1950's, a team that included Hall of Fame players Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and Pee Wee Reese in its lineup. And while each of these men has said Hodges was every bit as valuable as any of his teammates, he remains, 22 years after his death, excluded from the Hall of Fame. How is it possible Hodges could be overlooked for so long? Admired as an athlete, respected as a manager and , most important, loved as a man, perhaps he has been overlooked because, early in his career, he made the decision to rely solely on his skills with the bat and glove, and his demeanor as a human being, to speak for all that he did, and all that he was.

The fact that so many of us, fans who continue to love his memory, are still championing for his ultimate place in the recorded history of baseball is an indication of how deep, and everlasting, one's loyalty to such a man can be. The history, tradition and folklore of baseball in America has been enriched because Gil Hodges once stood at first base in a small stadium in Brooklyn. Yet his beloved No. 14 has yet to be called to take its rightful place alongside the other " Boys of Summer" who have already been enshrined. The Hall of Fame can stand for another thousand years and invite another thousand men to join the ranks of baseball's best. But until Hodges is included, Cooperstown will never be complete. Hodges enshrinement will ensure that his memory will live for future generations of baseball fans to learn about. The face of baseball has changed forever. Today's professional athletes play the game, and sign the autographs, for an entirely different reason than Gil did. It has been more than 20 years since Arthur Daley wrote, just two days after Hodges' death, that Gil " lent class and dignity and respect to his team and to his profession."