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Bob Saverine

Knowing the pre-Miracle Met Gil Hodges

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The man known as “Rabbit”
kept same smooth sig.
Every letter is legible!

Leading the 1969 New York “Miracle” Mets to a World Series crown wasn’t the first time manager Gil Hodges made dreams come true. With the Senators, Bob Saverine was one of those players he believed in.

What did Saverine remember about the man who gave him the chance to post career numbers?

“Gil gave me many opportunities to play, something that my other managers did not do. He was an intense person, wanting only to win games. He was a fine gentleman and a great manager. He had a great mind for baseball and its percentages.”

Oriole Bob Saverine Studied For First HR

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Bob Saverine might be one of baseball’s most patient names of the 1960s.

Although he debuted with the 1959 Orioles at age 18, he’d wait a full four years before his first baseball card appearance.

He waited a year for another crack at sidewinding reliever Ted Abernathy. The patience paid off in a first career home run on June 19, 1963. Saverine explained in a thoughtful letter:

“I had faced Ted Abernathy in triple-A the year before. I learned to watch his knee when he delivered a pitch as the knee would turn aside and the ball would follow.

I saw the pitch well and it did not curve as it ordinarily would. thus I hit it for a home run.”

Tomorrow: Saverine pays tribute to manager Gil Hodges.