Russ Hodges was born in Dayton, TN. He suffered a broken ankle while on the football team at the University of Tennessee, became a spotter for radio broadcasts while recuperating, and was smitten. Though he went on to complete a law degree at the University of Cincinnati, he never practiced law.
His radio career began across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, in Covington, KY. Hodges spun records and did sports play-by-play, mostly re-creating distant games relayed via teletype.
In 1942, Hodges landed a job on the Washington Senators radio broadcasts and in 1946, moved to New York to join Mel Allen on Yankees radio coverage.
1951 was the year that cemented Russ Hodges in baseball history. At the microphone for New York Giants flagship station WMCA, Hodges made the call of Bobby Thomson’s home run that ended the National League playoff series with the Dodgers: “Branca throws. There’s a long drive! It’s going to be, I believe . . . The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”
Seven years later, the Giants vacated New York, helping bring Major League baseball to the West Coast. Hodges traded the Polo Grounds for Seals Stadium and was teamed with Lon Simmons to form a KSFO broadcast team that helped cement the Bay Area’s new big-league franchise in the public consciousness. Hodges’ signature home run call, “Bye-bye, baby!” became an enduring part of Giants lore.
Hodge would team with Simmons for several seasons of San Francisco 49ers football broadcasts and also was heard for years on nationwide boxing broadcasts, including the epic Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston heavyweight title bout in 1964.
In 1980, Hodges was posthumously given the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, five years after being inducted into the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame.
Russ Hodges died in 1971 at age 60.
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