Mike Bruhert: Gil Hodges Son-In-Law & Former Fordham U Pitching Coach (1978)

Michael Edward Bruhert was born June 24, 1951, in Jamaica Queens, New York. He grew up south of the Long Island railroad and those who knew him said he was one of the nicest guys around. 

The tall 6’ 6’ right-handed pitcher was originally drafted by the hometown New York Mets, in their pitching rich days of 1971.  

Marriage to Gil Hodges Daughter: The local New York boy, would soon start to date Mets manager Gil Hodges' daughter, Irene Hodges. Mike & Irene soon got married & Mike entered the Hodges family.

After the untimely death of Gil Hodges, Bruhert was drafted away by the Philadelphia Phillies in December 1972. But in 1973 he was returned back to the Mets for an earlier pick.

Buhert was both a starter & reliever in the minor leagues, spending a total of 12 seasons there. He went 11-9 with a 4.10 ERA, at AAA Tidewater in 1977, good enough in those days, to get him a spot on the 1978 Mets staff.

Mets Career:  On April 9th, Bruhert made his MLB debut in the fourth game of the 1978 season, starting the second game of a double header at Shea Stadium. He pitched well allowing three runs over six innings, but his team was shut out by Montreal’s Ross Grimsley 5-0. 

On April 18th, Bruhert got his first career win beating the Cardinals 3-2 in St. Louis allowing one run in six innings of work. 

On May 7th he pitched seven innings at Cincinnati allowing just two runs on two hits but got no decision.  The Mets would go on to win the game later on a 9th inning John Stearns RBI single. 

On April 25th he gave up two runs to the Pirates, but just one earned run due to a Mets throwing error. Don Robinson held the Mets to a run & Bruhert took a 2-1 loss. He then took two no decisions including a seven inning one performance over the Big Red Machine at Cincinnati. At this point his ERA was just 1.82.

In his next five starts he gave up four runs or more, losing three straight decisions. On June 21st he took a heart breaking 2-1 loss to Steve Rogers & the Expos, where another unearned run was the difference. On July 20th, he earned a win in the first game of a double header with the Astros at Shea, as the Mets put up seven runs.

Bruhert made four relief appearances before getting put back in the rotation in August.

In September Bruhert ended up losing five of six decisions in the month allowing 19 runs in 35 innings of work. On September 17th he pitched his best game of the year, a complete game four hit shutout, over the NL Eastern Champion Phillies at Veterans Stadium. 

1978 would be Mike Bruhert's only season in the major leagues. He went 4-11 with a 4.78 ERA. He had 56 strike outs with 34 walks in 133 innings pitched in 27 appearances (22 starts). He allowed 71 earned runs on 171 hits. 

In 27 outings allowed at least one earned run in 25 of them.

At the end of the season, he was sent to the Texas Rangers along with Bob Myrick, for veteran pitcher Doc Ellis who would go 3-7 for the 1979 Mets. 

Minor League Career: Bruhert never cracked the Rangers staff & pitched in the minor leagues through 1982. In his 12-year minor league career, Bruhert posted a lifetime 62-73 record with a 4.00 ERA, collecting 445 strike outs in 1163 innings pitched over 278 games.

Retirement: After his playing days, Bruhert was the long-time pitching coach at Fordham University in the 1980’s & 1990’s. There he coached two future MLB pitchers, the Mets Pete Harnisch & Miguel Jimenez.

Bruhert coached Pete Harnish during the Fordham Rams 1987 ECAC Championship season, as Harnisch was the MAAC Player of the Year.

Family: Mike & Irene (Hodges) eventually divorced. Mike remarried has two daughters & was recently living out in Baldwin, Long Island.

Irene Hodges spoke & along with her brother Gil Hodges Jr. represented Gil Hodges as he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.