Bleeding Yankee Blue: WHY HE WAS NO ORDINARY JOE

Friday, April 1, 2011

WHY HE WAS NO ORDINARY JOE

SECOND BASE

The best Yankee second baseman may come as a surprise. Others may ask, “Who?” but let me make my case for the best Yankee to play second, Mr. Joe Gordon. #1. Gordon could hit with potent power and field with pure precision. When he retired, despite losing time to serve his country during World War II, his career numbers were among the leaders for second basemen. In 1942, Ted Williams won the Triple Crown (leading the league in homers, RBIs, and batting average) but didn’t win the MVP. Who did? Joe Gordon did. In fact, Gordon received MVP votes almost every season. He also was an All-Star almost every season. For his career, Gordon averaged 26 homers and 101 RBIs per season. Good numbers. But when you consider that a 1940's second baseman put up those numbers, they become fantastic! Interestingly, Gordon played in exactly 1,000 games and got exactly 1,000 hits for the Yankees. Gordon was known as “Flash” due to his favorite comic book character, Flash Gordon. But his ability to amazingly flash the leather should have been the real reason. His defensive abilities at second base were only matched by few to play the position. When “Flash” retired, he ranked 6th in double plays, put outs, assists, total chances, and ranked 7th in fielding percentage.

When Joe Gordon came to the Yankees’ Spring Training in 1937, Tony Lazzeri was the starting second baseman. Gordon was especially appreciative and never forgot the way Lazzeri taught him the tricks of the trade. But the writing was on the wall for Poosh ‘Em Up Tony. Lazzeri kept his job for the ’37 season, but was then released to make a place for Gordon. In 1937, Gordon was sent down to the Minor leagues to play for the Newark Bears. This team has been considered the best Minor League team ever and featured 6 future Major League All-Stars. In 1937, the Bears went 109-43, finished 25 ½ games in front of the second-place team, and hit .299 as a team!

(photo: Corbis) In total, Gordon played in 6 World Series, and won five titles. (He won his last with the Cleveland Indians in 1948.) He was traded from the Yankees to the Indians after the 1946 season for pitcher, Allie Reynolds. Reynolds went on to start for the Yanks, winning 131 games over 8 seasons. Gordon always remembered the lessons taught to him by Tony Lazzeri, so he always helped the younger players breaking into the Big Leagues. But he made his biggest impact by lending a helping hand to Larry Doby (the first player to cross the color barrier in the American League) when he was breaking in with the Indians. After his playing days were over, Gordon became a manager. He was involved in two of the most bizarre baseball business deals while he was managing the Cleveland Indians.

In late September 1959, Gordon was fired by general manager, Frank Lane, only to be rehired a few days later. Lane said, "I've decided that the best man to replace Joe Gordon was Joe Gordon.” Weird as that was, it got even weirder.

The next season on August 3, 1960, Gordon, the Cleveland Indians manager, was traded to the Detroit Tigers for their manager, Jimmy Dykes. That is one of the most bizarre trades in baseball history.

Joe Gordon was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee in 2009. His daughter gave his Hall of Fame speech and closed by saying, "He insisted on having a funeral. And as such, we consider Cooperstown and the National Baseball Hall of Fame as his final resting place to be honored forever." Joe Gordon should also be honored by all New York Yankees fans as the team’s best second baseman.