Joe Gordon

Joseph Lowell Gordon, nicknamed “Flash” after the comic-strip hero Flash Gordon, was a second baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball. He played for the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians from 1938 to 1950, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame after his death, in 2009.

Gordon burst onto the scene as a rookie second baseman in 1938 by setting a new record for home runs at his position, hitting 25. Over the next decade, he was widely considered the best second baseman in the game. He won the American League MVP Award and was named to The Sporting News Major League All-Star Team in nine of his eleven seasons. His defense was acrobatic: he led the AL in assists four times and in double plays three times.

He was the first AL second baseman to hit 20 home runs in a season, doing so seven times, with a career-high 32 in 1948. His single-season home run record for a second baseman stood until 2001. When he retired, his 253 home runs ranked second all-time among players who primarily played second base, and only seven players have since passed him. He was a key contributor to the 1948 champion Indians, leading the team in homers and runs batted in.

At retirement, he ranked sixth in major league history in double plays (1,160), and sixth in AL history in games (1,519), putouts (3,600), assists (4,706), and total chances (8,566), and seventh in fielding percentage (.970).

Born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1915, to Benjamin Lowell Gordon and Lulu Pearl Evans, Gordon moved with his family to Oregon, where he attended Jefferson High School. After graduating, he went to the University of Oregon, where he played halfback on the football team and also competed in gymnastics, soccer, and the long jump. He played violin in the college orchestra. On the baseball team, he helped the Ducks to a combined 30-14 record in the 1934 and 1935 seasons, winning the Pacific Coast Conference’s Northern Division both years. He hit .358 at Oregon, tied for fourth in team history. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

After batting .418 in his sophomore year, Gordon signed with the Yankees in 1936. Scout Bill Essick reported that Gordon was “at his best when it meant the most and the going was toughest.” He was assigned to the Yankees’ AA affiliate, the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, where he hit .300 while mostly playing shortstop. In 1937, he moved to the Newark Bears, another AA team in the International League, and hit .280 with 26 home runs. That Bears team, featuring future all-stars George McQuinn, Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich, Babe Dahlgren, and Spud Chandler, is often regarded as the best minor league team in history, winning 110 of 158 games.

Gordon’s success led the Yankees to release 33-year-old Tony Lazzeri after the 1937 season, and Gordon made his major league debut in April 1938. His 25 rookie home runs broke the AL record for second basemen, surpassing Charlie Gehringer’s 19. Gordon held that record for 64 years, until Bret Boone hit 36 in 2001. Along with Cleveland’s Jeff Heath, Gordon was one of the AL’s top rookies, hitting .255 with 97 RBI and finishing second in the league with 450 assists. The Yankees won their third straight pennant, and in the 1938 World Series sweep of the Chicago Cubs, Gordon hit .400 with a .733 slugging percentage. He had an RBI single and a double in Game 1, doubled in the first two runs of Game 2, hit a solo home run and singled home two more in Game 3, and scored twice in Game 4.

In 1939, Gordon raised his average to .284 and topped his own home run mark with 28. He led the AL in putouts, assists, and double plays, and was second on the team to Joe DiMaggio in homers and RBI (111). On June 28 he hit three home runs. He made his first of nine All-Star teams and finished ninth in the MVP vote. In the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, he hit only .143 but scored the first run in Game 1 and drove in the tying run in the ninth inning of Game 4, which the Yankees won 7-4 in ten innings for their fourth straight championship.

In 1940, Gordon increased his home run total to 30, again second on the team to DiMaggio in homers and RBI (103). He led the AL in assists and posted career highs in runs (112), triples (10), slugging (.511), total bases (315), and stolen bases (18), while hitting .281. On September 8, he hit for the cycle. But the Yankees finished two games behind Detroit, their only pennant loss between 1936 and 1943.

In 1941, Gordon batted .276 with 24 home runs and 87 RBI, scoring 104 runs. He teamed with rookie shortstop Phil Rizzuto to lead the AL in double plays, and placed seventh in the MVP vote as the Yankees returned to first place. In the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, he hit .500 with outstanding defense. In Game 1, he hit a solo home run, had an RBI single, and turned a double play with the tying run on first to end a 3-2 win. In Game 2, he drew three walks, one intentional, and was involved in three double plays.