GaryMrMets
08-20-2004, 03:20 PM
http://www.yesnetwork.com/announcers/article.asp?article_id=237
The original "Flash" Gordon
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent/small/pepe_head_sm.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
August 16 2004
For all Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield have contributed in their first year as Yankees, old time fans of the Bombers are most grateful for the one that calls attention to Joe DiMaggio and Joe Gordon. When both A-Rod and Sheff reach 30 homers any day now, they will become the first pair of right-handed-hitting Yankees to reach that number in the same season since DiMag (31) and Gordon (30) did it 64 years ago.
DiMaggio doesn't need the pub. Gordon certainly does. He might be the most unheralded, unknown and unappreciated star in the team's history. He has no plaque in Cooperstown, there is no slab of stone dedicated to him in Monument Park, his No. 6 was never retired, and nobody wrote a poem about him:
"These are the saddest of possible words,
Crosetti to Gordon to Dahlgren?"
I don't think so. What rhymes with Dahlgren?
Why does Gordon get such short shrift from historians? Why not a monument? Why, in his 14 years of eligibility, did he never receive more than 28 percent of the vote? Check the man out.
He was the original "Flash" Gordon, his time with the Yankees coinciding with a popular comic strip of the day. He holds the American League record for home runs by a second baseman for a career (246) and for a season (32). Gordon hit 25 homers or more five times, drove in 90 runs or more four times, hit for the cycle in 1941, and was the American League MVP in 1942, when he batted .322, hit 18 homers and drove in 103 runs. That year, he outvoted such illustrious competition as Ted Williams, who won the Triple Crown, and his own teammates, DiMaggio and Charlie Keller, who both hit more home runs and drove in more runs than him.
He made the All-Star team nine times, had a career fielding percentage of .970 (there were no Gold Gloves awarded in Gordon's day) and turned 1,160 double plays. True, fielding stats are often inconclusive and misleading, but ask grandpa about Joe Gordon's defense. The man was acrobatic. That's why they called him "Flash."
There are 16 second basemen in the Hall of Fame and Gordon compares favorably with many of them. He had more hits than Jackie Robinson, a higher batting average than Bill Mazeroski, more home runs than all except Rogers Hornsby and Joe Morgan, more RBIs than Johnny Evers, Nellie Fox, Billy Herman, Mazeroski, Robinson and Red Schoendienst.
If there's one thing keeping Gordon from the Hall of Fame it's that he played only 11 seasons. He missed two years in the prime of his career because of World War II.
All right, he's not in a class with Hornsby, Charlie Gehringer, Eddie Collins or Frankie Frisch, but compare him with his two contemporaries who are in the Hall of Fame, Billy Herman and Bobby Doerr. Both had higher batting averages, but Gordon had better power numbers even though he was hitting in cavernous Yankee Stadium. Doerr and Herman had longer careers than Gordon, 14 years for Doerr, 15 for Herman. But Gordon averaged 23 homers a year (to 16 for Doerr, 3 for Herman), and 87 RBIs (to 89 for Doerr, 56 for Herman).
Even after he left the Yankees, Gordon continued to help them. He was the gift that kept on giving. After the 1946 season, Gordon was traded to the Indians for Allie Reynolds in what baseball people like to say was a trade that helped both teams. Gordon helped the Indians win the World Series in 1948 and then retired two years later. Reynolds spent eight seasons with the Yankees, won 131 games, saved 41 more and was a pitching mainstay on six World Series champions.
Acclaimed author Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/gordon_inline0816.jpg
Joe Gordon (right) posted Hall of Fame numbers in 11 seasons, but is not in Cooperstown.
The original "Flash" Gordon
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent/small/pepe_head_sm.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
August 16 2004
For all Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield have contributed in their first year as Yankees, old time fans of the Bombers are most grateful for the one that calls attention to Joe DiMaggio and Joe Gordon. When both A-Rod and Sheff reach 30 homers any day now, they will become the first pair of right-handed-hitting Yankees to reach that number in the same season since DiMag (31) and Gordon (30) did it 64 years ago.
DiMaggio doesn't need the pub. Gordon certainly does. He might be the most unheralded, unknown and unappreciated star in the team's history. He has no plaque in Cooperstown, there is no slab of stone dedicated to him in Monument Park, his No. 6 was never retired, and nobody wrote a poem about him:
"These are the saddest of possible words,
Crosetti to Gordon to Dahlgren?"
I don't think so. What rhymes with Dahlgren?
Why does Gordon get such short shrift from historians? Why not a monument? Why, in his 14 years of eligibility, did he never receive more than 28 percent of the vote? Check the man out.
He was the original "Flash" Gordon, his time with the Yankees coinciding with a popular comic strip of the day. He holds the American League record for home runs by a second baseman for a career (246) and for a season (32). Gordon hit 25 homers or more five times, drove in 90 runs or more four times, hit for the cycle in 1941, and was the American League MVP in 1942, when he batted .322, hit 18 homers and drove in 103 runs. That year, he outvoted such illustrious competition as Ted Williams, who won the Triple Crown, and his own teammates, DiMaggio and Charlie Keller, who both hit more home runs and drove in more runs than him.
He made the All-Star team nine times, had a career fielding percentage of .970 (there were no Gold Gloves awarded in Gordon's day) and turned 1,160 double plays. True, fielding stats are often inconclusive and misleading, but ask grandpa about Joe Gordon's defense. The man was acrobatic. That's why they called him "Flash."
There are 16 second basemen in the Hall of Fame and Gordon compares favorably with many of them. He had more hits than Jackie Robinson, a higher batting average than Bill Mazeroski, more home runs than all except Rogers Hornsby and Joe Morgan, more RBIs than Johnny Evers, Nellie Fox, Billy Herman, Mazeroski, Robinson and Red Schoendienst.
If there's one thing keeping Gordon from the Hall of Fame it's that he played only 11 seasons. He missed two years in the prime of his career because of World War II.
All right, he's not in a class with Hornsby, Charlie Gehringer, Eddie Collins or Frankie Frisch, but compare him with his two contemporaries who are in the Hall of Fame, Billy Herman and Bobby Doerr. Both had higher batting averages, but Gordon had better power numbers even though he was hitting in cavernous Yankee Stadium. Doerr and Herman had longer careers than Gordon, 14 years for Doerr, 15 for Herman. But Gordon averaged 23 homers a year (to 16 for Doerr, 3 for Herman), and 87 RBIs (to 89 for Doerr, 56 for Herman).
Even after he left the Yankees, Gordon continued to help them. He was the gift that kept on giving. After the 1946 season, Gordon was traded to the Indians for Allie Reynolds in what baseball people like to say was a trade that helped both teams. Gordon helped the Indians win the World Series in 1948 and then retired two years later. Reynolds spent eight seasons with the Yankees, won 131 games, saved 41 more and was a pitching mainstay on six World Series champions.
Acclaimed author Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/gordon_inline0816.jpg
Joe Gordon (right) posted Hall of Fame numbers in 11 seasons, but is not in Cooperstown.