Tag: Joe Gordon

Upon Further Review Joe Deserves HOF Nod

Hall of Fame Gordon Baseball A while back I wrote a controversial piece, saying the Veteran’s Committee got it wrong, and Joe Gordon didn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Well I’m not too big to admit it when I made a mistake, and boy, did I ever make one here! Here is why I changed my mind.

Nine of Gordon’s eleven years in the majors, he was an All Star. In 1942 he won the AL MVP Award over Triple Crown winner, Ted Williams. He was arguably the best secondbaseman of the forties. Known for his acrobatic defense, 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, and holds the league mark for career HRs at second base (246), Joe held the single season mark until 2001. Gordon’s 25 home runs as a rookie set an AL record for second basemen which stood until 2006. All of these accomplishments were achieved with the heart of career yanked out, as he went off to fight a war for two years, when he was 29 & 30, in the prime of his career.

After the war Joe had his worst season with the Yankees before being shipped off to Cleveland, batting .210, with 11 HRs, & 47 RBIs, in only 112 games played. With the Indians Gordon rebounded to find his game, hitting 29 HRs & 93 RBIs in 1947. Then in 1948, teaming with DP partner Lou Boudreau, to make the Cleveland Indians World Series Champions, leading the team in HR’s (32) & RBIs (124).

One of the big reasons for my change of heart comes from the MLB Network. I got a chance to see some film of him playing the game, AMAZING! Congratulations to HOFer Joe Gordon, a deserving recognition that was long over due.

HOF VETS COMMITTEE GETS IT WRONG: JOE GORDON IN

The Hall of Fame Veterans Committee voted one new player into the Hall of Fame, Joe Gordon. Don’t get me wrong, Gordon was a fine player, both defensively & offensively (hitting home runs when secondsackers didn’t do such things), but the HOF? Joe was a ten time All Star, even was selected once as MVP, despite Ted Williams winning the Triple Crown that same year. Even though he was acknowledged the best keystone man of his day, his overall stats are somewhat less than impressive. I know anybody can lie, but if you wanna really lie, use statistics. But his lifetime batting average was .268. His stats compare almost identically with Bret (Prolly a Juicer) Boone.

Here’s what DonS had to say about Joe Gordon…

This is my favorite Joe Gordon Story.

Joe Gordon was manager of the Cleveland Indians when I started following baseball (1959). Jimmy Piersall (consider the source) says that when he played for Gordon, Joe was sometimes in a rotten mood by the fifth inning, because of the way the Tribe was playing. So he would head back to the Manager’s Office, where there was a bottle of whiskey in the desk drawer. About 10 minutes later, he would return to the dugout. Good mood, all smiles. Happy Days!!!