Books and articles about Joe Gordon

The acrobatic Joe Gordon would be remembered for his defensive skills alone, but he was also a powerful and timely hitter. He holds the AL second basemen's records for career HR (246) and HR in a season (32 in 1948). The low-key, humorous player emerged from the Yankee system to take Tony Lazzeri's place. He hit for the cycle on September 8, 1940. In the 1941 World Series Gordon snuffed out Dodger rallies with his glove and went 7-for-14 with a .929 slugging average.

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In 1942 Gordon was the AL MVP, hitting .322 with 103 RBI. The eight-time All-Star missed two seasons for army service. He hit just .210 when he returned in 1946, and after exactly 1,000 games and 1,000 hits for the Yankees, was traded to Cleveland for Allie Reynolds. His hitting form returned, with career highs of 32 HR and 124 RBI in 1948, as he teamed with Lou Boudreau for a pennant and Gordon's sixth World Series.

Gordon was named Cleveland manager in 1958 and the Indians finished second in 1959. In 1960 he was part of baseball's most unusual trade when the Indians and Tigers swapped managers, with Gordon and Jimmy Dykes trading places. Gordon managed the Kansas City A's for part of 1961, and the Kansas City Royals for all of their maiden 1969 season. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 7, 1939: Joe Gordon smacks two homers and Red Rolfe one to pace the Yankees to a 15–4 hosing of the White Sox. Red Ruffing is again the easy winner; in his last outing the Yanks scored 22 against Detroit. » June 28, 1939: The Yankees hit eight HRs in the first game of a doubleheader with the A's, and five more in the nightcap. Both are major-league records, as is the 53 total bases in a doubleheader. Joe DiMaggio, Babe Dahlgren, and Joe Gordon each hit three HRs. The Yankees win the opener 23-2 and take the nightcap 10­0. » July 19, 1940: Buddy Rosar of the Yanks hits for the cycle; Joe Cronin will do it August 2, and Joe Gordon, September 8th. » January 8, 1941: The BBWAA in TSN poll names the 1940 All Star team: Hank Greenberg, LF; Joe DiMaggio, CF; Ted Williams, RF; Frank McCormick, 1B; Joe Gordon, 2B; Luke Appling, SS; Stan Hack, 3B; Harry Danning, C. The pitchers are Bob Feller, Bucky Walters, and Paul Derringer. » October 1, 1941: Red Ruffing pitches the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium in the opening game of the WS. Joe Gordon chips in with a HR and RBI single. » October 3, 1942: Ernie White shuts out New York on six hits, winning 2–0. Arguments during the game result in $200 fines for Joe Gordon and Frank Crosetti; the latter will also suspended for the first 30 days of the 1943 season for shoving umpire Bill Summers. » November 3, 1942: Ted Williams is the ML Triple Crown winner, but the writers select 2B Joe Gordon by 21 votes as AL MVP. Gordon of the New York Yankees leads the AL with 95 strikeouts, the most ground balls hit into double plays (22), and the most errors at his position (28). P Mort Cooper gets the MVP honor in the NL. » May 23, 1946: The Yankees deflate Virgil Trucks with home runs in the 5th inning by DiMaggio and Nick Etten. Joe Gordon then greets reliever Hal White with the Yankees 3rd consecutive home run, and the Bombers drive over Detroit 12–6. » October 11, 1946: The Yankees send veteran Joe Gordon and Ed Bockman to Cleveland for 32-year-old pitcher Allie Reynolds (11–15). Columnist Dan Daniel will later report that Larry MacPhail and Bucky Harris initially wanted Red Embree, but DiMaggio advised them to take Reynolds. The Chief will be a mainstay of the Yankees championship teams while Gordon will finish out the 1940s with three good years. The Yanks will put Embree in pinstripes in a year. » May 2, 1947: Bob Feller fires his 2nd one-hitter in 10 days, stopping the Red Sox, 2–0, while striking out 10. Johnny Pesky has the only safety. Joe Gordon's homer off Ferriss is the only run Feller needs. » May 5, 1949: At Cleveland, Bob Feller, making his first start since pitching two innings in the season opener and coming up with a sore shoulder, beats the Red Sox, 7–3. The Tribe scores six in the 2nd inning, including Ken Keltner's three run homer off Jack Kramer. On the next pitch, Minnie Minoso making his second start, hits his first major-league homer. Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr hit 8th-inning homers for Boston, while Joe Gordon adds a homer in the 5th for Cleveland. » September 22, 1950: In the top of the 9th in Cleveland, Detroit's Don Kolloway cracks a 2-run HR off Bob Feller to tie the game at 3–3. In the bottom of the inning, Joe Gordon takes Hal Newhouser downtown to hand the Tigers a heartbreaking 4–3 loss. The loss pushes the Bengals back into 2nd place. Feller now stands 8–2 against the Tiger ace stretching back to 1940. The two will face off once more in a no-decision contest in 1952. In the nitecap, Mike Garcia drops the Bengals another game back with an 10–2 victory, while New York is shutting out the Red Sox, 8–0. Cleveland is the only team that holds a winning edge over Detroit this year (13–9). » September 16, 1952: Joe Gordon, former All-Star 2B for the Yankees and Indians and now manager of Sacramento (PCL), inserts himself as a pinch hitter in each game of a twin bill with Los Angeles and homers on both occasions. The first one is a grand slam that wins the game 4-1. » June 26, 1958: Joe Gordon replaces Bobby Bragan as manager of the Cleveland Indians, signing a contract through 1959. » July 17, 1959: In a dispute with the umpires, Cleveland manager Joe Gordon is ejected. Cleveland OF Minnie Minoso refuses to stand in the batter's box until the argument is over. Umpire Frank Umont calls him out on strikes. The enraged Minoso charges Umont and gets the thumb also. The Indians win 8–7 to stay on the heels of Chicago. » April 17, 1960: On Easter Sunday, Frank Lane brings American League batting champ Harvey Kuenn to Cleveland and sends co-HR champ Rocky Colavito to Detroit. Colavito, an unparalleled fan favorite in Cleveland, had been a brief Spring hold out for more money. Colavito was on first base in an exhibition game in Memphis against the White Sox when manager Joe Gordon informed him of the trade. Rocky will hit 173 home runs before returning to the Tribe on January 20, 1965. Kuenn will report to Cleveland, pull a muscle, and never be the same hitter. He'll be traded after one season. » July 23, 1960: In an effort to distract Ted Williams during his at bats in the 6th and 8th innings, the Indians CF Jimmy Piersall goes into a war dance. Piersall gets tossed for his efforts and manager Joe Gordon is also ejected for arguing Jimmy's case. It is Piersall's 6th ejection of the season. Gordon had previously announced that any more ejections would cost Piersall $500 each, but he thinks today's thumbing is unwarranted and waives the fine. American League president Joe Cronin is less forgiving and fines Piersall $100. The Indians win, 4–2, behind Jim Perry's pitching and the first ML home run of Mike de la Hoz. » August 3, 1960: Frank Lane trades managers with Detroit's GM Bill DeWitt. The Indians Joe Gordon (49-46) is dealt to the Tigers for Jimmy Dykes (44-52). For one game, until the pair can change places, Jo-Jo White pilots the Indians and Billy Hitchcock guides the Tigers. » October 3, 1960: Joe Gordon (26-31) resigns as manager of the Tigers, blaming interference by from club president Bill DeWitt. Gordon will be named manager of the KC Athletics, replacing Bob Elliott. » June 19, 1961: Charlie Finley makes his first managerial change, booting the recently-hired Joe Gordon (26–33) in favor of Hank Bauer. » September 9, 1968: Joe Gordon is hired to manage the Royals. » October 8, 1969: Dave Bristol is fired as manager of the Reds, and Joe Gordon resigns as manager of the Royals. Charlie Metro replaces Gordon. » March 1, 1988: For the first time since 1956 the Special Veterans Committee does not elect anyone to the Hall of Fame. Phil Rizzuto, Leo Durocher, Joe Gordon, and Gil Hodges are among the candidates passed over.