Joe Gordon

New York Yankees second baseman Joe Gordon could do something at that position that nobody had done before him: he could hit 30 home runs. In 1940, the compact, acrobatic infielder from Portland, Oregon, slammed 30 homers while playing a position that was supposed to belong to slick-fielding contact men. He reinvented what a second baseman could be, and he did it while turning double plays with a flair that made the routine look like vaudeville. The Yankees had him for seven seasons -- six of which ended with a World Series appearance. They won five of them.

Path to the Bronx

Gordon played at the University of Oregon before signing with the Yankees organization in 1936. He spent two seasons tearing through the minor leagues -- hitting .280 with power at Newark in the International League -- while held down second base in the Bronx. When Lazzeri's production declined after the 1937 season, the Yankees handed the job to Gordon without hesitation.

The transition was seamless. Gordon stepped into Lazzeri's spot in and immediately became one of the best players in the American League, hitting .255 with 25 home runs and 97 RBI while playing spectacular defense. The average looked modest, but the power was extraordinary for a middle infielder in the 1930s. Manager Joe McCarthy had found his next star.

Yankees Career

Gordon's peak was short -- the war saw to that -- but it was brilliant. In , he hit .284 with 28 homers as the Yankees won their fourth consecutive World Series. In 1940, the 30-homer season announced him as something the sport hadn't seen before: a middle infielder with genuine power. And in 1942, he won the American League MVP award, hitting .322 with 18 home runs while the Yankees won another pennant.

What the numbers don't capture is how Gordon played the position. He had extraordinary range, soft hands, and a throwing arm that could make plays from deep in the hole that left teammates shaking their heads. He was acrobatic in the field -- he'd go airborne to turn double plays, throwing from his knees or off-balance with an accuracy that defied physics. once said that Gordon was the greatest all-around infielder he'd ever seen.

Gordon enlisted in the Army Air Corps after the season, missing the 1944 and 1945 campaigns entirely. When he returned in 1946, the Yankees traded him to the Cleveland Indians for Allie Reynolds -- a deal that worked out spectacularly for both sides. Gordon helped Cleveland win the 1948 World Series, while Reynolds became one of the great pitchers in Yankees history.

Key Moments

The Long Wait

Gordon's Hall of Fame case was a lesson in how the institution's process could fail a deserving player. He retired with numbers that compared favorably to any second baseman of his era -- 253 career home runs, an MVP award, five World Series rings, and defensive brilliance that changed the position. But the BBWAA voters of the 1960s and 1970s didn't give him enough support, and he fell off the ballot.

For decades, Gordon existed in a strange limbo: too good to forget, not famous enough to generate the sustained campaign that might push his case through the Veterans Committee. It took until 2009 -- sixty-three years after his last game as a Yankee -- for the committee to finally elect him. Gordon had died in 1978 and never knew the honor was coming. His daughter accepted the plaque on his behalf.

Joe Gordon changed what it meant to play second base. Before him, the position belonged to contact hitters and smooth glovemen. After him, teams started looking for infielders who could do everything -- hit for power, field with brilliance, and carry a lineup. He didn't get his due in time to know about it, but the plaque in Cooperstown says what his teammates always knew: Joe Gordon was one of the best to ever play the game.