Joe Flash Gordon: A Biography of the Hall of Fame Second Baseman

As a rookie in 1938, Joe ＂Flash＂ Gordon became the American League’s first power-hitting second baseman and redefined how the position was played. Signed by the New York Yankees, he helped the team win five World Series titles in just seven years. Following their 1941 championship, manager Joe McCarthy was quoted saying, ＂The greatest all-around ball player I ever saw--and I don’t bar any of them--is Joe Gordon.＂ The following year, Gordon bested Boston’s Triple Crown winner Ted Williams for the American League Most Valuable Player Award of 1942.

After serving 18 months in the U.S. Army during World War II, Gordon returned to the Yankees in 1946, then was traded to the Cleveland Indians that October, prompting owner Bill Veeck to exclaim, ＂We just won the pennant!＂ Befriending the American League’s first African American player, Larry Doby, in 1947, Gordon helped lead the Indians to the franchise’s last World Series championship in 1948. This nine-time All-Star retired after the 1950 season and went on to manage several minor league and major league teams. This complete biography of Joe ＂Flash＂ Gordon tells his entire story, all the way until his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.

SABR member Judy Gordon is a flight instructor and computer programmer and technical editor at the Idaho National Laboratory. She lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Erik Simpson has worked as a sportswriter, sports editor, reporter, technical writer, and now is a science writer for the Idaho National Laboratory. He lives in Rigby, Idaho.