Yanks for the memories, Part III – Joe Gordon

Joe Gordon played for the Yankees between 1938 and 1946 and won the AL MVP in 1942(.322/18/103). Far from being just an offensive player, Gordon played second base admirably(and acrobatically), often amongst the league leaders for his position in assists, double plays and fielding percentage. He was also known for his complete disregard for his own statistics and achievements.

Without ever having seen him play(we’re young here at Highlander Origins), i can only go on the opinions that his peers had of him. He is rarely spoken of among fans and sports reporters today but his overall contributions were not lost on teammates, scouts and coaches:

Joe McCarthy – “The greatest all-around ballplayer I ever saw, and I don’t bar any of them, is Joe Gordon.”

Bill Essick(scout) – “At his best when it meant the most and the going was toughest.”

After playing for the Yankees(finishing with exactly 1000 games and 1000 hits), Gordon continued his excellent career with the Indians while forging a friendship with the first black player in the AL, Larry Doby. Doby would later say that Gordon was his first real friend in white baseball – a lasting legacy for a man who was known as a great player and a consummate professional.

Joba/Harlan

Statement from Joba regarding Harlan:

 

“After several difficult days, my father is feeling much better. He is still in the critical care unit of the hospital and more tests await him, but he is off the ventilator and breathing on his own. Each day he’s acting more and more like himself, and he’s even giving people grief —myself included — because the hospital doesn’t carry Yankees games on television.

“When things like this occur in life, you certainly take notice of how much your teammates become more like family members. Their unconditional support, along with that of so many fans, has made a very tough time easier to deal with. Everyone’s love has been felt by my entire family, and it has brought great comfort to us when we have needed it most.

“I look forward to being reunited with my manager, coaches and teammates so I can thank each of them personally for all that they have done for my family.”

 

Good news all around for the Chamberlains, i personally cannot wait to see Joba’s fist pump again while his father celebrates in the stands.

More Yankee notes

 

Derek Jeter is looking great since coming back from injury(8/17, 7rbi) and probably has as many hits with RISP in those four games as the rest of the lineup has had through the whole season, haha.

 

Phil and Ian need to stop being afraid to pitch to contact. I’m not a fan who expects quality starts every time but some of their talent needs to show through a little more often.

 

Robbie Cano would probably hit over .400 if he played in warm weather all year.

 

Brian Bruney, Ross Ohlendorf and Billy Traber are being used more often, and for more innings than we’d like – the Joba situation is one reason, the ineffectiveness of other relievers(i’m not thinking of anyone specifically here Kyle) is another. They are handling their roles excellently, but so did Scott Proctor and Tanyon Sturtze for a while before the latter parts of the season when their arms got tired.

 

Chad Moeller has done an admirable job thus far – he’s not exactly a high profile pick up but Brian Casman should recieve credit for his signing.

Talk about under the microscope!

Am I alone in finding it incredible that some folk in the media can try and make a story out of A-Rod’s pre-at-bat routine meaning that he doesn’t acknowledge any scoring runners, as is discussed here. To be fair to George King, he is only reporting what someone else asked A-Rod, but the fact that someone seems to have tried to make an issue out of this just strikes me as being completely ridiculous.

Especially if it was a Yankees beat writer doing the probing, I really can’t understand why people try and create issues like this which, especially given A-Rod’s past confidence issues, could feasibly have a negative impact on one of the team’s most valuable players.