DATE: 1930s ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Original - Printed from the original negative in the time period in which it was shot TEAM: New York Yankees SUBJECT: Joe Gordon APPROXIMATE SIZE: 4"x5" NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: Offered is an approximately 4"x5" vintage photo of Joe Gordon, pictured in his New York Yankees uniform at spring training circa 1930s. Comes from a small collection of Yankees spring training photos with shots appearing to have been taken over the course of several different seasons. The prints themselves were stated to have been produced in the 1940's or 1950's, and the majority have either a stamped or handwritten number on back (to what purpose, I do not know). All are in very nice shape, but please see scans for further details including condition. BIO: Joseph Lowell Gordon (Flash) was born in Los Angeles, CA and died in 1978 in Sacramento, CA. He played major league baseball from 1938 to 1950 as 2nd baseman for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, appeared in the 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1948 World Series, was selected 9 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He was the outstanding player at his position during the 1940s, winning the 1942 American League MVP Award. After his playing career ended, he became a player-manager with the Pacific Coast League's Sacramento Solons in 1951-52, and then a scout with the Tigers from 1953-1956. After returning to the PCL to manage the 1957 San Francisco Seals, winning a pennant, he went on to become a major league manager for four different teams. He began with the Indians, but had difficult relations with general manager Frank Lane, who publicly questioned his decisions; after he announced late in 1959, with Cleveland in second place, that he would not return the next season, Lane fired him four days later but recanted and apologized after negotiations with Leo Durocher broke down, and Gordon was rehired. But in the middle of the 1960 season, he was involved in what is believed to be the only trade between managers, when the Indians traded him to the Tigers for their skipper Jimmy Dykes; he finished the season, but signed with the Kansas City Athletics for 1961. Owner Charlie Finley fired him mid-year, and Gordon became a scout and minor league instructor for the Los Angeles & California Angels from 1961 to 1968. He then had the distinction of managing his second team in Kansas City, the expansion Royals in 1969. Gordon later went into real estate. SKU: X11058
Item: X11058
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