Joe Gordon - HOF

[Archive]

Posted By: Misunderestimated

Not a great choice -- especially in terms of the other candidates in his bracket.

"Missing-years during the war" makes it difficult to evaluate players like Gordon and he played a tough and especially valuable position. Certainly he's entitled to credit for that, and for his role in winning championships.

Even so I have the sneaking feeling that he got in by jumping over a bar that Scooter Rizutto held down for him . . .



Dahlen, for example, was a much better shortstop defensively and his career offensive numbers are vastly superior, especially when you factor in the era in which he played.



Shorter careers with high "peak value" are always problematic because they don't yield the big raw numbers -- look at the career #s for HOFers like Koufax, Dizzy Dean, Kirby Puckett, Ross Youngs, Addie Joss, Hughie Jennings (for starters). . .



I would put him in the lower 40% of the HOF -- not nearly the least worthy SS in the HOF ---> off-hand I think Wallace, Tinker, Maranville, Aparicio, Sewell, & Travis Jackson are all worse.
-
Edited to add that as a HOF collector Gordon's does not create any hardship -- as Dreyfus did. . . Actually I already have an acceptable Gordon card.