Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 1,524
By This is the grave of Sid Gordon.
Born in 1917 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Gordon grew up in the Jewish neighborhoods of that time and place. His parents had immigrated from Russia and his father was a coal dealer. Gordon is another of the people we’ve discussed in this series that attended Samuel Tilden High School, which is always worth a reminder of how awful Tilden was. Gordon was a standout baseball player. It is pretty much what he cared about. He nearly signed with the Dodgers in 1936, when he impressed Casey Stengel in a workout, but then the Dodgers canned Stengel and that was that. So Gordon enrolled at Long Island University and played around in local leagues. That paid off. The Giants signed him in 1938.
Gordon hit very well in the minors and so rose fairly quickly, reaching the Show in 1941. He got a few at bats that year and in 1942. But he needed a position to play. He was a third baseman and wasn’t real good on defense. Eventually, he was moved to left field. He wasn’t any good there either, but it didn’t matter as much. In 1943, he was on the Giants as a full-time player. He was only alright and led the league in hitting into double plays. He didn’t have much power, had no speed, but was a slightly above replacement player.
Gordon was not in the leagues in 1944 and 1945, as he was busy fighting in World War II. He was in the Coast Guard. I don’t think he had a particularly momentous wartime experience.
In 1946, Gordon was back with the Giants. He was a good bit better that year. He got on base a lot more and finished 10th in the league in on base percentage that year. He had a good 1947 too. But in 1948, he developed serious power, which is interesting since he was now 31 years old. All of a sudden, he popped 30 homers and stayed at 25 or higher for the next five years. 1948 and 1949 were excellent seasons and he made the All-Star Team both years. According to Baseball Reference’s WAR stat though, 1950 was his best year, when he was worth 6.3 WAR. He remained a significantly above average player through 1952.
Before the 1953 season, the Giants traded Gordon to the Braves. He started slipping that year, though he was OK still. He was on the Pirates in 54 and the first part of 55, not doing much. The Giants brought him back toward the end of that year and he closed out his career there at the end of the year.
Gordon went back to New York after his playing career. He was athletic until the end of his life. In 1975, he was playing a softball game when he had a heart attack and died. He was 57 years old.
Sid Gordon is buried in New Montefiore Cemetery, East Farmingdale, New York.
According to Baseball Reference’s JAWS statistic, Gordon is the 45th best of left fielder of all time. If you would like this series to visit other left fielders, you can donate to cover the required expenses here. George Burns, who played in the teens and 20s, mostly with the Giants is at #43 and is in Johnstown, New York. Kip Selbach, who ranks 53rd and was on various teams in the 1890s and 1900s, is in Columbus, Ohio. Previous posts in this series are archived here and here.