• was a key player on six pennant and five World Series champions on two different teams?
• won an MVP award?
• hit right handed in Yankee Stadium when the dimensions in "Death Valley" were 402' to left center ... 457' to deep left center and 461 to straightaway center and managed during the first six seasons of his career to nail 171 doubles, 38 triples, 142 HR and drive in 570 with three seasons over 100?
• who went off to serve his country for two years, come back, and slug 111 more circuit clouts and top the 100 RBI plateau again over five years in cavernous Municipal Stadium in Cleveland?

Would you consider him a Hall-of-Famer? What if I told you these numbers were accumulated by a slick fielding second baseman?

In fact, so slick was this player had said of him by Robert Creamer (excerpted from "Baseball In 1941") "It seems incredible to me now ... that the Yankees would consider mucking about with their great second baseman.

Joe "Flash" Gordon

I cannot fathom why McCarthy ever considered moving a fielder as good as _______ out of a position as vitally important as second base."

What if I told you that he beat Hall-of-Fame second sacker Bobby Doerr (who was a contemporary of _______) in the selection of the "Sporting News All-Star Team" 6-2 and one of the times Doerr won the honour was because ______ was still in the service?

What if I reminded you Bobby Doerr hit 223 HR in 7093 AB as a right handed hitter in Fenway Park while _____ hit 253 HR in just 5707 AB as a right handed hitter in Yankee/Municipal Stadium? Close your eyes and think what their (Doerr and our mystery man) numbers would've looked like had they played in the other's venue.

Who is this mystery man?

Is he in the Hall-of-Fame?

No ... should he, that is, should Joe "Flash" Gordon be in the Hall-of-Fame?

Speaking of Doerr, there was another slick fielding middle infielder of this era who had slugging abilities far above what's expected from his position. It was ...

Vern Stephens ...

Before there was Nomar, before there was A-Rod, there was Junior. No ... not that Junior. I'm speaking of Vern "Junior" Stephens.

Some of you will say "Who?" While others may say "Strictly a Fenway hitter."

But was he?

Well ... there's no question he hit well in Fenway. From 1948-50 he hit 98 HR and 440 RBI (not a misprint). He drove in 137 in 1948, plated a staggering 159 runs the following year and for an encore he drove in 144.

Did I mention he was a shortstop?

However before he joined the Red Sox he played for the St. Louis Browns. How did he do at Sportsman's Park?

Well ...

He played there from 1942-47, during those six seasons he hit 149 doubles, 21 triples and touched 'em all 109 times driving in 528.

Impressive? Yes, but so what?

Well ...

... during that stretch (1942-47) Stan Musial hit 90 home runs and drove in just 445. In fairness

Bobby Doerr

however, it should be noted that Musial didn't play in 1945 due to being in the service. However, in the years that they played Musial averaged 18 dingers and 89 RBI whereas Stephens averaged 18 HR and 88 RBI. By the way, Musial hit lefty, Stephens hit right handed. Sportsman Park was much easier on a left handed hitter those years. It was just 309.5 feet to RF and 354 to right center. However it was 351.5 feet in LF and 379 to left center.

So much for Stephens just being a Fenway hitter. Think about it, he was averaging about the same HR and RBI's as Stan Musial! And it was a better park for Musial in which to hit!!

Remember Bobby Doerr was a Fenway hitter his whole career, Stephens however played only five seasons there.

Let's compare their numbers ...

Their numbers are quite comparable when you consider that Doerr had the advantage of about a

Vern Stephens

full season's worth of at bats AND enjoyed the advantage of playing his whole career at Fenway Park

Did I mention he was a shortstop?

So, his Fenway numbers were simply a matter of moving from a park in which was hard for him to hit into a park which was favourable to his swing. He was a good hitter the whole time.

Now let's look at all three of our candidates and compare ...

When you look carefully at the batting numbers of the three it appears that Doerr doesn't really stack up to the others who aren't in the Hall-of-Fame. When you look at Gordon's entire career and the pennants and World Series teams he played on I'm inclined to think if any one of the three should be at Cooperstown, it should be Gordon.

Now, one argument you cannot make against Gordon is that the Yankees won before/with/after Gordon was on the roster. If you do, both Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio would have to be removed for the same reason.

OK ... since he was a shortstop, how good was he with the leather?

Pretty good actually.

Just for a quick comparison, I'll use HOFer Phil Rizzuto. Now since Rizzuto played in 1647 games to Stephens' 1330 I'll give you Rizzuto's numbers had he played in the same number of games.

Obviously Rizzuto was the superior fielder, that's not the point. The point is Stephens was not exactly a liability there. If he were they could've played him elsewhere with that bat. They could've played him at either of the infield corners (his offensive production was far superior to the incumbents at Fenway's infield corners with the exception of Walt Dropo's production of 1950 where Dropo's 34 HR and 144 RBI was a tad better than Stephens 30 HR, 144 RBI) but he remained at short because of his fine fielding abilities.

Why has Stephens been overlooked? Why Gordon?

Maybe Gordon and Stephens aren't deserving, but if they aren't, how can you possibly say Bobby Doerr is?

Here's a year by year breakdown of our three "Keystone Kings" ...