[2] After graduation, Gordon attended the University of Oregon,[1] where he also competed as a halfback on the football team as well as in gymnastics, soccer and the long jump.

[4] After batting .418 in his sophomore year, he signed with the Yankees in 1936, with scout Bill Essick reporting: "(Gordon was) at his best when it meant the most and the going was toughest."

After being assigned to the Yankees AA-level club, the Oakland Oaks, in the Pacific Coast League, Gordon proceeded to put up solid numbers in his first season in professional baseball, hitting .300 while spending the majority of time in the field at shortstop.

[5] In 1937, Gordon was moved to the Newark Bears, another AA team in the International League and continued to excel, hitting .280 with 26 home runs.

[6] Gordon's success led to the release of 33-year-old Tony Lazzeri following the 1937 season,[7] and he made his debut with the Yankees in April 1938.

He led the AL in putouts, assists and double plays, and was second on the team to Joe DiMaggio and fifth in the league in both homers and RBI (111).

In Game 4, he drove in the tying run with one out in the ninth inning, and the Yankees scored three in the tenth to win 7-4 and complete another sweep for their fourth straight championship.

Gordon led the Yankees to another pennant in his 1942 MVP season, edging Triple Crown winner Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox for the award.

He threw out the final batter of the Series with the tying runs on base in the 2–0 Game 5 victory, with the Yankees taking home another title.

Gordon was spiked in an exhibition game and severed a tendon in his hand, which required surgery, and he suffered a chipped bone in his finger.

As the rest of the Yankees headed to The Bronx to begin the 1946 regular season, Gordon stayed behind in Florida for a month to recover.

Gordon played in just 112 games that year and stepped up to the plate just 376 times, nearly 170 fewer at bats than his pre-war 1943 season.

With Gordon-ally Joe McCarthy resigning from the Yankees club in May 1946 and following his worst season in baseball, Gordon was in trouble.

Taking DiMaggio's advice, on October 11 MacPhail settled on Indians pitcher Allie Reynolds in exchange for Gordon, a move that benefited both clubs.

While Reynolds would go on to win 131 games in eight seasons for the Yankees, Gordon proved resilient and kept his new team from regretting the deal.

Additionally, he played a major role in befriending teammate Larry Doby,[8] the AL's first black player, who had been a second baseman in the Negro leagues but became a center fielder with Cleveland.

Batting .280, he was second in the league to DiMaggio with 32 home runs, which remained the AL's single-season mark for a second baseman until Bret Boone hit 36 in 2001.

In the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves, batting cleanup, he had a RBI single and later scored to give Cleveland a 2-1 lead in Game 2; they went on to win 4-1.

[citation needed] After Gordon announced late in 1959, with Cleveland in second place, that he would not return the next season, Lane fired him four days later.

In 1969, he had the distinction of managing his second team in Kansas City, this time with the expansion Royals, but lasted only one season with the club before resigning at the end of his one-year contract.

Wall Street Journal sports writer Russell Adams wrote a piece titled "Who Is the Greatest Yankee?"

"[13] In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Gordon as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army Air Force during World War II.