Hal Gordon

Harold C. Gordon
(Flash)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 182 lb.

• Born ~1932

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Harold Gordon peaked at AA. He holds one minor league record and won a batting title.

He was on the Panamanian national team in the 1948 Amateur World Series. He made his US debut with the 1951 Aberdeen Pheasants, hitting .256 and slugging .350. He moved up to the Corning A's in 1952 and batted .275/.339/.382. He fielded .994, the best mark of any PONY League first baseman with 50+ games. Gordon did better with the 1953 Fond du Lac Panthers, hitting .346/.405/.453. He led Wisconsin State League first basemen in fielding (.989) and was among the WSL leaders in average (4th, between Steve Demeter and William Adelheim), hits (143, 7th, between Jose Diaz and Ben Mateosky) and steals (64, 1st, 19 ahead of #2 Ed Sheffield). He holds the record for most steals in a Wisconsin State League season.

Gordon split 1954 between the Quebec Braves (.269/.354/.411, 18 SB in 69 G) and Wellsville Braves (.389/.461/.628, 28 R in 37 G). He spent most of 1955 with the Seminole Oilers, producing at a .345/.442/.448 clip and was 1 for 3 for the Lancaster Red Roses. He won the Sooner State League batting title by .013 ahead of Marvin Crater), was 4th in hits (164), tied Gene Wallace for 6th in runs (108) and led in steals (49, 10 ahead of Billy Caye, while only being caught six times). He played more third base and first that year, a rarity in his career.

He spent most of 1956 with Seminole (.344/.440/.566, 19 SB, 87 R, 63 RBI in 71 G) but also played for the Abilene Blue Sox (5 for 19), Carlsbad Potashers (9 for 32) and Oklahoma City Indians (3 for 12). He then starred for Balboa in the 1957 Caribbean Series, going 7 for 17 with a double, triple, three runs, two RBI and a steal. He led Panama in runs, average (.079 over Archie Braithwaite) and hits (one ahead of Pedro Osorio and Braithwaite) and tied for 2nd in RBI. For the Series as a whole, he was second in average (.043 behind Solly Drake) and tied for 7th in hits with Herb Plews, Chico Carrasquel and Rudy Regalado.

Flash's final season was still a good one. In 1957, he hit .344/.450/.478 with 30 runs in 42 games for Seminole and .305/.417/.461 with 59 runs in 62 games for the Pocatello A's; he stole 20 bases for the year, drew 77 walks and legged out seven triples. He was third among Kansas City A's farmhands in swipes (behind Fred Knapp and Lou Klimchock), tied Dave Gorrie for 8th in runs, was 4th in average (between Joe Caffie and Joe Ala) and was 4th in OBP (between Don DeGroote and Ala). He had hit .322 in his minor league career, with plenty of walks and steals and solid defense at first base.