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Vets Put Gordon Into Hall

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 9, 2008

NEW YORK - Former second baseman Joe Gordon was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee on Monday, while another panel shut out the likes of Joe Torre, Ron Santo and Gil Hodges.

Gordon, a nine-time All-Star and five-time World Series winner with the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians, was picked by a 12-member committee that only looked at players who started before 1943.

But a panel made up of the living 64 Hall of Famers failed to pick anyone who began their careers after World War II. It took 75 percent for election and no one came close - Santo got 61 percent, followed by Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Hodges and Torre.

"When our board of directors restructured the Veterans Committee after the 2007 election, it did so with the goal of ensuring the voters the living Hall of Famers would review their peers," Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said. "The process was not redesigned with the goal of necessarily electing someone."

The results were announced at the baseball winter meetings in Las Vegas.

Gordon got 10 votes - one more than needed - and joined a host of past teammates in the Hall. He began his career with Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey and other stars on the 1938 Yankees team that won the World Series, and finished with Bob Feller and more Cleveland luminaries in 1950.

Gordon was the 1942 AL MVP and hit .268 overall with 253 home runs and 975 RBIs, big power numbers for second basemen in that era. He died in 1978.

It's Official: Maddux Retires

LAS VEGAS - After 355 wins and 23 major-league seasons, Greg Maddux held a 30-minute news conference to announce his retirement on the opening day of the winter meetings - just minutes from his Las Vegas home.

Maddux, 42, leaves with four consecutive NL Cy Young Awards (1992-95) and a 3.16 ERA, especially impressive in the steroid era. He ranks eighth on the career wins list, with one more victory than Roger Clemens.

Maddux spent his final season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, finishing 355-227. His remarkable career includes a record 18 Gold Gloves, including one this year.

MARLINS: Jeff Conine, who played for two World Series championship teams with Florida, has rejoined the organization as a special assistant to team president David Samson.

Conine played in 1,014 games for the Marlins, including their first game in 1993, and is nicknamed "Mr. Marlin." He will help with on-field instruction, community relations and broadcasting.

TRADE: The Texas Rangers traded catcher Gerald Laird to the Detroit Tigers on Monday for right-handed pitching prospects Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo.

Laird hit .276 with six home runs and 41 RBIs in 95 games for the Rangers this season. The Tigers traded starting catcher Ivan Rodriguez to the New York Yankees in July.

Moscoso was 5-4 with one save and a 2.70 ERA overall in 21 games with Double-A Erie and Class A Lakeland. The 17-year-old Melo went 3-3 with a 5.14 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) in the Dominican Summer League.

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