Sid Gordon - Reactions To Gordon As A Jew; Anti-Semitism

Reactions To Gordon As A Jew; Anti-Semitism

A well-liked and highly regarded person wherever he traveled, Gordon was nevertheless subjected to a stark case of anti-Semitism. One day in June 1949 in St. Louis the Cardinals' bench was all over him, hurling antisemitic remarks at him. But Cards manager Eddie Dyer said, "Sid is a friend of mine," and that Gordon had been attacked not because he was Jewish but because he was a good player and "the good ones receive the attention of bench jockeys." Gordon for his part took the high road, ignoring the antisemitic remarks and forcing the bigots to admire him.

When the Dodgers were desperately looking for a Jewish player and found Sandy Koufax, Walter O'Malley told reporter Dave Anderson that he hoped Koufax would be as good as Hank Greenberg or Sid Gordon.

Gordon is third all-time in home runs by Jewish baseball players (behind Hank Greenberg and Shawn Green, fourth in RBIs (behind Greenberg, Green and Buddy Myer and sixth in hits (behind Myer, Green, Lou Boudreau, Greenberg and Brad Ausmus. In a 1976 Esquire magazine article, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Gordon was the left fielder on Stein's Jewish team.

"Gordon" seems surprising as a Jewish name. It is usually and properly assumed to be Scottish, Norman English, or Irish, as a place name meaning "spacious fort." However, according to Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges, the name is also "Jewish, Eastern Ashkenazic: probably a habituation name from the Belarus city of Grodno, whence the Eastern Ashkenazic surnames Gardin(ski). It goes back at least to 1657. It was widespread among Jews in Poland by the end of the 17th century, when two naturalized Polish noblemen, Henry and George Gordon, successfully introduced legislation to prevent its continued adoption by Jews.