SPECIAL UNDERSTANDING
Joe Gordon was one of the greatest second basemen in baseball history. In 1947, he was at his prime when he was playing for the Cleveland Indians. In that same year, a young black athlete named Larry Doby came to play for Cleveland, the first black rookie to join an American League team. Doby was tense and nervous when he stepped up for his first time at bat. He swung at three pitches and missed each of them — by at least a foot. He walked back to the dugout with his head down, walked past every other player on the bench and slouched in the corner alone with his head in his hands. Joe Gordon, a power hitter, was the next man up. The opposing pitcher that day was one that Gordon usually blasted out of the park. But this time, Joe Gordon went up to the plate and missed three pitches in a row — each of them by at…
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