Joe 'Flash' Gordon in baseball Hall

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Former American League MVP Joe "Flash" Gordon was elected Monday to the baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

Gordon, a second baseman with the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians, was the only player among 20 considered -- 10 pre-1943 and 10 post-1942 -- by the veterans for election.

Gordon needed nine votes from the 12-member committee who voted on the pre-1943 ballot and got 10.

Gordon was a member of five World Series teams -- four with the Yankees and one with the Indians. He played on Yankees World Series winners in 1938, '39, '41 and '43, and helped the Indians win in 1948.

Gordon edged Triple Crown winner Ted Williams of Boston for MVP honors in 1942. He was selected to play in the All-Star Game nine times and was the first AL second baseman to hit 20 homers in a season, which he accomplished seven times in an 11-year career interrupted for two years during World War II.

None of the players on the post-1942 ballot reached the 75 percent of the vote needed to get into the hall.

With all 64 living Hall of Famers returning their ballots, 48 votes were needed for election on the post-1942 ballot. Third baseman Ron Santo came closest with 39 votes.

Others who missed the cut included Joe Torre, Maury Wills and Gil Hodges.