Dee Strange-Gordon

He led the NL in all three categories and became the first player to lead the National League in both batting average and stolen bases since fellow second baseman Jackie Robinson in 1949.

Devaris "Dee" Strange-Gordon (born April 22, 1988), formerly known as Dee Gordon, is an American former professional baseball second baseman, shortstop, and center fielder.

He played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Seattle Mariners, and Washington Nationals.

He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.

In 2008, with the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League, he hit .331 in 60 games.

With the Great Lakes Loons in 2009, Gordon hit .301 and stole 73 bases.

He appeared in the Midwest League All-Star Game, was named the league's Most Valuable Player, selected to its mid-season and post-season All-Star teams, and chosen for the Prospect of the Year Award.

The Dodgers also selected him as their "Minor League Player of the Year".

He became the first Dodger player since Harvey Hendrick in 1928 and the first Major Leaguer since Jayson Werth on May 12, 2009 to accomplish that feat.

Gordon appeared in 56 games for the Dodgers, hitting .304 with 24 stolen bases.

Through the 2010s, Strange-Gordon stole 330 bases, the most of any player.

Strange-Gordon was born in Windermere, Florida, the son of former MLB pitcher Tom Gordon and Devona Denise Strange.

His parents were high school sweethearts but did not marry; Tom had relationships with three other women as well and had a total of five children, all in Florida.

Strange-Gordon is his second-oldest.

When Strange-Gordon was seven years old, his mother Devona was shot to death by a subsequent boyfriend who claimed that she was shot as they played with a loaded gun.

The boyfriend pleaded no contest to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Tom Gordon sued for custody of Strange-Gordon and raised him with the help of his own mother, Dee's grandmother.

Though his father was a baseball player, Strange-Gordon initially focused on basketball and did not play baseball until he was in high school.

He received a scholarship offer to play college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals.

Gordon played baseball at Avon Park High School (like his father), Seminole Community College, and Southeastern University, all in central Florida.

In 2010, he was with the Chattanooga Lookouts in the Double-A Southern League and was selected to represent the Lookouts in the All-Star game but was unable to play because he was also selected to the All-Star Futures Game.

He hit .277 in 133 games in 2010, while stealing 53 bases and committing 37 errors.

He played for Gigantes de Carolina in the Puerto Rico Baseball League after the season.

Strange-Gordon debuted in MLB with the Dodgers in 2011.

He was primarily a shortstop and second baseman, and with the Marlins, he was primarily a second baseman.

He was assigned to the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes at the start of 2011.

At the start of 2011, Gordon was the Dodgers' best prospect according to Baseball America.

After an injury to shortstop Rafael Furcal, the Dodgers purchased Gordon's contract on June 6, 2011, and he made his major league debut in the top of the ninth as a pinch runner against the Philadelphia Phillies that night, and scored a run.

His father was in attendance.

The next day, in his first start, he had hits in his first three major league at bats and had a stolen base.

In a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on July 1, Gordon stole second, third, and home in the same inning.

He also stole 30 bases for the Isotopes, giving him a total of 54 between the majors and the minors in 2011.

In just 56 games for the Dodgers, Gordon's 24 stolen bases were tied for the most by a rookie during the 2011 season.

He was selected to the Topps All-Star Rookie team.

Gordon hit his first career home run on May 1, 2012, leading off the game against Jhoulys Chacín of the Colorado Rockies.

On June 1, 2012, Gordon was part of a Dodgers lineup that featured the sons of five former Major Leaguers (along with Tony Gwynn Jr.., Iván DeJesús Jr., Jerry Hairston Jr.. and Scott Van Slyke).

This was the first time in Major League history that this had occurred.

It was also the first time a starting infield of four major league sons had ever occurred: first baseman Van Slyke, second baseman Hairston, third baseman De Jesus and shortstop Gordon.

In 2015, in his first season with the Marlins, Strange-Gordon hit .333 with a total of 205 hits and stole 58 bases.

He began his tenure with the Mariners by playing center field in 2018, and started playing left field in 2020.