{{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} '''John "Gordo" Gordon''' (born July 7, 1940) is an American former [[Major League Baseball]] radio broadcaster who was best known as the play by play announcer for the [[Minnesota Twins]] on the Twins Radio Network and their Metro Affiliate [[KSTP (AM)|KSTP 1500 AM]]. He is well known among Twins fans for his intense emotional style of play-calling, and for his trademark call of each Twins [[home run]]: "Touch 'em all, _______!" (including the name of the player who hit the home run). This was in marked contrast to the more calm, laid-back style of his longtime broadcast partner [[Herb Carneal]]. The two would alternate between play-by-play and commentary, often switching roles midway through games.
==Career== Gordon was born '''John Gordon Gutowsky''' in [[Detroit, Michigan]], and began his career in broadcasting with the class-A [[Spartanburg Phillies]] in 1965 after earning a degree from [[Indiana University]]. In 1970 he left Spartanburg to join the [[Baltimore Orioles]]' broadcast team, a job which he left in 1973 to accept a job as the head broadcaster at the [[University of Virginia]] where he called [[basketball]] and [[American football|football]] games. In 1977 he joined the broadcast team for the [[New York Yankees]]' AAA affiliate, the [[Columbus Clippers]], and in 1982 he moved up to the Yankees' major league broadcast crew, where he remained through 1986.
Gordon joined the Twins' broadcast crew on [[WCCO (AM)|WCCO 830 AM]] as [[Herb Carneal|Herb Carneal's]] partner in 1987, which ended up being a season in which the Twins would go on to defeat the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] in the [[1987 World Series]]. He remained with the Twins and started broadcasting alongside former Twin [[Dan Gladden]]. His longtime partner Carneal died April 1, 2007, at the age of 83 due to congestive heart failure.
Gordon announced that the 2011 season would be his last as play-by-play announcer for the Twins.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/115156014.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUoaK7D_V_eDc87DUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUoD3aPc:_27EQU|title=Twins announcer Gordon to retire after season|last=Christensen|first=Joe|work=Star Tribune|date=2011-02-03}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Twins held a ceremony before Gordon's last game to commemorate his years with the organization. At the end of the ceremony, Gordon's long-time broadcast partner Dan Gladden drove Gordon for a lap around the ballpark on a sidecar of a motorcycle. The Twins won Gordon's final game 1-0 on a walk-off hit by [[Trevor Plouffe]]. In 2016, he was elected to the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame.
==Personal life== John has a wife, Nancy, and two grown children. They make their home in [[Bloomington, MN]] and are very active supporters of the [[Fellowship of Christian Athletes]].
==Honors== Gordon was inducted into the [[South Atlantic League Hall of Fame]] for his work with the Spartanburg Phillies on June 19, 2001, and into the [[Pavek Museum of Broadcasting]] Hall of Fame in 2008.
==Filmography== Gordon played fictional Twins broadcaster Wally Holland in the 1994 movie ''[[Little Big League]]''.
==See also== *[[Minnesota Twins]] *[[Herb Carneal]]
==External links== *[http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=min#gordon John Gordon broadcaster biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016154205/http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=min#gordon |date=2012-10-16 }} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070304094827/http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/schedule/trn.jsp Twins Radio Network] *[http://www.pavekmuseum.org/hall.htm Pavek Museum Hall of Fame]
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, John}} [[Category:1940 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American radio sports commentators]] [[Category:Baltimore Orioles announcers]] [[Category:College basketball announcers in the United States]] [[Category:College football announcers]] [[Category:Indiana University alumni]] [[Category:Major League Baseball broadcasters]] [[Category:Minnesota Twins announcers]] [[Category:Minor League Baseball broadcasters]] [[Category:New York Yankees announcers]] [[Category:Radio personalities from Detroit]]