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| 1940, with Portland Babes |
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| 1945, with Guistina Reds |
1942, Portland, .339 - 21 hits, 62 at-bats, 15 games
1943-7-19 named best infielder of state tournament
1943-7-27 avg player of Firemen 18 yrs. 2 mths. old - oldest 28 - youngest are two, tied, at 16.
In Portland City League, scored 142 runs and allowed 13 - out of 12 games, lost only to Camp Adair club - made up almost exclusively of former pros 1943-8-03 hit .583 for Firemen - 35 hits, 60 at-bats - brother of Ray Koch who played with Joe Gordon at U. of Oregon - "would have made majors but for trick knee"
1943-8-18 Portland Firemen (national semi-pro tournament)
finished 7th going against teams with players like Cecil Travis, Pete Reiser, etc.
1944-8-9 Howard Hobson also in NY but too busy to have seen Koch play yet - has talked to him on phone
1944-8-24 now this says he was 4-F bc of perforated eardrum
1944-10-18 does not mind having given up college eligibility for baseball - will not play indpt. ball over winter bc of bad knee - "knee bothered him very little last summer but he played with a brace" - knee was what made him 4-F
1945-6-29 Had been discovered by Dodgers in tryout camp in Waters park.
Cascade League
1945 Giustina Reds .313 - 4 home runs (1st), 20 hits, 64 at-bats, 16 games, 13 runs scored,
9 stolen bases,
1946 Reds .362 (4th) - 25 hits, 69 at-bats, 16 games, 15 runs scored, 2 triples, 15 RBI (tied for lead)
1948 Lumbermen (.416) 3b - 37 hits, 89 at-bats, 16 runs scored
1947 Portland McElroy Dancers Southwestern Oregon League
1949 Roseburg (MVP) .389 - 21 hits, 54 at-bats - AVG tied for 9th in league
1951 CB-NB - State champions -
1952 Roseburg Chiefs batting < .300 as of 8-16
1953 DrainCollege: University of Oregon
Was with the University of Oregon Webfoots basketball team for the 1943-44 season, which was named the top civilian team of the pacific northwest. He scored but 7 points in 12 games, and it looks like he was the shortest player on the squad.
1944-2-28 4F
- "disgruntled over financial relations with Eugene."
1934-8-24 Gordon is hardest hitter on the team - Koch also a hard hitter
1935-6-19 All-Star 2b of Northern Division Conference - he hit .319, Gordon hit .415.
1935-7-28 w/ three MLB scouts watching Gordon & Koch juggle ball all over
1937-12-19 article abt signing players to pros out of college
1939-4-27 Howard Hobson had tried to convince Gordon & Koch to finish school but they didn't listen
now Gordon is with the Yankees - and Koch is a failure, a semi-pro
could Barney Koch's brother's bad result of leaving school have affected his decision to finish school instead of continue with the Dodgers? It must have been a factor.
"Nearly every college coach has an 'understanding' with a big-league club or a representative of same. Actually the mentors are major league talent scouts."
Howard Hobson very against this - very against players quitting school - "1000-1 chance of making majors" & even if they do make majors, still valuable to have college education to fall back upon.
Gordon completed his bachelor's degree at U of O in PE in 1939.
1940-10-16 w/ Gordon, "Oregon's greatest collegiate infield combination in history."
1966-6-26 manager of Inglewood Golf & Country Club
1941 Eugene teammate of Barney
1935-8-10 Albany Democrat-Herald"Ray Koch, 2b is also associated with deals with major league teams. Koch is a more spectacular player than Gordon. A ball that Gordon would handle in an easy conventional manner, Koch is apt to handle while turning a flip-flop or while sliding on his ear.
Koch and Gordon started playing together in high school and Junior American Legion baseball. Ray Brooks, now manager of Hop Gold, took them from high school and started them on the East Side Babes of the State League. Following several summer seasons on Brooks' team, they started to the University of Oregon and last year played for Eugene. "
1941-6-01 Eugene Guard"Used to give us the heebie-jeebies by attempting to stretch singles into doubles... He failed to follow Gordon because of knee injury.
Ray Koch is a known quantity at short stop. He starred with Joe Gordon at the U. of O. and was considered at that time to be [his equal]."
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| 1934-6-24, Eugene Guard |
