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.
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 began his tenure with the Mariners by playing center field in 2018, and started playing left field in 2020. In 2015, in his first season with the Marlins, Strange-Gordon hit .333 with 205 hits and stole 58 bases. 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 Jackie Robinson in 1949. Through the 2010s, Strange-Gordon stole 330 bases, the most of any MLB player of the decade.
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, Strange-Gordon'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) in Avon Park, Florida. He then played at Seminole Community College, and NAIA school Southeastern University, all in central Florida.
The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Strange-Gordon 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".
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. He was assigned to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes to start 2011. At that time, 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 stole one 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 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. 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 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 DeJesús, and shortstop Gordon. Gordon was leading the league in stolen bases when he tore the UCL in his right thumb on a successful steal of third base on July 4 against the Cincinnati Reds. He did not rejoin the club until September 11, by which time the club had acquired Hanley Ramírez to play shortstop. With his starting spot gone, Gordon was relegated to a pinch running role the remainder of the season. Overall, in 2012, he played in 87 games and hit .228 with 32 steals. After the season, he played for the Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Winter League.
He began 2013 back in Triple-A with the Isotopes and was called up to the Dodgers on May 4 after an injury to Ramírez. He played in 19 games, during which he hit a poor .175, and was optioned back to Triple-A. He rejoined the Dodgers late in the season and was used primarily as a pinch runner. He stole 10 bases in 12 attempts for the Dodgers in 2013 while hitting .231 in 38 games. Later in the season, the Isotopes started playing Gordon at second base and he played center field in the Dominican Winter League in an attempt to improve his versatility.
Gordon beat out Alex Guerrero to become the Dodgers starting second baseman for the 2014 season. He hit .301 in the first half of the season, while leading the league in triples (9) and steals (42), and he was selected to the National League squad at the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. At the All-Star game at Target Field, when Gordon was in the on-deck circle, Derek Jeter told Fox TV commentators how amazing it was to see Dee there, also playing as an All-Star, having first met him at age 15 when his father Tom was then pitching for the Yankees. Gordon had entered the game as a pinch-runner in the fourth inning, scoring the game-tying run. Overall, he went 0–1, but made a strong fielding play at second base, sliding to his right to grab a ground ball to end the sixth inning.
Gordon finished the 2014 season with 64 stolen bases, the most in Major League Baseball. It was the first time a Dodgers player had led the Major League in stolen bases since Davey Lopes stole 77 bases in 1975. He hit .289 in over 600 at-bats and also led the majors with 12 triples. He was selected as a Sporting News National League all-star.
On December 10, 2014, Gordon was traded to the Miami Marlins, along with Dan Haren and Miguel Rojas, in exchange for Andrew Heaney, Chris Hatcher, Austin Barnes, and Enrique Hernández. Gordon recorded his 50th hit of the season in the Marlins' 28th game on May 7, 2015, tying Rogers Hornsby's 1924 Major League record for fewest team games required to reach 50 hits. After 28 games, Gordon led the major leagues with a .437 batting average. On May 22, Gordon stole four bases in a game against the Baltimore Orioles. In a June 30 home game against the San Francisco Giants, Gordon hit his first inside-the-park home run. The home run against pitcher Ryan Vogelsong scored three runs. It was also the first inside-the-park homer at Marlins Park. Gordon batted .333 for the season, winning the National League batting title and leading the majors in infield hits (36) and bunt hits (16) and winning his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
On January 18, 2016, Gordon signed a five-year contract extension with the Marlins worth $50 million. On April 29, Major League Baseball suspended Gordon for 80 games due to performance-enhancing drugs use. He tested positive for exogenous testosterone and clostebol.