Gordon Nell

Gordon Nell (August 17, 1907 – May 22, 1986) was a minor league baseball player who hit over 350 career home runs. He won five home run titles and a Triple Crown.

He was born in Hollis, Oklahoma Territory. His professional career began in either 1929 or 1930, when he played for the Joplin Miners and Muskogee Chiefs; he led the Western Association with 27 home runs and also hit .351 with 107 runs scored. He hit 38 home runs with the Chiefs in 1931, again leading the league in homers. He also hit a home run in a brief stay with the Minneapolis Millers. After hitting 23 home runs between 1932 and 1933, Nell left professional baseball, not playing from 1934 to 1938.

In 1939, the outfielder returned, playing for the Pampa Oilers of the West Texas–New Mexico League. He would spend most of the rest of his career in the WTNML. In his first year back, he hit .392 with 44 home runs, 60 doubles, 207 hits, a .786 slugging percentage and 415 total bases in 135 games. He led the league in hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored (152), RBI (189), total bases and slugging percentage and he tied Sammy Hale for the league lead in batting average to win the Triple Crown. His hitting was so prodigious that he was considered the "bane of pitchers the league over" and "one of the most feared hitters in the country."

Overall, Nell hit around .335 with 359 home runs, 403 doubles, 1,416 RBI, 1,183 runs, 1,803 hits and a .635 slugging percentage in his 12-year career.

He died in Borger, Texas.