Gordon has given no clear indication on which way he is leaning. Because there’s a chance that this will be it, that one of the most decorated careers in Royals history will conclude in a shortened season with no fans and no cheers and no proper sendoff. It was easy to forget about Gordon again. He returned to the Royals on a one-year contract because he wasn’t ready to walk away, and because new manager Mike Matheny offered fresh energy, and because, after an improved offensive performance in 2019, he hoped to help with the ongoing rebuild. Not to mention, Gordon is 36 now, and he pondered retirement last winter, when his four-year, $72 million contract expired. The season has been historically short, and there hav been many other storylines to follow in Kansas City. His team started 14-28 and fell out the race. In fact, I presume there are Royals fans who haven’t thought much about him. You probably haven’t thought much about Alex Gordon this season. So if that’s the least of your worries, then so be it.” “If you’re not playing well, then stuff is gonna get said,” he said. It didn’t matter what people thought, he said. So, as we sat a table near a batting cage and I started to ask a question about his first years in Kansas City, he cut in. It was almost always in the same deadpan. Sometimes he’d offer a sly smile, realizing he was about to do you a favor and offer something good. In close to a decade of covering him, I can’t remember him turning down an interview or ducking a question. Which is not to say he was unfriendly to reporters. Gordon has never been one to fill up a notebook. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but I do remember that it consisted of just two or three words and a general answer of “OK.” When I showed up to watch Gordon hit that morning eight years ago, I was curious what he thought about that change.Ī few days earlier, I had approached him at a Royals FanFest event and asked if I could come watch a workout. The cold and clinical approach became a fastidious attention to detail. In Kansas City, the old perceptions melted away. 303 with 23 homers and 45 doubles while winning a Gold Glove Award. And when the 2011 season came around, he batted. Dominate? But he revamped his swing with Seitzer. But he made a famous promise, telling Kansas City Star beat writer Bob Dutton that he’d “dominate next year.” It was, amazingly, one of the most uncharacteristic declarations of his career. When Gordon returned from Omaha near the end of the 2010 season, he still wasn’t hitting. (Albert Dickson / Sporting News via Getty Images)īut Gordon was stoic by nature, an introvert who expressed himself in a flat deadpan, so when the injuries happened and the production didn’t come, so many people had questions: Why didn’t he show more emotion? Was he moping? Frustrated? How much did he really care? 352 on-base percentage.Alex Gordon in 2006. 260 with 16 homers and 59 RBIs, finishing third among AL third basemen with a. 285 with 12 homers and 52 RBIs in his final 98 games. He’s doing some productive things swing-wise, but … there’s a lot going on in his mind right now.”Īs a rookie in 2007, Gordon got off to a slow start before batting. “He’s got a lot of things going on right now. The hip is feeling good but we felt like for at least a couple-of-week period, let him get down there and take a little pressure off,” he said. “We moved Alex and decided to give him an opportunity to put some joy back in the game,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said before Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox. He was sent to Triple-A Omaha to make room for reliever Kyle Farnsworth, who was activated from the disabled list after missing 48 games with a groin strain.Ĭonsidered a cornerstone of the last-place team’s rebuilding plans, Gordon missed three months after undergoing surgery April 17 to repair torn cartilage in his right hip. 198 and committed five errors in 29 games this season. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close MenuĬHICAGO-Alex Gordon, regarded in spring training as one of baseball’s top prospects, was demoted to the minor leagues Tuesday by the Kansas City Royals.
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