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Perhaps more important, Don, as Zack’s father, is simply glad his son seems to have beaten the clinical depression and social anxiety that threatened his career two years ago.
“Zack is still Zack, and he’s always going to be a little different,” Don told me by phone from Florida on Wednesday. “But he has seemed more like himself in the last year. He’s very relaxed and calm.
“We haven’t seen any problems. To be honest, we really haven’t worried about him since he started getting the proper treatment (and medication).”
Naturally, Don will be glued to the television today and his Extra Innings baseball package to catch his son’s season debut.
“It’s a tough way to open against Detroit and that lineup,” Don said. “And then he’s got the Yankees next week. That’s tough. But that’s life in the American League. If you’re going to be a starter in this league, you have to be prepared for that.
“But Zack seems ready for it. He had a good off-season, spent a little more time in Kansas City. He enjoys being in the rotation. We just hope this will be a great year for him.”
More patience?
The message to Royals fans from Fox’s national baseball analyst Tim McCarver is to hang with the Royals’ current regime.
“The Royals have made some improvements over the last year and a half,” McCarver said in a teleconference call Wednesday. “The problem is, they’re in the toughest division in baseball, I believe.
“They’ve made improvements but it’s not showing up fast enough to satisfy the fan base, and that’s because of the division they play in.”
Royal hunks?
The Royals are taking a stab at marketing their players as beefcakes in a calendar. Check out the Web site royals.mlblogs.com and click on the calendar link.
The other Gordon
Remember that there is another Gordon playing baseball in Kansas City — that would be Alex Gordon’s younger brother, Brett.
Brett Gordon, 21, is a junior infielder on the Park University baseball team (and yes, Brett is named after George Brett, and yes, he wears No. 5).
Brett Gordon is off to a fine start this season, hitting .362 with no homers and 11 RBIs.
Make ’em notice
There’s no time for Ryan Shealy to mope about not making the Royals’ opening-day roster. It will be his job to earn a trip back to Kansas City.
“Shealy will be getting at-bats down here, and we expect him to put numbers up and swing the bat well,” Omaha Royals manager Mike Jirschele told the Omaha World-Herald. “He has to make (the Royals’ front office) want him.”
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