A few Gordon stories you probably haven’t heard (and probably wouldn’t want to miss)
When I started covering the Kansas City Royals in 2010, Alex Gordon was considered a bit of a bust ... and that’s being generous. He hit just .215 that season and, to make matters worse, some fans thought he didn’t really care.
Generally speaking, Gordon didn’t throw bats or helmets or beat water coolers to death after striking out, and some people saw that as indifference.
Turned out, Gordon was pretty much the poster boy for stoicism — I once saw him get hit by a pitch in the back of the neck and just sort of shrug it off. And once he started having some success, that same calm demeanor was no longer seen as indifference; it was seen as a sign of cool professionalism.
Gordon didn’t change. We did.
Chewing-tobacco challenge
Because he was so quiet, and I mistakenly assumed that meant he didn’t want to talk, Gordon and I didn’t have all that much of a relationship until Jeff Francoeur came to the Royals; Frenchy was as outgoing as Alex was subdued.
After watching a player prepare some chewing tobacco for the next day’s game — players would put it in a giant baggy and keep it on the bench for the guys who chewed — I asked Jeff how long he thought I could chew tobacco without barfing.
In Frenchy’s professional opinion: five minutes.
So the next day I was going to try chewing tobacco and most of the team showed up to watch, mainly because they wanted to see a member of the media puke his guts out.
To my surprise, Gordon asked if he could hold the stopwatch. In the next five minutes of conversation, I figured out that Alex Gordon was a nice guy — he was just a very quiet nice guy.
After five minutes of dip in my lip, I asked to try the long-leaf chewing tobacco, which is the stuff that makes ballplayers’ cheeks bulge out. To be perfectly honest, I was showing off; I was pretending the dip didn’t faze me and was ready to try the long-leaf.
At that point Royals pitcher Felipe Paulino walked up and said: “You’re the most man I ever seen.”
Well, the most man he’d ever seen then went up to the press box feeling like he’d swallowed an inner tube wrapped around a live eel and took a nap before the game. I could never face dinner that night because I knew it wouldn’t stay down for long.
But it was worth it because it made the players laugh, which opened up some relationships. And one of those relationships was with Gordon.
Footprints in the grass
So now Gordon and I were having conversations on a regular basis, and one day we were sitting on the Royals bench. Right next to us, Gordon had placed three pieces of bubble gum laid out in a straight line.
Greg Holland walked up, grabbed a piece of gum, unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. Gordon wasn’t happy. Holly had less seniority, so Gordon told him to go back to the clubhouse and get him another piece of gum. Holly did it.
That incident made me wonder about Gordon and his pre-game preparation. Teammates confirmed he was very organized and followed a certain routine religiously. The three pieces of bubble gum were part of his ritual.
So one night I’m sitting up in the sixth-floor press box and I notice two white footprints on the grass just outside the Royals’ dugout.
I asked Trevor Vance — the guy in charge of the grass — about those footprints and he said that’s where Gordon stands when he’s on deck. We’ve asked him to stand somewhere else on occasion, Vance explained, because he’s killing the grass ... and he says he can’t.
So when Gordon came up for free agency and everybody wondered if he would go play in another city, I was thinking he’d re-sign with the Royals. I would’ve bet money on it, in fact. If a guy is so locked into his routine that he can’t change where he stands on deck, what are the chances he’s going to play in different city?
And he didn’t.
What 10 years of diet and exercise won’t do for you
Sports reporters see professional athletes naked on a regular basis, and the less said about that the better.
Nevertheless … Gordon’s physique is impressive.
The first time I saw him with his shirt off, I thought, “So that’s what humans are supposed to look like.” He is in such good shape it even impresses other professional athletes.
One day, as Gordon walked by without a shirt on, infielder Chris Getz looked at him, then looked at me, and said: “Y’know, if we ate right and started working out every day, in 10 years we still won’t look like that.”
Getz and I agreed there was no point in trying. And I can’t speak for Getz, but I’ve kept my word on that.
Go where he goes, do what he does
This next story comes from Royals outfield coach Rusty Kuntz.
A player who had been up to the big leagues on several occasions, but kept getting sent back to the minors, asked Rusty what he should do if he wanted to make his stay in the major leagues permanent.
Rusty pointed at Gordon and said: “Go where he goes, do what he does.”
I asked Rusty how long the player was able to keep up with Gordon and the answer was, “A couple days.”
You don’t win seven Gold Gloves without putting in the work. And while a lot of players think they want to be Gold Glovers, not all of those players are willing to work that hard for them.
One more thing to hate about the coronavirus
For the last 14 years Kansas City Royals fans have gotten to watch a ballplayer whose dedication and work ethic inspires awe in other ballplayers.
On Sunday, Gordon will walk off a big-league field for the last time. And he ought to walk off to a standing ovation, but he won’t because fans can’t be at Kauffman Stadium in person due to COVID-19.
I’m going to assume that once fans are allowed to come back and watch games live, the Royals will have some kind of event that will allow Kansas City to say thanks to Gordon in person.
Gordon deserves that.
Because the guy some fans assumed didn’t care at all turned out to work harder and care more than just about anybody else.
In case you hadn’t noticed, many things going on right now suck. The fact that Alex Gordon will finish a 14-year career in the big leagues without a stadium full of fans saying thanks is high on that list.