A World Series champ again, ex-Royal Terrance Gore’s career is unlike any in history
“A winner is someone who recognizes God’s given talents, develops that talent into skill, and uses that skill to reach their ultimate goal.”
Those words are on former Royals outfielder Terrance Gore’s Twitter profile, and that philosophy has guided him through one of the more unique careers in baseball history.
Royals fans remember Gore’s impact during the best two-year run in the franchise’s existence. Wearing jersey No. 0, Gore vexed opposing teams with his blazing speed as the Royals advanced to the World Series in 2014 and 2015, winning it in their second try.
While fleet of foot, Gore has never found sustained success as a hitter, as he has a career batting average of .236 over 11 seasons in the major and minor leagues.
But Gore recognized he was blessed with game-changing speed, which is coveted by managers in the late innings of postseason games, and parlayed it into multiple championships.
Although he appeared in only one regular-season or postseason game for Atlanta — as a pinch runner in Game 2 of the National League Division Series — Gore is again a World Series champion, this time with the Braves.
It’s the third title for Gore, who was with the Dodgers in 2020 and the Royals in 2015.
“Always say.. whatever your talent is show it off. And make that special talent stand out from others,” Gore wrote in a Twitter message.
Gore’s career postseason stats are unlike any in the history of the game: 10 games played, zero hits, two plate appearances, five stolen bases and three World Series rings.
Since making his big-league debut in 2014, Gore has appeared in only 102 career regular-season games with a .224 average, 40 stolen bases, one triple, one RBI and two doubles.
In that time, he’s played in 735 minor-league games, often while waiting for the calendar to reach September when big-league rosters expand.
Gore, who was picked by the Royals in the 20th round of the 2011 draft, is the Forrest Gump of baseball postseasons. In addition to the trio of World Series tiles, he was in the playoffs with the Royals in 2014 and the Cubs in 2018.
Additionally, Gore was in the Yankees organization when they made the playoffs in 2019.
Gore, who was picked by the Royals in the 20th round of the 2011 draft, has more World Series rings than Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ted Williams combined.
That quartet collected a combined 13,907 career hits. Gore has 15.
“I’ve been told I’ve been fast my whole life,” Gore told the Des Moines Register in 2018, shortly before joining the Cubs. “So I’m just taking that talent and running with it.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 12:44 PM.
