His personal showcase began in the top of the third inning, when he looped a bases-clearing, broken-bat double to right field off Chris Tillman to give Kansas City an early lead. Wilson in Kansas City's Division Series-clinching win over the Angels, and he was a one-man band in Game 1 against Baltimore. ![]() Gordon provided the big early hit off C.J. The Alex Gordon version 1.0 still has plenty to offer when the the lights are bright and the stakes are at their highest. Nine years after the Royals selected Gordon with the second pick in the draft amid oppressive expectations, Kansas City fans are fine with the realization that he'll never be the second coming off George Brett. To see him get hit in the head and walk to first base like nothing happened, it's unbelievable.'' That just shows you how tough he is and how much character he has. He just wanted to get his helmet and walk to first base, and he would have told the trainers to go back if he could. "I don't think that thought even crossed his mind. "I honestly don't think for a second Gordo was coming out of that game,'' teammate Mike Moustakas said. But the players and coaches in the Royals' dugout knew if Gordon was physically OK, he was going to shrug off the scare as a minor inconvenience. Many in the crowd of 47,124 wouldn't have been surprised if Gordon took a right turn and headed for the dugout. After Gordon walked slowly to first base, a Royals trainer stood in front of him, waved fingers in his face and performed the usual concussion protocols. With sidearmer Darren O'Day on the mound for the Baltimore Orioles, Gordon crushed an 87-mph fastball over the right-field fence to break a tie and propel the Royals to a draining, thoroughly-entertaining 8-6 victory at Camden Yards on Friday night.īut if a single encounter could define what Gordon means to his team, it came two innings earlier, when he provided a window into his understated brand of Nebraska Cornhusker toughness.īaltimore's Andrew Miller, who's such a challenge to hit it's almost unfair, threw a 94-mph heater up and in that struck Gordon in the back of the neck before ricocheting off his batting helmet. Gordon signed a one-year contract to return this season, and he never considered opting out when the coronavirus pandemic caused spring training to be halted and forced Major League Baseball to play a dramatically reduced 60-game schedule.— - BALTIMORE - The Alex Gordon moment that Kansas City Royals fans will treasure from the American League Championship Series opener came in the top of the 10th inning. His tying shot off Mets closer Jeurys Familia in Game 1 forced extra innings, and the Royals won in 14 to set the tone for the rest of the World Series. It was during the 2015 that Gordon hit one of the iconic homers in Royals history. ![]() The Royals wound up losing to the Giants in a seven-game thriller, but they returned to the Fall Classic the following year and beat the Mets in five games to win the World Series. Gordon won the first of three defensive player of the year awards in 2014, when he helped Kansas City return to the World Series for the first time since its 1985 championship. He is the only outfielder to earn seven Gold Gloves in a nine-year span, a number that trails only White’s eight for the most in franchise history, and there are enough replays of him crashing into the outfield wall at Kauffman Stadium or throwing out a runner at the plate to run for hours. While he never quite hit with the kind of average the Royals hoped he would, Gordon did through sheer grit turn himself into one of the best defensive players in the game. The three-time All-Star also holds the dubious distinction of being the Royals' career leader in getting hit by pitches. He heads into a weekend four-game series against Detroit with the third-most walks (682), fourth-most homers (190), fifth-most doubles (357) and sixth-most games played (1,749) in club history. He wound up playing his entire 14-year career in Kansas City, joining only George Brett and Frank White as position players with that much longevity with the franchise. ![]() He made his big league debut two years later and, after a few years shuttling back and forth to the minors, moved from third base to the outfield and finally found success. Gordon was the second overall pick in the 2005 first-year player draft following a standout career at Nebraska, where he won the Golden Spikes Award as the best amateur in baseball. (AP) - Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon, the former first-round pick whose rollercoaster career took him from near bust to All-Star and Gold Glove winner, announced Thursday he will retire after the season.
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