SURPRISE, Ariz.—On a cool and overcast April afternoon in 2007, the baseball gods created a moment to transfix a big crowd.
Boston’s Curt Schilling, a World Series hero and one of the game’s most celebrated pitchers, got the sign and threw to the season’s most celebrated rookie hitter.
The bases were loaded in the season opener. The count was 3-2. A memory for everyone in Kauffman Stadium was in the making.
Refusing to be intimidated, the can’t-miss kid fouled off a couple of the wily veteran’s best pitches.
But then came a sneaky fastball inside. Alex Gordon took a mighty swing and struck out.
For Gordon, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2005 draft, baseball’s been a .250 affair ever since.
The question as Kansas City goes about an optimistic spring training is will that continue for Gordon? Is he destined to forever be a .250 hitter? Or might this be his breakout season, the year he finally gets traction as the All-Star third baseman just about every scout in the major leagues projected him to be.
As it turns out, there’s more than hope to hearten patient fans of the polite and soft-spoken Nebraska native.
During the winter months, Gordon quietly beat a path to the baseball instruction facility run by Kevin Seitzer, the former Royals third baseman who’s in his first season as the Royals’ hitting coach. Joe Randa, another former KC third baseman, also took part in many of the intense, advanced classes on both hitting and fielding.
Gordon’s not willing to disclose exactly what they worked on.
“Mostly it was just little things, small adjustments that might help, things I believe I can improve on,” he said. “I’m not going to go into details.”
But he has been going over the fences. Against Cleveland on Tuesday, his quick left-handed bat sent a grand slam flying over the right-field fence. Facing Texas’ Doug Mathis on Wednesday, he lined a solo shot in the same direction.
“I kind of want to save those for the season, but it does feel good,” he said.
Seitzer is stressing attitude and approach.
“Don’t try to do too much,” Seitzer said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, that you want to try to keep hitters in a more even keel, to where they can stay within themselves and stay under control.”
His slow getaway to what’s supposed to be a spectacular major league career has frustrated the seemingly unflappable Gordon more than the public might suppose.
“Regardless of what he tells you guys, he’s hard on himself,” manager Trey Hillman told reporters. “He’ll tell you guys a thousand times in a row he doesn’t let it get to him. But man, I think he beats himself up when he’s not where his expectations are, even when it’s early in camp. But the last couple days he’s loosened up a bit.”
The weight of great expectations has always rested on Gordon’s muscular shoulders. He was just the fourth Royal to make his debut in the starting lineup when he faced Schilling that April day in 2007.
And it’s not that his numbers have been horrible his first two seasons. In 2007 in 151 games he hit 247 with 15 home runs and 60s RBIs.
The following year saw only slight improvement—.260 in 134 games, with 16 homers and 59 RBIs.
It all adds up to a lifetime major league average of .250, far short of expectations and far short of some other members of the 2005 class who were drafted behind him.
Ryan Zimmerman hit .287 with 20 homers and 110 RBIs as Washington’s third baseman in 2006. Ryan Braun, another third baseman, was National League rookie of the year for Milwaukee in 2007 when he hit .324 with 34 homers and 97 RBIs.
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, another first-rounder from the ’07 class, hit .291 with 24 home runs and 99 RBIs as the starting shortstop in Colorado’s run to the World Series in 2007.
Could it be that Gordon puts too much pressure on himself?
“No,” he answers quickly. “I care about this team. I care about my teammates. When we lose, I take it pretty rough.”
That bases-loaded at-bat against Schilling two years ago “seems like it was 10 years ago,” he said.
“And that’s a good thing.”
But it’s also hard to let go of entirely.
“That would have been pretty cool,” he said, “if I’d hit a home run.”
