Alex Gordon is the original modern Royal. He was here before anyone else. Before Ned, before Dayton, before Salvy. He made his big-league debut a year before the Kauffman Stadium renovation. Significant, then, that this might be his last ride.
Hes talked about it with his wife. He doesnt know. Maybe hell retire. He has three kids at home, and he misses them fiercely. Maybe hell keep going. He does love this game. He loves it especially now, which is a weird thing to say, because the Royals lost 104 games last season.
I just want to have fun, he said. Last year, the first half sucked. We were just terrible. Then, I dont know why, but it just switched. We were having fun. Even though we were losing, it was a fun group to be part of. Thats what I want this year.
Fun.
Gordon, 35, used that word eight times in a 14-minute conversation for this column, which might be a career high. He is not a killjoy. Hes really funny, actually, when the mood and opportunity match.
But baseball has always been serious. He was on magazine covers before his first day of pro ball. Just making it was never enough. Gordon was supposed to be great, and he understands this.
Nobody works harder. He is so diligent that during the teams championship party in 2015 he ate a french fry and the place erupted with applause. That part hasnt changed. The dedication is still there.
The rest of it, though. The rest is different, and this isnt just a spring training trope.
Ive known Alex before he was married, before he was a family man, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Ive seen him grow into a dead-serious … just a workaholic, into somebody now who works every bit as hard but smarter. And can enjoy it more. Enjoy being around his teammates more.
Hes definitely learned to enjoy. He used to put so much pressure on himself. Now he just understands who he is.
Gordon is a baseball player, not a psychologist, and the rest of us could come up with a thousand theories for why this is. Maybe its perspective.
He has been a phenom and a bust and then an All-Star and a world champion. He was a failure at third base, and then the games best left fielder for a time. He struggled when everyone said he wouldnt, then soared when everyone said he couldnt. That has to change the way a man sees the world.
Ive kind of moved on from looking in the past, he said. OK, Ive played like crap the two years before last year, but why go back to that? Just focus on the future, have fun with it.
Another theory: maybe its the contract. Yost isnt kidding about Gordon putting pressure on himself. There was a time that Royals officials worried about his mind. This was back before the breakthrough, when he might go 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and take it out on the weight room, which often only made things worse.
People change over time, but those base instincts linger. Gordon signed a four-year, $72 million contract after the Royals world championship parade. It is still the richest deal in franchise history, both in total value and average salary. Wouldnt it make sense if he tried a little too hard to be worth the money?
