Bottom Line Communications™

(Note: Since this column was written Alex Gordon has again been sent down to the minor leagues.)

THE ALEX GORDON OF ROYALS FANS

John Landsberg, May 2010
     Last month a friend dejectedly reported that the Kansas City Royals had officially raised the white flag on the 2010 season.
   “I heard Frank White say the ‘The Royals record really does not reflect the quality of talent on this team,’” my friend said.  “That’s the kind of crap we have been hearing from the Royals since 1985. Boy, it gets old after awhile.”
    It’s tough on Royals fans to root for one of the worst teams in baseball for decades now.  I told my friend to follow my lead: Enjoy the Royals and wish them well, but don’t  get too invested in them. 
    I am a committed Royals fan about the same way Alex Gordon is committed as a Royals player.  Alex and I both would like the team to win, but neither of us is going to lose sleep over them one way or another.
    To say Gordon, 26, has pretty much sleepwalked through his Royals career would be an understatement. When he was drafted by the Royals in the first round in 2005 we were told he was going to be a “future George Brett.”   He was a “can’t miss” player.  Start preparing the Hall of Fame.
    This was a guy who batted a cool .485 in high school and was the “Gatorade Player of the Year” twice.  In college his three-year batting average was .353.  As a junior in 2005 he swept the collegiate baseball awards for college player of the year, winning the Dick Howser Trophy, Golden Spikes Award, the Brooks Wallace Award and the ABCA Rawlings Player of the Year. He was also an ESPY Award Finalist for the Best Male College Athlete. 
    In his first minor league season Gordon was an all-star.  In his second season he won Baseball America’s “Minor League Player of the Year” laurels.  It all seemed to come so easy to Gordon.
    With all those trophies and honors on his resume fans had every right to expect Gordon to make us forget Brett when he joined the Royals in 2007.  In his first at-bat with the Royals he came up with the bases loaded.  He struck out. 
    That pretty much was a preview of his career with the Royals.  
   And now, as he enters his fourth major league season, Gordon has a firm .250 batting average for his career.  Keep in mind that is about 20 points below the overall American League average for all players.
     To be fair, Gordon occasionally shows brief flashes that he could be a superstar, but most of the time he looks as if he is simply going through the motions.  Strike out?  So what.  Boot a ground ball?  Stuff happens.
    In 2007 he was batting a sizzling .185 after two months of the season; in 2008 he went on the disabled list, led the team in strikeouts and had the worst fielding percentage in the majors (kind of a triple crown for mediocrity). Last year he was injured for much of the season.    
    Gordon auspiciously started this season by getting injured sliding in spring training.  Maybe he is just unlucky.  Or, maybe he is fine with his .250 batting average and simply collect a nice paycheck.  
    The way Gordon acts toward the game is the way I have learned to act toward the Royals.  Sure, I could be a superstar fan and head to the stadium several times a season.  Why?  The team’s Wal-Mart owner did not become a zillionaire by spending money.  He seems perfectly happy to have the league pick up the tab for his team.
    When the Royals put a legitimate product on the field and Gordon starts acting like he cares about the team then I will.
   Until then, there are plenty of other things to do in Kansas City in the summer.