Former Husker and Kansas City Royals legend Alex Gordon was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame on Friday.
The Royals selected Gordon in the first round with the second overall pick in the 2005 MLB draft. Gordon’s career spanned 15 years, all with the Kansas City organization, including 14 seasons with the Royals. He retired in 2020 and has now cemented his name into the Royals Hall of Fame alongside other Kansas City greats.
“Very humbled by the honor and everything,” Gordon told reporters at his induction press conference. “I don’t know, in my eyes, am I the same as like a Bo Jackson or George Brett or something like that? So overwhelming, but at the same time excited.”
He said that although it doesn’t seem real yet, he’s very grateful and honored to be in this position for the team that he grew up watching and rooting for.
“Proud to be a Kansas City Royal as long as I’ve been,” Gordon said. “This was my team growing up and now that this is kind of unfolding, it’s a dream come true.”
Gordon played at third base when he started his first game in 2007 but transitioned to left field after the Royals called him back up in 2010. Gordon had a lot of success as a left fielder as well. He was also phenomenal at the plate, accumulating 1,643 hits, 749 RBIs and 190 home runs while batting .257 for his career with a .748 OPS. Gordon ranks in the Royals’ top 10 among many statistical categories including games played, RBIs, hits, home runs, doubles and walks.
He received multiple awards along the way including eight Gold Glove awards, three All-Star selections and a World Series title in 2015.
Throughout his years playing in the Big Leagues, Gordon said that he has a lot of great memories but that the friendships he’s made and the time spent with his teammates are the most important to him.
“I look at the memories I have with my teammates and everything,” Gordon said. “It’s not even about what I did on the field, it’s just what we did in the clubhouse, what we did on the plane flights, the dinners we had on the road and stuff like that. So obviously all those things are great, the championships are great, but the memories and friendships I’ve made over the years are what kind of means the most to me. Having these guys back, there are eight or nine, 10 guys back, sharing the memories and stories with them the past few days has been just fulfilling. So it’s been great.”
Gordon grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and has been a fan of the Royals since he was a kid. He said that it’s been a cool experience getting to play for his favorite team.
“It was always my dream to be a Major League baseball player when I was a little kid,” Gordon said. “Never would I have thought I would have been with Kansas City my entire career. Now sitting here today about ready to get inducted into the Hall of Fame, I can’t thank them enough. Like I said earlier, just blessed and honored to be in this kind of situation.”
Gordon credits his family’s support for helping him along his journey. He said that it’s been cool getting to experience this with them.
“You kind of look back on when you’re sitting up here and thinking about this achievement and you’re just thinking about the people that helped you along the way,” Gordon said. “Definitely my family, and my brothers, and everybody. So it’s good to reminisce and think about those people.”
With all of Gordon’s success through the years, he said that learning from his veteran teammates and his ability to remain the same person no matter the circumstance is something that he’s very pleased with.
“One thing I am proud about just is how I played this game, whether it was good or bad,” Gordon said. “I felt like the way I saw those guys did it, I just wanted to be that even keel guy no matter what. You didn’t know if I was four 4-for-4 or 0-for-4 the day before. You were going to get the same me every time I came in that clubhouse, whether it was how I acted or how I worked. So that’s what, I think looking back right now, what I’m most proud of.”
Gordon had a number of trademarked gameday traditions, including having a pine tar streak across his nameplate on his jersey. The team honored him on Friday by having each player implement this on each of their uniforms. Gordon said that it was neat seeing the team honor him in this way.
“It’s pretty cool,” Gordon said. ” I can’t speak on how much it means to me. They didn’t have to do that. I think I heard someone, one of the players, kind of had the idea to do that, so that’s what even means more.”
Before joining the Royals, the Lincoln Southeast product put together a Huskers career that landed him in both the Nebraska Athletics and the College Baseball halls of fame. He won the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award in 2005. The former Husker said that he has a lot of great memories playing with the Big Red, one of his favorites being making it to the College World Series.
“I’ll never forget taking a bus to Omaha,” Gordon said. “When we got there, the crowd was just banging on our bus. We kind of felt like rock stars in college, so that was one of the coolest moments.”
Gordon received a bit of rockstar treatment in Kansas City over the weekend for his Royals Hall of Fame induction. After a decade and a half of competing in a Royals uniform, he’s earned his place among other franchise greats.
