Alex Gordon's (leftfielder for the Kansas City Royals) baseball career has been a roller-coaster. He came up to the Bigs in 2007 with the unreasonable expectations of "George Brett's heir apparent."
As a square peg, he was forced into the round hole of 3rd base, with basically "take your boyish looks, sweet lefthanded swing, and go be George."
Didn't work. Over time, and trips back and forth to the minors, he made himself into one of the best outfielders in the history of baseball. His work ethics are second to none - and in this unfortunate day and age of 'great yuck' of sport's news here in Kansas City, he is THE example of what you want in a person, a teammate, a husband, father, etc.
Doubt surfaced again the last couple years as he struggled with injuries that were at least partly responsible for not playing as well as he did early in his career. "The Royals are stuck with him contractually" many would say. Thankfully, he hasn't listened.
He's off to the best start in his career - but (as most who like to write but we can't spout out) the main message here is, he's having fun - while he still can.
Stolen from KC Star this morning "He is 35, but his 35 is a lot different than a lot of other people's 35 because of the way he takes care of himself" says teammate Whit Merrifield.
The stuff I really enjoy seeing: his ever present (pardon my French) shit-eaten grin... him, pregame, knocking the glove out of a rookie pitcher's hand.. coming up behind a youngster (Ryan O'Hearn, hitting sub .200, obviously with the weight of the world on his shoulders) and Gordo body bumping him from behind after O'Hearn finally managed to hit a double in the gap. Psychological stuff like that tells O'Hearn "lighten up big boy, you got this.. take a deep breath, smile, let your hair down and enjoy." Valuable stuff like that ain't in his contract, but it's in his heart, his way, his being.
Yes, he sees light at end of tunnel, again quoting from the Star "I know as you get older you start to realize that you might not be playing this game as long as you want to. At times, you just want to go out there and have fun and enjoy it,"..
Ain't that kinda like life?
Over time I watched my father inlaw play golf. He was pretty decent. His skill level, of course, waned with age, but undeterred he moved from the blue tees (furthest back) to the white tees (closer to hole, reserved for those 60 and up), to taking the backroads (he knew Interstate was out of his reach age wise) to a small par three course - until the day he never played again. He enjoyed. He appreciated. He had fun.
Golf tournament yesterday. The "Bubba Boys" tourney. The Bubba Boys is a group of, mostly old codgers who've run off more than one woman due to our own flub-ups, so we gather at Happy Hour to bad-mouth 'em! Three or four times a year we organize a tourney to butcher golf courses, tell war-stories, give to a charity, and live in the moment.
I suck at golf. I will never be the heir apparent to Tom Watson. I also know that "you might not be playing this game as long as you want to."
We pick golf courses ya ain't gotta drive the Interstate to get to. Scorecards are gathered after the 18th hole, briefly perused, then just as quickly tossed in the trash.
Whatever in life (cooking, gardening, reading, needlepoint, Nascar, classic cars, yada) floats your boat, don't stop sailing. Go. Do. Enjoy. Take the backroads if ya haveta.
Fun is out there and it's basically free. I just texted my playing partner "I had a blast, thanks for playing, fun, until we forget each other's name."
Have fun, wouldya?
Love, Victud
No comments:
Post a Comment