Hard Ball

Royals fans expect Alex Gordon to put Kansas City back on the baseball map. But after his rocky debut, the phenom is just trying to find a few hits

It's opening day at Kauffman Stadium, and they've rolled out the blue carpet for all the Royals. But rookie third baseman Alex Gordon draws the loudest cheers. Kansas City fans have been waiting for this moment since the team made Gordon the second overall pick of the 2005 draft. They've all heard that the 6'1", 220-pound, lefthanded hitter is the second coming of George Brett—even Brett himself says so—and that helps soothe the hurt of back-to-back-to-back 100-loss seasons and no playoff appearances since 1985. "To have my first big league game in this stadium is very, very exciting," says the 23-year-old Gordon, a lifelong Royals fan from Lincoln, Neb., who used to make the three-hour drive with his dad and three brothers a few times a year. "The waterfalls are what I remember most from when I was 6 or 7 years old." When he comes to bat with the bases juiced in the first against Curt Schilling, the fans get playoff loud. Alas, Gordon swings over a splitter in the dirt and strikes out. The phenom goes 0-for-3, but the Royals trounce the Red Sox 7-1. Later, fans wait by the players parking lot to get an autograph or catch a glimpse. A young girl holds a sign: "The Royals are resurrected." Not that Gordon feels much like a savior. "I'm glad we won," he says. "But I'm the last guy in the world who wanted to strike out in my first major league at-bat with the bases loaded."

AT 11:30 A.M. on Tuesday, Gordon is all dressed up to meet a ballroom full of corporate sponsors at the Hyatt Regency with the rest of the Royals. He presses the flesh and makes polite conversation, but his mind is elsewhere. Maybe he's thinking about his Opening Day 0-fer. Or perhaps he's wondering if he'll have enough underwear to get through the week. Before leaving spring training, he loaded his 2005 Escalade with all his worldly possessions, but the truck that was transporting the SUV to KC broke down along the way. So Gordon is living out of a suitcase in the two-bedroom condo he's renting downtown. "My brother had to bring me a bunch of clothes yesterday," he says. After lunch, he'll head to the U. of Kansas to visit his fiancée, Jamie Boesche, a grad student in social work. "We take turns going to see each other," Gordon says. As he waits outside the Hyatt for his rental car, he's swarmed. Security intercedes so that no one gets hit by oncoming traffic. He's not in Nebraska anymore.

ANOTHER DAY, another World Series MVP on the mound. Against Josh Beckett, Gordon goes 0-for-4 with 2 K's. Afterward, he stands at his locker, surrounded by media. A reporter asks, "Are you frustrated you haven't gotten a hit yet?" "No, I'm not at all frustrated," Gordon replies, staring at the floor. Another reporter: "How does it feel to be 0-for-7, Alex?" Before Gordon even has a chance to answer, teammate Mike Sweeney steps in. "Hey, lay off him, guys," says KC's captain, who made sure that Gordon's locker was placed near his. "He's gonna get another 600 at-bats this year, and I doubt he'll go 0-for-600." Publicly, Gordon keeps saying all the right things. Privately, between sessions in the cage, he admits he's pressing: "It's definitely a lot harder than I thought it would be." But even if Gordon is having doubts, Sweeney isn't. "We haven't had a guy come through here with this much talent since Carlos Beltrán," says Sweeney, a Royal since 1995. "I predict that come October, he'll pick up that Rookie of the Year Award."

IN HIS THIRD GAME, Gordon faces World Baseball Classic MVP Daisuke Matsuzaka, so now the struggling rook has a global audience. After he flies out in his first at-bat, making him 0-for-8, relief finally comes in the form of an inside-out, broken-bat single to left. A Royals clubhouse attendant saves the ball and cracked wood for Gordon. "It feels good to get it out of the way," he says. "But it is special getting that first hit off someone so hyped." Gordon goes 1-for-the-series as the Sox take two of three. "The pitching is a lot better than I thought," he says. "It looks so easy on TV, but once you step into the box, you realize that they've got some pretty good stuff." After seven games, Gordon stands 2-for-26 with 10 K's. Skeptics question if he's ready for the majors, but history has shown that even eventual superstars can get off to inauspicious starts. Another Royals third baseman began his career 2-for-25. His name? George Brett.

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