A Bobblehead Ode To Alex Gordon

[Andrew Stockmann]

As Alex Gordon started to amass Gold Gloves in left field, my brother and I briefly took pitching lessons from his younger brother, Derek. The elder Gordon is known for his muscle-bound frame, while Derek is a lanky 6’6”, a perfect build for a pitcher. Derek put up decent numbers over two minor league seasons, while Alex is a new addition to the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. In this series at Royals Keep, I’m looking back on Royals history from this century, the good and the bad, through the lens of memorabilia.

As far as I can tell, the Royals have given away six Alex Gordon bobbleheads, plus a Gold Glove replica. He’s been a Star Wars Jedi and immortalized in his pose rounding the bases after his dramatic 2015 World Series Game 1 homer, but his first bobblehead from 2008 is what I’ll focus on here. 2008 was Gordon’s age-24 season, his second in a Royals uniform. He was still a third baseman at the time. 

I found this blog post announcing a sweepstakes related to this June 21, 2008, giveaway, which points out the Royals hadn’t given away a bobblehead of a current player in several seasons. In fact, the last current player bobblehead before this one was Mike Sweeney, all the way back in April 2003. Such was the state of the Royals from 2003 to 2008. Missed opportunity for a Ken Harvey tarp bobblehead, I guess! Shoutout to 2004 All-Star Ken Harvey. 

Ken Harvey and Alex Gordon are both Nebraska Cornhuskers, as a matter of fact. The Royals really leaned into the Nebraska of it all with the 2008 bobblehead design. The bobbling Gordon leans against the knob of his bat and holds a baseball. At his feet is a basket filled with baseballs and corn. What could be more Nebraskan than that? The Royals defeated the Giants 5-3 on the night of this bobblehead giveaway. Alex Gordon walked three times! 

While the Royals gave away a bobblehead in 2021 showing Gordo with his Gold Gloves, they never made a bobblehead showing him making an acrobatic catch or an accurate throw from the outfield. To me, the quintessential Gordon catch involved him racing in towards the infield and making a diving catch angling towards the foul line. A missed opportunity, perhaps, to honor the eight-time Gold Glover. 

It’s hard to analyze and compare prospect hype, but before the Royals had the #1 farm system in baseball that produced the likes of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, the organization had Alex Gordon (and Billy Butler). Gordon was seen by some as the second coming of George Brett. As was recently circulated, one of the Gordon brothers is named Brett, as are so many midwestern boys, in honor of the only Baseball Hall of Famer wearing a Kansas City Royals cap. While Alex Gordon’s career doesn’t quite reach the statistical markers of the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was inducted this summer into the Royals Hall of Fame. That led to another bobblehead!

Besides the suspense of learning who will be inducted into Cooperstown, I always enjoy examining the bottom of the ballot results to see who received a handful of votes. Former Royals to get at least one Hall of Fame vote in the last decade include Raúl Ibañez, Johnny Damon, Jason Kendall, and Mike Sweeney. I’ll be rooting for Gordo to join this list when the results are announced on January 20.

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