Alex Gordon walked to the plate for the 4,906th time as a big-leaguer. More than 40,000 people screamed. A playoff game was tied. Man on second base. Two outs. Situations half this tense used to freak him out. He can admit that now.
Gordon held his bat in the air. He stared into the crowd. Deep breath. Shut out the noise. Pretend this is a normal at-bat. It’s a trick he learned from Kevin Seitzer, one of the six hitting coaches the Royals have employed since Gordon’s first day in the majors 8 1/2 years ago. He was a third baseman back then, a hotshot prospect who wore No.