Editorials

Dodgers News: Incentive Key To Gordon’s Baseball Career

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In a season filled with peaks and valleys, the Los Angeles Dodgers have not had many consistent players on their roster. When Dee Gordon won the starting job at second base in Spring Training, many weren’t sure he’d manage to fight off Alex Guerrero in the long haul.

The Florida native has been an pleasant surprise for the Dodgers at the leadoff position and he leads the Majors in triples. This success comes for someone whose path to baseball was not always set in stone as a youngster.



In an interview with Sam Gardner of FOX Sports, Gordon revealed that he did not start taking baseball seriously until he was a sophomore in high school when his father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse:

My dad promised me a car (if I played baseball). So yeah, it was a pretty easy choice.”

Despite having a father who was a three-time All-Star, Gordon wasn’t all that familiar with baseball:

I didn’t really know a lot about the game, even with my dad playing … but my dad told me that I could (do it), so you try to listen to your dad. He had a huge influence on me, and he’s always told me that I could play, and he just took the time out to make sure I got better.”

Despite his emergence this season as a key component on the Dodgers roster, Gordon is by no means taking it for granted:

It’s just hard work and being willing to pay attention. I don’t think I’m secure. I think I’ve still got some work to do to make sure I keep what I’ve earned.”

Along with leading the Majors in triples, Gordon is first in stolen bases with 51 all the while proving to be a steady hand at second base. With a younger brother, Nick, who has aspirations to play in the Majors, Gordon has assumed the role of mentor:

I just want him to go day by day and get his feet wet in pro ball, first. I just tell him how hard the game is. It isn’t easy, and he knows that, and he’s got to take (his opportunity) and run with it.

Prior to transitioning over to second base, Gordon was having a difficult time fitting in with the Dodgers. Shortstop didn’t pan out and Hanley Ramirez’s arrival signaled the end of Gordon’s time at the position.

At the urging of some of the coaches, Gordon has found a new home and been a driving force in the Dodgers’ push towards the postseason.
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Dee Gordon Discusses Dodgers Bubble Machine


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Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

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