Stuff of Dreams: Brian Gordon's Strange Trip
Although Brian Gordon did not exactly find himself on the mound at Yankee Stadium as the starting pitcher instantaneously, it certainly felt that way within the context of his personal journey as a baseball player and this season in particular.
From being on the disabled list for the Reading Phillies (Double-A) with an uncertain season ahead of him to being the man of the hour for the most storied franchise in American sports, it's a wonder that Brian Gordon had a moment to catch his breath before that sunny Thursday afternoon in the Bronx.
On the day before he packed his bags and walked out the door of the IronPigs clubhouse to prepare for the biggest game of his career, Gordon sat down and shared the story of how he got to where he was. Little did anybody know of the dramatic and fantastic turn that his personal journey would take just a few days later.
The story of Brian Gordon as a professional baseball player began in 1997, when the Arizona Diamondbacks selected him with their 7th round pick in the amateur player draft. Though he had some experience and success with pitching, it was his talents at the plate that Arizona wanted to lock up. As much as he loved to pitch, it was put on hold as Arizona team officials assured him that the road to "the show" would be via the outfield and not the mound.
"They knew I had some success as a pitcher in high school, and I brought it to their attention. I let them know 'Hey, I can pitch too' and they said 'Yeah, we hear you can pitch, but given that you have some bat speed and a little bit of power, we see you getting to the big leagues quicker as a position player.'"
By 2006, Gordon had spent nearly ten years in the minors without getting the call that every little boy in America and minor league player alike spend restless nights dreaming of. In 2005, Gordon had been relegated to playing the role of the fifth outfielder for the Salt Lake Bees, Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. With the writing on the wall, Gordon began to realize that his dream of playing in the big leagues might never come to fruition.
"As a young guy, you have a vision of the big leagues and you know what you want, but year after year after year goes by and it turns into just getting that paycheck to put food on the table for the family. You can lose that vision, and it then becomes survival."
Gordon knew that if he wanted to hang on to his dream, something would have to change. After all of those years of bussing between minor league parks and watching his teammates come and go- passing him along the way- it was becoming clear that he would never be a major league outfielder.
"I saw the big picture, and realized that it would take something spectacular to get that shot. Before the game told me that I couldn't play anymore or teams told me they didn't want me, I wanted to give pitching one more shot. I know I would have kicked myself in the butt if I didn't give it one more shot and I just retired and never turned that stone over."
Gordon was given the opportunity to take that shot by the Texas Rangers organization in 2007, and made his conversion to the mound prior to that season under the tutelage of the legendary Nolan Ryan. In 2008, his dream of donning a big league uniform finally came true as he was called upon by the Texas Rangers and made his major league debut on September 17th, throwing a scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout against the Detroit Tigers. Gordon would pitch a total of four innings with the Rangers, and that would be all of the major league service time that he would log prior to the 2011 season. That taste was enough however to fully convince him that his conversion to pitching was perhaps the greatest thing that had ever happened in his career as a baseball player.
"Getting called up for that first time and knowing that I did it my way, that it just took some courage to take that leap of faith out of my comfort zone. It was so gratifying, it really was a great feeling"
Over the course of his first four seasons as a professional pitcher, Gordon would have periods of dominance as well as inconsistency on the mound. In his four seasons as a pitcher prior to 2011, Gordon had totaled a record of 20-13 with a 3.44 ERA in 311.1 career innings pitched. It was clear that Gordon was finding more success as a pitcher than as a fifth outfielder, however nothing could prepare Gordon for what would happen this season.
Gordon began the 2011 campaign on the disabled list for the Reading Phillies, unsure of where the organization would make room for him. When Mike Zagurski was called up from Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia on April 19th, the wheels were set in motion for an open spot in the IronPigs bullpen. After a one-day stint for Chance Chapman and then another overnight promotion for Tyson Brummett who was sent down the next day, it was finally Brian Gordon's turn to begin his 2011 season with the IronPigs on April 21st.
What happened after that will stand as one of the most intriguing and encouraging stories in the brief history of the IronPigs.
It began on April 25th, when Vance Worley- who had been heading up the IronPigs rotation- was recalled by Philadelphia to step into their rotation in the absence of Roy Oswalt, who had returned home to Mississippi to help his family in the wake of deadly storms that had passed through their area. It was because that set of circumstances that Brian Gordon found himself with the ball in his hand to start the game on April 29th, in what would be a bullpen day for the IronPigs. In his first start, Gordon allowed no earned runs over three innings pitched. In his next start, he allowed no earned runs through four innings pitched. The next, no earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched. It was clear that something was working, and working well for Gordon. What had changed though? How could somebody without set role after spring training emerge as the leader of a Triple-A staff?
"I have no idea. It's just one of those special years. A lot of people ask me the same question, and I don't have an answer for them. My attitude hasn't changed as far as what I'm trying to do out there, I just try to stay aggressive in the strike zone."
Although his attitude hasn't changed, Gordon did elaborate on how he has added a cutter to his arsenal.
"For the longest time I didn't have anything really to get lefties off of my curveball or my splitter- they're both slow pitches and I needed a ground-ball pitch or something to get a lefty thinking in, so that cutter is something that's really helped me get lefties off of my slow stuff. I think that has a lot to do with my success against lefties this year. I thought I had success against them in the past, but when you look at the stats, they were batting .300 off of me."
Lefties hit .176 against Gordon when he was pitching for Lehigh Valley this season. In 91 at-bats against him, lefties had struck out 25 times and walked twice. Clearly, Gordon's efforts were paying massive dividends on the mound in the International League. At 32 years of age however, exceptional performance will not necessarily lead to an opportunity at the major league level.
This time, there was an opportunity that came for Gordon, and it couldn't have been a bigger one. Through yet another set of aligning circumstances, Brian Gordon's path would diverge in a most unpredictable and spectacular way.
The Yankees had seen reliever Joba Chamberlain commit to season ending surgery and back-end starter Bartolo Colon hit the disabled list within the span of four days. They needed an arm to start against the Texas Rangers on Thursday, June 16th. It just so happened that Gordon had an opt-out clause in his contract that kicked in on Wednesday the 15th, with a stipulation that he needed to be added to another organization's major league 25-man roster in order to enact it. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had seen some tape on Gordon, and had received positive recommendations from his scouts that were convincing enough to suggest that perhaps it would be the perfect low-risk move to plug the hole in the rotation for the moment.
With the need in New York coming at just the right time, Brian Gordon was given the well-deserved opportunity to take all that he had learned and worked on so hard to the biggest stage in baseball. Word got out around Coca-Cola Park on during the IronPigs' game on Tuesday night that Brian Gordon had left the Phillies organization to sign with the Yankees, and that he would likely make his Yankees debut in a start that Thursday. Although no team likes to lose a pitcher on a white-hot streak such as what Gordon had going with the IronPigs, there was also the universally understood sense that we had witnessed something special out of Gordon so far this season, and that it was finally his time. For the first time in his 15-year career as a professional baseball player, Brian Gordon would be given the ball as a major league starting pitcher. Regardless of one's personal feelings on the Yankees, it was only fitting that Gordon's sudden launch from minor league obscurity to the center of the baseball world's collective attention would occur in the most recognizable uniform in all of sports.
With all eyes on him, Brian Gordon did not disappoint on the mound at Yankee Stadium. Gordon allowed three earned runs on five and two thirds innings pitched while striking out three Texas Rangers. Although he was not the pitcher of record, his teammates on the Yankees went on to triumph in extra innings, walking off with the win in the bottom of the 12th. It would be a fitting end to Gordon's game, as he himself is experiencing his greatest success in the extra innings of what would have otherwise been a career that ended years ago had it not been for his will to return to his passion for pitching.
What comes next for Brian Gordon? As established, circumstances can change very quickly in this game- which has worked out just fine for Gordon, who has learned to savor the here and now.
"I just try to go out there and battle each and every day with what I've got. I don't know what today brings, and I don't know what tomorrow brings, but I'm just going to go out there and compete to the best of my abilities and that's what I've been doing this whole time- in this second life"