Nebraska News and Sports
Lincoln native Alex Gordon’s hopes to reach the Major League All-Star Game fell short on Thursday when Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko was voted by fans for the final spot on the American League team. Konerko finished with 8.4 million votes.
Alex Gordon thanks fans for their support
The final vote numbers for the other players were not released, but Gordon, finished third behind Victor Martinez of Detroit.
Gardner, KS native Bubba Starling who in February signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at Nebraska will now be faced with a big decision. The Kansas City Royals picked him fifth overall in the first round of Major League Baseball’s Amatuer Draft. The reason it is a big decision…over the last five years, the fifth overall pick has received on average a signing bonus of just under $4 million. Royals General manager Dayton Moore thinks they’ll get Starling to play baseball.
Royals’ GM Dayton Moore reacts to drafting Starling
The 18-year-old Starling, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound centerfielder, was ranked by Baseball America as the number one high school prospect and the best high school athlete in the draft. He batted .481 this spring. In his junior and senior seasons combined, he hit better than .500 with 17 home runs. Starling played for Team USA (under 18) in the summer of 2010, hitting .339 with three home runs with 12 RBI, 20 runs scored, a .474 on-base pct. and .532 slugging pct.
Starling was the Kansas Player of the Year in football. As the Gardner Edgerton quarterback, he ran for 2,377 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior and threw for an additional 790 yards and eight touchdowns in leading his club to the Kansas 5A state semifinals. Over his three-year high school football career, Starling accounted for more than 8,100 yards of offense and 97 touchdowns.
Manager Trey Hillman didn’t seem too happy with Alex Gordon’s broken thumb. Hillman said the bad thing about was it didn’t need to happen…but it did. Gordon slid head first into second base on a steal attempt and came up with the tip of his thumb broken. Gordon could be ready by opening day.
Here’s the The Kansas City Royals itinerary for the North leg of the Royals Caravan which will include Lincoln native Alex Gordon. They’re still finding a location for Lincoln, but here’s what we have so far. This Caravan trip will be this Sunday, January 17 and Monday, January 18, Along with Gordon, infielder/outfielder Willie Bloomquist, Royals’ Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Wilson, Royals’ broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre and mascot Sluggerrr will be on the trip.
Sunday, January 17 5:30-7 p.m. Meet & Greet (Location TBA)
Monday, January 18 10:30am-noon. Meet & Greet at Holiday Day Inn/CoCo Key Water Resort, 3321 South 72nd Street in Omaha.
Left handed pitcher Lenny DiNardo who went 10-5 with one of the top ERAs in the Pacific Coast League started Thursday afternoon for the Royals and held Detroit to two runs in five innings of work in a 7-4 win over the Tigers.
