Can't-miss kid finally connecting for Royals

Why it took so long for Kansas City's can't-miss kid to quit missing is anybody's guess.

Also unknown is exactly what the lean, laconic Nebraskan did to cure his ailing swing during long and intense sessions last winter with batting coach Kevin Seitzer.

What is plain for everybody to see about Alex Gordon is the .351 average and 14-game hitting streak he took into Thursday night's game against Cleveland. Finally, after enough problems and frustrations to last an entire career, Gordon may be starting to fulfill the vast promise everyone saw in the overall No. 2 selection from the famous draft of 2005.

"One thing to his credit is he's never felt pressure from outside," Seitzer said. "All the pressure was what he put on himself."

Another open question is whether Gordon's sizzle will ultimately fizzle. It is, after all, a long season. And if Gordon's learned anything since starring at Nebraska as the college player of the year, it is that baseball at the highest level is as tough to predict as to play.

"It's early," he said, politely declining to speak in detail about his hot start.

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