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Tom “Flash” Gordon has an impressive CV: he played 21 years in the Major Baseball League, was a three-time All-Star, and recorded 54 consecutive stops, which established an MLB record at the time.
In addition to his impressive MLB career, the estimated author Stephen King also based a book on him, “the girl who loved Tom Gordon”. King, a big fan of Boston Red Sox, presented himself at Fenway Park to observe Gordon.
“Stephen King, this great author, his wife (Tabitha), they come to the stadium every day,” Gordon told PK Press Club Digital in a recent interview. “And of my understanding now, I did not know that, just, you know, coming out of the canoe and seated for a moment before going to the enclosure of the lifts in the sixth. I did not know that they were looking at everything I did.”
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The former right-handed launcher of Boston Red Sox, Tom “Flash” Gordon, is honored on the field during a pre-match ceremony before a baseball match of the Triple Minor League between the Ironpigs of Lehigh Valley and the Worcester Red Sox in Polar Park in Worcester, Massachusetts, May 18, 2023. (Erica Denhoff / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I didn’t know they were sitting there and say a little, you know, just see if it’s the right guy for that, this moment, and finally it happened to that. I became the guy for this moment.”
Gordon said Stephen and Tabitha King came to his hometown to see if he was the right person for the book.
“They came and met me in my hometown and ate in a restaurant called Olympic restaurant. And she said to Stephen, she said, Flash is the right person for that. Stephen said to me, he said, when she said there was no other body, no one else, we thought it was going with you, my friend,” said Gordon.
“And it was the real end result. And I’m grateful.”
Gordon asked King why he was chosen and no one else.
“I asked a few times, why me? You know, why me? And he said to me, there was no better guy with whom we loved us because we liked the way you addressed the game. And I approached the game in the same way as my child,” said Gordon.
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New York Yankees launcher Tom Gordon (36) offers fields against Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York, May 27, 2005. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
“You know, I want to be the guy who, at the end of the day, the player shook his hand and said:” Hey the guy, we won this game. And, and it was not for me, but we won this game today “and I just like to be the guy. I had the ball in my hand, the last throws, everyone, everyone is three launchers.” And I liked to be the guy who made throws, everyone is the hand.
Gordon said the time for the book had come at a time when so many “good things” happened. King’s book on him was roughly at the same time he took the closer role and prospered.
“You know, I went there when (director) Jimy Williams gave me the ball and I said: Flash, you could close. And I said to myself:” Jimy, you lost your head. “(Williams replied)” No flash, honestly, the throws you have, you can close baseball matches and be really good in this area “,” said Gordon.
“So when he, when he decided to do me (the closest), Dennis Eckersley was there with me and I am like, well, we always have the big Eck. And you know who walked (on)? He walked, Eck approaches me, he says:` `I told you about Jimy’s coach) Joe Kerrgan, you are the guy.
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Stephen King attended the premiere of “The Life of Chuck” at the Toronto International Film Festival 2024 at the Princess of Wales Theater in Toronto, Ontario, September 6, 2024. (Olivia Wong / Getty images)
Gordon ended up establishing an MLB recording (later broken by Eric Gagne) by recording 54 consecutive stops when checking the closer role.
“I had all my family with me, each backup, each time. Turned 54 stops in a row. And it was just that my teammates were really, really proud of that. So, and that’s when I knew it was something special,” said Gordon.
“And Stephen King brought it to a different, larger and higher platform.”
Gordon said King’s book on him had sent “shock waves” through his community.
“When Stephen did this, it sent shock waves through me and the community. My family, everyone here, my city, he came here in my city, uh, went to my high school himself and his wife, tab, and signed autographs. Families here bought books, the book, and it was really such a man in Stephn King and his life, I am never forgotten.
“Just humble and earth-to-earth people you fall in love with. And I am definitely a fan of Stephen King and I am grateful to have had the opportunity.”
Gordon said there was an additional advantage to be separated from the book.
Tom Gordon (36) of the Kansas City Royals pitches in a major league baseball match in the Royals Stadium. The match was played in Kansas City, Missouri, around 1992. Gordon played for the Royals from 1988 to 1995. (Focus on sport / getty images)
“Here is the funniest part on this subject. Even when it all happened, I started to come on the field. When I heard about it, I started to come on the field, looking in the stadium like, Oh my God, each daughter of the stadium loves me,” said Gordon.
“It’s great. Each woman, I promise you, not a woman in these stands Huera.”
For Gordon, he said that his life had been “incredible”.
“I just have to give his credit to God,” said Gordon.
Gordon is now strongly involved in the perfect game, the world’s largest and complete screening organization in the world. He has a podcast, “minings of life”, which will make his debut shortly.
Gordon has traveled the country in a motorhome, built with a personalized podcast studio, where he interviews players, managers and current baseball executives.
