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Tom “Flash” Gordon has an impressive curriculum: he played 21 years in Major League Baseball, was three times All-Star and recorded 54 consecutive salvages, which established a MLB record at that time.
In addition to his impressive MLB career, the dear author Stephen King also based a book on him, “the girl who loved Tom Gordon.” King, a big fan of Boston’s Red Sox, appeared in Fenway Park to observe Gordon.
“Stephen King, this great author, his wife (Tabitha), come to the stadium every day,” Gordon told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview. “And to my understanding now, I didn’t know this, alone, you know, leaving the bench and sitting for a moment before going to the Bullpen in the sixth. I didn’t know they saw everything I did.”
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The former right-handed pitcher of the Boston Red Sox, Tom “Flash”, Gordon, is honored in the field during a ceremony prior to the game before a triple-a smaller league baseball game between the Ironpigs of Lehight Valley and the red half of Worcester in Polar Park in Worcester, Massachusetts, on May 18, 2023. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire through Getty Images)
“I didn’t know they sat there and just say, you know, let’s see if this is the right guy for this, this moment, and finally came to that. I became the guy for that moment.”
Gordon said Stephen and Tabitha King came to their hometown to see if it was the right person for the book.
“They came and found me in my hometown and ate at a restaurant called Olympic restaurant. And she told Stephen, she says, Flash is the right person for this. Stephen told me, she said, when she said that there was no other body, no other person, we were thinking that this was going to happen to you, my friend,” said Gordon.
“And that was the real final result. And I am grateful.”
Gordon asked King about why he was chosen and not anyone else.
“I asked a couple of times, why do you?
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The pitcher Tom Gordon (36) of the New York Yankees offers a release against the Boston Red Sox in the Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, on 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: ‘Hi The end of the two pitchers.
Gordon said that the moment of the book came at a time when so many “good things were happening.” King’s book was almost at the same time that he assumed the closest role and prospered.
“You know, I left when (the manager) Jimy Williams gave me the ball and said: Flash, you could close. And I’m like, ‘Jimy, you lost your head.’
“Then, when he, when he decided to do me (the closest), Dennis Eckersley was there with me and I am like, well, we still have the great Eck. And you know who walked (about)? He walked, Eck approaches me, says: ‘I talked to Jimy, and I know that I am correct. I know correctly, (the pitching coach) is the type of baseball.
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Stephen King attends the premiere of “The Life of Chuck” during the Toronto 2024 International Film Festival at the Princess of Wales Theater in Toronto, Ontario, on September 6, 2024. (Olivia Wong/Getty Images)
Gordon ended up establishing a MLB record (later broken by Eric Gagne) registering 54 consecutive salvages by taking control of the closest role.
“I had my whole family with me, every salvation, every time. I withdrew 54 saves in a row. And only my teammates were very, very proud of that. So, and that was when I knew this is something special,” said Gordon.
“And Stephen King took him to a different, bigger and upper platform.”
Gordon said King’s book on him sent “shock waves” through his community.
“When Stephen did that, he sent me shock waves through me and the community. Mi, my family, all here, my city, he came here to my city, um, went to my high school and his wife, tab, tab, and signed autographs. The families here bought the books, the book, and it was really great, man. It was a moment in my life that I will never forget and I thank that I met a man in Stephen, and he was really a wife.
“Simply humble people and with the feet in the land that you fall in love. And I am definitely a Stephen King fan and I am grateful to have the opportunity.”
Gordon said there was an additional benefit of being part of the book.
Tom Gordon (36) of Kansas City Royals launches during a major league baseball game in the Royals Stadium. The game was played in Kansas City, Missouri, around 1992. Gordon played for the real 1988 to 1995. (Focus on Sport/Getty images)
“Here is the funniest part of that. Even when everything that happened, I began to come to the field. When I heard about it, I began to come to the countryside, looking at the stadium as, Oh God, God, all the girls of the stadium he liked,” he told Gordon.
“This is incredible. Every woman, I promise you, not a woman in these positions will boo me.”
For Gordon, he said his life has been “incredible.”
“I just have to give God his credit,” Gordon said.
Gordon is now very involved with Perfect Game, the world’s largest and most complete exploration organization. It has a podcast “entries of life” that will debut shortly.
Gordon traveled through the country in a RV, built with a custom -mitigated podcast study, where he interviews current and previous baseball players and executives.
