{"id":33962,"date":"2016-07-29T08:02:48","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T15:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/gordon-rejoins-marlins-after-80-game-suspension\/"},"modified":"2016-07-29T08:02:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-29T15:02:48","slug":"gordon-rejoins-marlins-after-80-game-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/gordon-rejoins-marlins-after-80-game-suspension\/","title":{"rendered":"Gordon rejoins Marlins after 80-game suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI<\/strong> \u2014 Dee Gordon walked into the Miami Marlins clubhouse four hours before game time and was greeted at his locker by a three-foot-high stack of boxes \u2014 bats, gloves, shoes and more, all new.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree months of stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how long he had been gone. Gordon returned Thursday from an 80-game suspension for a positive drug test and was in the lineup against the St. Louis Cardinals, batting leadoff and playing second base.<\/p>\n

In conjunction with his reinstatement, Gordon issued an apology on social media addressed primarily to his young fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I let you down, and I\u2019m sorry,\u201d Gordon said in a video. \u201cComplacency led me to this, and I\u2019m hurt. I urge you guys to be more responsible than I am about what goes into your body. I wouldn\u2019t wish this on anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon, who won the NL batting and stolen base titles last year, was suspended in late April after testing positive for two performance-enhancing drugs.<\/p>\n

At the time, Marlins president David Samson said Gordon had betrayed the team and fans. Now, Samson and the Marlins say they\u2019re glad to have Gordon back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a pretty forgiving society,\u201d Samson said. \u201cIt\u2019s important Dee ask for that forgiveness, and he has, and he\u2019ll receive that. He\u2019s got to continue to work to get himself back in with his teammates and the fans, and my son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teammates \u2014 even Derek Dietrich, who filled in capably at second base \u2014 have said they\u2019re glad to have Gordon return. Manager Don Mattingly said Gordon has the backing of the clubhouse and organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously there was disappointment early on, and then you really want to support him from that point forward,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cHe has been remorseful. He has paid his price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon\u2019s father, former major league pitcher Tom Gordon, attended Thursday\u2019s game. The elder Gordon said he both scolded and embraced his son when the suspension occurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has learned a lot,\u201d Tom Gordon said. \u201cHe will bounce back and be an even better person.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his video, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Gordon said he learned from his mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought being the smallest guy, I would never fail a drug test,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t pay attention at all and I didn\u2019t meet the standards. That\u2019s my fault and no one else\u2019s. But don\u2019t give up on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Gordon was suspended, he said he unknowingly took the banned substances. Speaking to a cluster of media in the dugout before batting practice Thursday, he declined to elaborate.<\/p>\n

What lesson did he learn?<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be complacent just because you\u2019re small,\u201d he said. \u201cI got complacent and made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make room on the roster for Gordon, the Marlins designated for assignment infielder Don Kelly, who had two triples in Wednesday\u2019s victory over the Phillies.<\/p>\n

Even without Gordon, the Marlins have remained in contention for their first playoff berth since 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept in touch with my teammates pretty much on a daily basis,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cI told them thank you for keeping their end of the bargain. I asked them to keep it close until I got back, and that\u2019s exactly what they did. Now I\u2019ve got to keep my end of the bargain. I\u2019ve got to help us get to the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of his punishment, Gordon will be ineligible for the postseason.<\/p>\n

He rejoined the Marlins batting .266 with six steals in 21 games. Last year he led the majors with 205 hits and 58 stolen bases, batted .333, became an All-Star for the second time and won a Gold Glove.<\/p>\n

The breakout season earned him a $50 million, five-year contract in January. Is he optimistic he\u2019ll play the way he did last year?<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I can,\u201d he said. \u201cWait and watch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 Dee Gordon walked into the Miami Marlins clubhouse four hours before game time and was greeted at his locker by a three-foot-high stack of boxes \u2014 bats, gloves, shoes and more, all new. \u201cThree months of stuff,\u201d he said. That\u2019s how long he had been gone. Gordon returned Thursday from an 80-game suspension […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-33962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33962"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=33962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}