"The rock star — in these parts, at least — entered the large, gray building as night descended. His long day on the Royals' caravan was almost over.

Inside the Ultimate Baseball Academy, more than 300 Nebraskans had waited patiently, with balls and gloves and pictures. While a couple of other notable Royals were also signing autographs on this night last week, most people were there for the man wearing the No. 4 Royals jersey, the Nebraska boy once destined to become the next big thing.

So it was only appropriate, really, that upon walking inside, Alex Gordon immediately saw his mother, Leslie, who greeted him with a smile and a hug.

This, he could tell, was home.

"I think that no matter what I do, when I come back here, they're going to show me love," said Gordon, a Lincoln native who starred at Nebraska before he was picked No. 2 overall by the Royals in the 2005 draft. "That's what's so great about these fans."

The line to get Gordon's autograph (starter Luke Hochevar was also at the table) was at least 100 people deep, dwarfing the line for Royals greats Frank White and John Mayberry. Things seemed fine on the surface. But there was something missing.

There was a time when Alex Gordon could return to Nebraska, and it would be a spectacle. Kids would look at him wide-eyed, and grown men would fawn over him. (Three years ago, a man followed Gordon into a bathroom at a sports bar to get a piece of memorabilia signed.)"