Alex Gordon to retire after Royals finale Sunday

Alex Gordon, who has spent his entire 14-year major league career with the Kansas City Royals, is calling it quits.

The Gold Glove left fielder, a member of Royals pennant-winning teams in 2014 and ’15 and the World Series champion in 2015, announced Thursday that he will retire after Sunday’s game at Kauffman Stadium against the Detroit Tigers.

Gordon, a Royal from 2007-20, joins George Brett (21 seasons) and Frank White (18) as the only position players to play 14 or more seasons with Kansas City.

Gordon was the second overall pick of the 2005 draft out of Nebraska. He made his major league debut in 2007 — then as a third baseman — and has played 1,749 games for the Royals entering Thursday’s night’s game vs. Detroit. Among active players, only three (Yadier Molina, St. Louis, 2,021; Joey Votto, Cincinnati, 1,768; and Ryan Braun, Milwaukee, 1,761) have played more games with their sole team.

Gordon, 36, moved to the outfield in 2010 and became a defensive star. He has won seven Rawlings Gold Glove Awards (second among Royals only to White’s eight at second base) as well as the Rawlings Platinum Glove (best fielder at any position in the league) in 2014. He also was named Wilson Defensive Player of the Year three times. He has 101 career outfield assists, tops in the majors since 2010 and second in Royals history to Amos Otis (116).

Offensively, Gordon ranks among the franchise’s all-time leaders in walks (682, third), home runs (190, fourth), doubles (357, fifth), extra-base hits (573, fifth), at-bats (6,380, sixth), runs (867, sixth), hits (1,641, sixth) and RBIs (749, sixth). He also is No. 1 in Royals history in leadoff home runs (14) and hit-by-pitches (121).

Royals fans will remember Gordon fondly for his game-tying home run off Mets closer Jeurys Familia in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 2015 World Series, a game Kansas City went on to win in 14 innings. Four games later, the Royals were world champions for the second time.