By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Terrance Gore, a beloved outfielder for one of the best Burlington Royals baseball teams, died unexpectedly Friday at age 34.
Gore played his first full professional season with Burlington’s team in 2012. He mostly played left field alongside Bubba Starling, a multi-sport standout who signed one of the largest signing bonuses in Kansas City Royals history at the time and was under a microscope during that first pro season with the Appalachian League team.
Gore, a speedster known for his game-changing abilities on the base paths, went on to play in the major leagues in eight different seasons. He played on three World Series teams – first with the 2015 Kansas City team. He later played for World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 and Atlanta Braves in 2021. His last big-league action came in 2022 with the New York Mets.
His career was so strange that he racked up 23 stolen bases in the big leagues before his first hit.
The Kansas City Star reported that Gore died from complications following a medical procedure. He has been described as an iconic base runner.
Ryan Keur, then in the Burlington team’s front office and later the general manager, called Gore “one of the most fun-loving, heart-warming and memorable people that I’ve ever had the privilege of being around. . . . Terrance’s energy, enthusiasm and love was endless.”
Even surrounded by sluggers Patrick Leonard, Fred Ford, Mark Threlkeld, and Starling, the 5-foot-7 Gore loomed large. His Burlington season included league-total totals for runs scored (50) stolen bases (36).
Gore scored the game-winning run in Game 1 of the 2012 Appalachian League championship series on a 12th-inning sacrifice fly against the Elizabethton Twins at Burlington Athletic Stadium. The Royals went on to lose two extra-inning games in Elizabethton, Tennessee.
So Burlington’s last professional title remains as the Burlington Indians in 1993.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source alamancenews.com ’
