Gordon returns after 80-game ban

Dee Gordon walked into the Marlins clubhouse four hours before game time and was greeted at his locker by a three-foothigh stack of boxes — bats, gloves, shoes and more, all new.

“Three months of stuff,” he said.

That’s 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 Cardinals, batting leadoff and playing second base.

In conjunction with his reinstatement, Gordon issued an apology on social media addressed primarily to his young fans.

“I know I let you down and I’m sorry,” Gordon said in a video. “Complacency led me to this, and I’m hurt. I urge you guys to be more responsible than I amabout what goes into your body. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”

Gordon, who won the National League batting and stolen base titles last year, was suspended in late April after testing positive for two performance- enhancing drugs. At the time, Marlins President David Samson said Gordon had betrayed the team and fans, but Samson is glad to have Gordon back.

“We’re a pretty forgiving society,” Samson said. “It’s important Dee ask for that forgiveness. He has and he’ll receive that.”

Manager Don Mattingly said Gordon has the backing of the clubhouse and organization.

“Obviously there was disappointment early on, and then you really want to support him from that point forward,” Mattingly said. “He has been remorseful. He has paid his price.”

“He has learned a lot,” Gordon’s father, former major-league pitcher Tom Gordon, said. “He will bounce back and be an even better person.”