Big league, small world
I got the chance to cover the Kansas City Royals’ game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. While the fact that they mustered four runs and a come-from-behind win over Toronto was cool, it was a story that first baseman Eric Hosmer shared with the media after the game that stuck with me.
It reminded us that even in the big leagues, the world could still feel pretty small.
The subject of Toronto’s Devon Travis came up. Travis had been responsible for both of the Blue Jays’ runs in the game out of the leadoff spot — including a home run he hit over the left field fence on the game’s fourth pitch.
Their stat lines that game had even been similar. Hosmer went 2-for-3 and had two RBI while Travis went 2-for-4 with two RBI and scored a run.
The similarities don’t stop there, however.
Hosmer and Travis grew up in South Florida towns less than an hour apart from each other.
They played against each other in little league. Hosmer told the media about what Travis was like as a youth player and how he’s come full circle.
“He was the smallest guy on the field and batting ninth and they would just stick him out in the field,” Hosmer said. “His dad was the coach and we played against each other so long, we got to know each other. Before you know it, he’s off to Florida State and then in the big leagues with Toronto. I didn’t realize it was the same guy. Just to see the way he’s playing the game now….he’s a great player and he’s going about his business the right way. It’s really cool to see somebody else representing South Florida because we all know that’s where the best talent is.”
Both took big steps before they reached the major leagues.
After a little league career that included a couple of state championships, Hosmer went on to play at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida. Just in case you were wondering, American Heritage also boasts Detroit Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos and Boston Red Sox player Deven Marrero.
Hosmer hit his growth spurt (eight inches) by his sophomore season and it helped tremendously. In his senior season with AH, he posted a .470 batting average with 11 home runs and was one of the best players in the country according to USA Today. His team won another state championship that season. He was Florida’s Baseball Player of the Year twice for the Miami Herald.
Travis achieved little league fame of his own before moving on to high school ball. His little league team from Boynton Beach, Florida made it to the Little League World Series in 2003. The team made the championship game, in which it lost to a team from Tokyo, Japan.
Travis played at Palm Beach Central High School (Houston Astros pitcher Brad Peacock and Detroit Lions linebacker Jon Bostic are also alums). In his senior season, he batted .483 with two home runs. He also added 26 RBI and stole 21 bases. He received the Big Schools Player of the Year honor in 2009.
From there, Hosmer was offered a scholarship by Arizona State and he planned on heading there if he wasn’t drafted. The Royals picked him up with the third overall pick in the 2008 Draft (interesting sidenote here: the first two overall picks that year were Timothy Beckham by the Rays and Pedro Alvarez by the Pirates. Beckham is still with the Rays, hitting .221 and Alvarez went from Pittsburgh to Baltimore this year and is hitting .261 with 18 home runs).
Hosmer’s American Heritage and Travis’ Palm Beach Central met in a regular season game in 2009. American Heritage took the 3-2 win.
Travis took his scholarship offer and played for four years at Florida State before being drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 13th round of the 2012 MLB Draft, which also included the likes of Carlos Correa (Astros), Byron Buxton (Twins), and Addison Russell (Athletics).
In his junior season, he made a splash at the College World Series in Omaha by batting .593 for the tournament and became the first player to record four consecutive games in which he had more than one hit since 1999.
While Travis became a star at the college level, Hosmer got off to a slow start with the Burlington, Iowa, Bees. After he moved to the Wilmington, North Carolina, Blue Rocks in an advanced A league and had corrective eye surgery, his hitting improved and his stock rose.
He made his major league debut in May of 2011.
Hosmer is currently batting .279 with 61 RBI, 15 home runs, and 117 total hits while Devon Travis is hitting .293 with 31 RBI, 10 home runs and 61 total hits. He spent the first nine games of the 2016 season with Toronto minor league affiliates in Dundein, Florida and Buffalo, New York.
There are 30 MLB teams and with each having a 40-man roster, that makes 1,200 players in the league, but stories like the Travis and Hosmer story prove that even in the big leagues, the world can be a pretty small place.
