Timing is everything.
That certainly seems to be the case with an ill-timed feature story in Sports Illustrated due out May 21 on Kansas City Royals’ first baseman Eric Hosmer.
The story—titled “When Will Eric Hosmer Get His?” by SI’s Albert Chen focuses on the fact that it is time that the Royals start throwing some mega-money at Hosmer, who is called by Chen “the best young first baseman in the game, The Great Hope of Kansas City, a home-run-belting phenom with a slipshod chinstrap beard and faux-hawk, a baseball badass who also happens to be an all-around good guy.”
Unfortunately, the timing of the Hosmer puff piece could not have come at a worse time.
In fact, Kansas City Star columnist Sam Mellinger just wrote a column today justifying why Hosmer, who is hitting an anemic .174 this season, should not be sent back to the minor leagues. Hosmer’s slump has forced Royals Manager Ned Yost to bench for two straight games, breaking a streak of 77 consecutive games Hosmer had started.
Despite the timing of his story, the Chen article featured some interesting tidbits:
* “If I had a daughter,” says Mr. Royal, George Brett, “he’s the guy I’d want her to marry—and trust me, that’s saying a lot for a ballplayer.”
Hosmer is one of the game’s most talented young stars, and he plays in a baseball-crazed, Royal-blue-bleeding city that is scarred after watching two decades’ worth of baseball heroes leave for brighter lights and bigger dollars.
* “As [Mark] Teixeira had his own market and [Prince] Fielder had his own market, Hosmer will have his own,” (Hosmer agent Scott) Boras told a reporter. “And something tells me it’s going to be a rather eventful one.
* “Despite his slow start, there was no talk of demoting him to the minors, no panic over a phenom who is believed to be as much of a sure thing as there can be in baseball. “He’s been pressing a bit,” says a scout. “But this is a kid who’s hit everywhere he’s been because he knows how to make adjustments. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t start raking soon.
* “Will the homegrown hero stay in Kansas City? That may depend in part on the game’s changing economics, but in the end the decision will be Hosmer’s to make. “If we start winning, it’s going to be easier—for a player, it’s all about playing in October,” says Brett.
* “If we keep on losing the way we have been for the last 10 years?” Brett pauses. “Well, let’s not think about that. Let’s enjoy what we’ve got right now.”