KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eric Hosmer boarded a flight last December bound for Cincinnati, the city he called home for two summers as a teenager. The occasion was somber, a funeral for Joe Hayden, the founder of Midland, one of the country’s most storied amateur baseball programs.
Hosmer considered Hayden, who was 85 when he died, a mentor and a role model. As Hayden battled cancer last autumn, he still called to encourage Hosmer during the Royals’ run to the World Series.
In Cincinnati, Hosmer felt he had a home away from his native Miami. Hosmer did not book a hotel room for the funeral.