Last Updated on May 6, 2011 6:23 pm by admin
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Royals expected a near-sellout Friday night for the unveiling of Eric Hosmer, their most-hyped player debut since Bo Jackson arrived 25 years ago.
The overall No. 3 player taken in the 2008 draft was batting .449 at Triple-A Omaha when he got the call Thursday afternoon. The Royals said Hosmer would be at first base and bat sixth against the Oakland Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.
After the announcement that Hosmer was on his way, the Royals were flooded with ticket requests. Many fans are hopeful that Hosmer will be the first in a wave of topflight prospects flowing in from a minor league system said to be the best in baseball.
There was so much interest, the Royals had him do a pregame news conference. They hadn’t done that since the debut of Jackson, who had won the Heisman Trophy at Auburn the year before.