As Robin Eaton and her husband traveled to Houston on Tuesday morning, the reality of preparing to watch their son Adam play in the World Series had yet to sink in.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” said Robin, a 1982 Bellefontaine High School graduate. “We are still shocked. We are going on adrenaline right now. We are excited to go on the World Series tour over the next week-and-a-half.”
Adam Eaton, a 2007 Kenton Ridge High School graduate, batted second and started in right field for the Washington Nationals and went 2-4 with an RBI in Tuesday’s World Series opening 5-4 win over the Astros.
“He is very focused,” said his mother. “This is as focused as he’s ever been. He is just trying to take it one game at a time.”
It’s been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks for Robin and Adam’s father Glenn. They drove from their home in Springfield last week to Washington D.C. to see the Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Games 3 and 4 of the National League Championship Series to clinch the World Series berth. Robin was able to join Adam to celebrate on the field after Game 4.
The Nationals entered the World Series as a monumental underdog. The Astros came in as the biggest Series favorites since 2007, according to an ESPN.com story.
It’s a position, though, that Adam Eaton has thrived on. Not possessing the prototypical size at 5-8, he has made a career of making believers out of doubters.
“People laugh when I say this, but I really didn’t think he was good at baseball when he was younger,” said his mother. “He was a good high school player but he was a big fish in a small pond. His dad and I wanted him to go to a Division III school because we knew he wouldn’t want to sit, and we figured he would have to sit for three years at a Division I school.”
Adam went against his parents’ wishes and accepted an opportunity to play Division I college baseball at Miami University in Oxford. It didn’t take him long to win over the coaching staff there.
Eaton had a standout three-year career at Miami and, in the process, drew the attention of professional scouts. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Eaton in the 19th round of the 2010 MLB draft.
“On the day of the draft, we sat around the computer waiting to see if he would get drafted,” said Robin. “About 10 minutes after he was drafted, we had a knock at our door and it (was representatives of the Diamondbacks). They were sitting across the street.”
Eaton signed with the Diamondbacks and made a quick ascent through their farm system. His big league debut came in 2012 and he stayed with Arizona through the 2013 season.
He was then traded to the Chicago White Sox and played there from 2014 through 2016. The White Sox dealt Eaton to the Nationals after the 2016 season.
In eight seasons in the majors, Eaton has a .285 batting average with 146 doubles, 43 triples, 56 home runs and 272 RBI. He has also stolen 81 bases.
A great example for youth players, Eaton is a self-made success story, showing the heights that can be reached through hard work and perseverance.
“He’s always had a very determined spirit,” said Robin. “We could tell that when he was two or three. He has always loved baseball. His work ethic has been above and beyond. He is the type that shows up two hours early and leaves an hour after the game.”