Not sure if I’ve mentioned this here before, but I used to work for the Nashua Pride. At the time, the team was managed by former Red Sox infielder Butch Hobson (lovingly referred to in all team promotional materials as “Red Sox legend Butch Hobson”). Our goal was to infuse a family atmosphere into the ballpark, an objective that was aided by the fact that Butch’s three sons were constantly running around the place.
The Hobsons moved to California a few years ago and Butch took a job managing the Atlantic League team in Southern Maryland, but at some point I heard that the oldest boy, K.C., was a pretty good ballplayer who might have a chance of being drafted. I thought of that tonight and decided to give it a look. To my surprise, there it was: with the 190th pick in the draft, the Toronto Blue Jays had taken Kristopher Hobson, outfielder, out of Stockdale High School in Stockdale, California.
Good for K.C. and good for the Hobson family. I’m not sure what’s coming down with the other two boys – the general consensus was that Hank, the middle son, didn’t have as deep an interest in sports as his brother, and Noah, the third boy, was too young to judge as an athlete when Butch was in Nashua – but it’s nice that at least one of Butch’s sons has the opportunity to follow in his footsteps.
And the really cool, sort of ironic, thing? K.C. was drafted right out of high school, so he’ll probably start in Rookie or Low A ball. But if he progresses through the system and jumps a couple levels to AA within the next couple years, he will play for the Fisher Cats in Manchester, New Hampshire, about fifteen minutes up the road from the city where his father led teams to championships in two different leagues.
