KANSAS CITY -- From the time budding Royals star Hunter Dozier was playing T-ball to now, as he continues to rip through the American League, he has always known he has the support of his mother, Kelly.
Even now, after every game, Dozier looks forward to an encouraging text from his mom.
“She texts me after every game,” Dozier said. “She’s been doing that since college. Her and my dad watch every game. She texts me after the game and says, ‘Way to go,’ or ‘Get ‘em tomorrow.’
“She stays pretty consistent, which is pretty nice, whether I’m going good or not. It’s about the same text message whether I’m playing well or not.”
Throughout Dozier’s life, his mom has been there for support.
“The best memories I have was the Travel Baseball where you’re traveling all the time,” Dozier said. “We would be in my mom’s van riding to games and my parents would pull out the bucket seats and put a TV up, and put blankets down, had snacks for us. She went all out. She always went all out. She was awesome.”
And that was nothing new.
“She always put us kids first,” Dozier said. “I’m blessed to have my mom and my dad in my life. I know a lot of sons and daughters don’t have that.”
And what did Dozier get her for Mother’s Day?
“Normally [I] send her a gift card,” he said. “She loves massages or going to the movies. And I call her.”
Honorary bat girl
Dr. Jane Broxterman of Basehor, Kan., was selected as the Royals’ 2019 Honorary Bat Girl in support of the annual “Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer” initiative on Mother’s Day.
An internal medicine physician at the University of Kansas Health System, Broxterman cares for many breast cancer survivors and women living with metastatic cancer. She was diagnosed with early-stage, triple-negative breast cancer in 2018, a rare cancer that is difficult to treat.