Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas were honored with signs like this one and prominent ovations. Hosmer then hit a home run.

The Kansas City Royals could lose several key members of their team that made it to the 2014 World Series and won the 2015 title this offseason in free agency, and that prompted tributes for them from fans during the team’s season-ending home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday. One of the most notable ovations came when first baseman Eric Hosmer came up to bat for the first time in the bottom of the first inning. He waved to the crowd following that applause, then promptly hit a home run on an 0-2 count:

That home run gave the Royals a 1-0 lead and prompted even louder applause, and it also led to some nice congratulations from third baseman Mike Moustakas, who followed Hosmer in the order and is also a pending free agent. Hosmer, Moustakas, center fielder Lorenzo Cain and shortstop Alcides Escobar all could leave this offseason, and that led to another nice moment when the team took all four out together in the top of the fifth to a rousing round of applause:

We’ll see what happens with Hosmer and the others this offseason, but if he doesn’t return to Kansas City, this was certainly a good note to exit on. The game wasn’t great for Royals’ fans overall, as Kansas City lost 14-2, but the possible sendoffs for Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain and Escobar were certainly notable.

[For The Win]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.