Eric John Hosmer (born October 24, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has played for the Royals since making his MLB debut on May 6, 2011. A highly touted prospect coming out of American Heritage High School in Florida, Hosmer was described as a "left-handed hitter with raw power" by scouts. He was drafted as the third overall pick in the 2008 MLB draft where he received a $6 million signing bonus. He advanced relatively quickly in minor league baseball, before debuting in MLB. He finished third in the Rookie of the Year ballot for the 2011 season after hitting .293 with 19 home runs in 128 games. He was the MVP of the 2016 MLB All-Star game.

Hosmer's father, Mike, is a retired firefighter, and his mother, Ileana, is a nurse. His mother was born in Cuba and came to the United States at the age of seven with her family to escape Fidel Castro's regime, growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents met in 1979 when Mike was assigned to duty at Coral Gables Hospital in Coral Gables, Florida, where Illeana worked. They married four years later. Their first son Mike Jr. was born in 1985, and Eric was born four years later in Miami.

Growing up in Cooper City, Hosmer credited his family for helping him succeed as a baseball player. He began playing baseball at an early age, using a Tony Gwynn teeball hitter to take practice swings. His father volunteered to do 48-hour shifts in a firehouse in Liberty City, a tough neighborhood in Miami, to focus on his son's baseball games which he usually coached. The Hosmers traveled all over the state, and as far as Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, to play in baseball tournaments. At home, Hosmer watched Florida Marlins games to study the hitting techniques of the team players in order to improve his skills. His father helped him with batting practice after finishing long shifts at work, while his mother helped with his homework and taped every baseball game to evaluate Hosmer's baseball ability and further hone his skills. By the time Hosmer reached high school, he worked out "close to seven hours a day" and mainly ate protein, which helped form his muscular build. Hosmer's family hired Bladimir Marrero, a highly regarded hitting instructor and the father of Washington Nationals first baseman Chris Marrero, to help with their son's skills. His brother Mike also played baseball, receiving a scholarship to Florida State University. He was never interested in becoming a professional baseball player, however, and currently is a stock broker in Miami.

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