World Series.

Game Seven.
 
Ninth inning.
 
Bases loaded.
 
It's the situation every ballplayer grows up dreaming about. And former Miami RedHawk Adam Eaton found himself there in 2019.
 
In fact, when baseball fans look back on Eaton's recently-concluded 10-year MLB career, that moment is the first thing that will come to their minds.
 
"And to mine too, to be honest!," Eaton said. His Washington Nationals had erased an early two-run deficit and led 4-2 in the deciding game when he stepped to the plate and drove a single up the middle to give the Nats a four-run lead en route to the first world championship in franchise history.
 
"For me, that last hit was the first time that I felt like I could show some emotion; I felt like it was in our grasp that we could do this," said Eaton. "I just let every ounce of intensity and want out that I could. I yelled as loud as I could and I couldn't even hear myself!"
 
It was the pinnacle of a professional career that perhaps seemed unlikely back in 2010 for a 19th-round draft pick, but Eaton proved any doubters wrong. He produced 950 hits and 319 RBI over 914 MLB games with four different ballclubs (Diamondbacks, White Sox twice, Nationals, and Angels) and hit .276 for his career, including a pair of .300 seasons in 2014 and 2018. Eaton also led the American League in triples twice, and finished in the top 20 for AL MVP voting in 2016.
 
"Adam was a relentless worker," said Miami baseball coach Danny Hayden, who was a volunteer assistant with the RedHawks during Eaton's time in Oxford. "He always had that chip on his shoulder and played the game as hard as anybody that I've seen or coached.
 
"I think that's how a 5-foot-8 guy with OK pop, OK arm and OK speed can make it to the big leagues and have a really good career: He played the game different than anybody else. It got him to where it got him, and he never let go of that when he was a big leaguer.
 
"He always played the game at one speed. That's one of the things I will forever admire about him."
 
Childhood friend and high school teammate Brad Heintz said Eaton doing 'anything and everything to get on base' and then causing havoc on the basepaths is something he'll always remember.
 
"He was never the biggest person; in fact, he was usually the smallest person growing up," said Heintz. "But he just had the competitive instinct and will, never to be satisfied and never let his size determine his ability and how he played…he always gave that 115 to 120 percent, no matter what the situation was."
 
Those traits helped Eaton excel not only as a youngster dreaming of being the next Yogi Berra or Kenny Lofton, and then eventually as a pro, but also while wearing the Red and White at Miami from 2008-2010. He holds the program's career record for triples (18) and ranks fourth in Miami history with 169 runs scored. Eaton is also among the leaders in career total bases (ninth all-time with 364) and stolen bases (seventh all-time with 66 steals). He was a two-time All-MAC selection and two-time All-Mideast Region honoree (2009, 2010).
 
"I really give so much credit to Miami," said Eaton. "It was the best decision of my life; it's such a great place.
 
"Everyone there is so driven to get better, whether academically or in your sport. It is so hard to 'fail' there, because everybody is in your corner, pushing you to be the best person that you can be on and off the field.
 
"When I went there my freshman year, I had no idea what work was. I had no idea really what baseball was, or academics, or how to learn. And when I left, I had learned how to learn…
 
"I learned to surround myself with good people like all the Miamians there that I think really turned me out to be the player and person that I am today."
 
And while his playing days may be over now (at age 33, Eaton says his body isn't what it used to be after rehabbing from several injuries, including a torn ACL in 2017), he is looking forward to the next chapter of life, including plenty of quality time with wife Katie and sons Brayden and Maverick. Eaton and the former Katie Osburn, a RedHawk softball pitcher from 2009-2012, are Miami Mergers; they met in KNH 244 (a class in the Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition and Health) and he eventually proposed under the famous Upham Arch.
 
"I've given a lot of my life, a lot of my wife's life, and a lot of my kids' life to the game of baseball, and I think it's time to give back," Eaton said simply. Whether it's hanging out in the woods or boating on the lake where they live in Michigan, Eaton plans to enjoy a different sort of summer than the ones that have occupied his time on the diamond since he first picked up a bat and ball.
 
At the same time, the sport he loves is never too far from his thoughts. "As normal people check Instagram or Facebook, I'm checking the Miami website and keeping up with all those guys," said Eaton. "It's a daily routine that I get online and check out who's hitting well, keeping up with Coach [Kyle] Weldon and Coach Hayden and the staff." He also stays in frequent contact with teammates from the Nationals' 2019 title team.
 
"Adam was a huge part of them winning that championship," Hayden said. "It was cool to see the progression of that team. They got off to a really slow start, and I think it was the veteran leadership [that helped turn things around], and Adam was a part of that.
 
"He was tasked with being more than just a good player in the lineup, but they needed to get some of those younger guys to turn into really good big leaguers as fast as possible…now you see guys from that group that are having Hall of Fame-type careers. To think that Adam might have had a part to do with their development, maturity, and everything else on that World Series team is pretty cool."
 
Not bad for a player who went 571st overall in the draft a dozen years ago.
 
"I think that's the one thing that I'm most proud of," Eaton said. "Being able to defy the odds of getting to the big leagues, and then being able to raise the most coveted trophy in all of baseball and with such a good group.
 
"I think that's one thing that I'll take with me for the rest of my life."

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