Royals’ Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas re-create iconic photo from their youth

Before the Royals’ game Saturday against Arizona at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City Star photographer John Sleezer had a request for Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer.

Would they re-create an iconic shot from their early days?

When Moustakas and Hosmer arrived at their first spring training in Surprise, Ariz., in 2009, the duo posed for a photo that Sleezer set up.

“I’ve always hung on to that frame because they were perfect gentlemen,” Sleezer said. “It was ‘yes, sir’ or ‘no, sir.’ Everything was ‘sir.’ ”

Here is that first shot when Moustakas was 21 and Hosmer was 20:

At batting practice on Saturday, Sleezer asked if they would pose for that shot again. Hosmer and Moustakas, who will be free agents at season’s end, eagerly agreed.

Here it is, eight years later, and Moustakas is 29 and Hosmer is 27:

This story was originally published October 1, 2017 at 12:41 PM.