It took a lot less to bring a tear to the eye of Becky Hobgood, who misted up just watching her son interacting with major leaguers before the game. She said there was never much question that he would sign quickly and report to the minor leagues.
"I think that's always been his attitude," she said. "It's never been about money to him. ... We used to joke that Matt would pay you to let him play."
Jordan has made no secret of his affection for the kid, and he tried to explain the process that led the team to choose this particular high school pitcher out of the large group of quality prep and college candidates.
"Sometimes you go through this process and guys start to run together," he said. "I just think that what you do when you get that late in the process is look for separators, like Matt's ability to look you in the eyes and talk to you like a man. He was never intimidated by the process. He was comfortable. You just pick up on things."
For the Hobgood family, the decision to sign rather than honor a letter of intent to baseball powerhouse Cal State Fullerton came down to something much more basic.
"I think the biggest thing is they've been really welcoming to us," Becky Hobgood said, wiping her eyes. "That's what's important to us. It makes it easier to leave him here. Tomorrow, we go home without him, Tomorrow, he gets to start his dream career."
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