Former big leaguer Eaton begins coaching career in Big Ten

Eaton and his family live in Brighton, Mich., about 42 miles from East Lansing.

“I’ve always been a big fan of Michigan State,” Eaton said in a press release. “My brother-in-law Zach (Osburn) played hockey there just a short time ago and I’ve always kind of gravitated towards the Spartans. I’ve always enjoyed my time on campus and also enjoyed the intensity and the overall feeling of campus towards the athletic department and student-athletes. It seems that the whole university really backs them and does a terrific job of putting all of the Spartan teams in a good position to be successful, and baseball is no different.”

Eaton’s playing career ended after the 2021 season, his 10th in Major League Baseball. He was a career .276 hitter who won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019.

“I wouldn’t change anything for the world,” Eaton said in May. “I worked my rear end off to get to where I was. I had a lot of really good coaches, a lot of luck. I played nine years more than I ever thought I would — even more than that, 12 years professionally. I’m pretty ecstatic with how it ended up.

At Michigan State, Eaton will serve as a coaching staff liaison and will work with outfielders and coach baserunning and hitting.

Eaton joins a program that has had a losing record in the last four full seasons. The Spartans last won the Big Ten regular-season championship in 2011. Boss is 383-332 in 14 seasons.

“We are extremely excited to add Adam to our staff,” Boss said. “He is high-caliber person with a world of baseball knowledge and insight, and we’re delighted to have him join the Spartan family. His baseball resume is filled with success at the highest levels of our game, and we’re anxious to have him working with our players on and off the field to develop them and help them become better student-athletes and better people.”