COLLEYVILLE, Texas — The boy was always running. Away.

At his fifth birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, he loved playing the games, winning the tickets, getting the prizes. But when that animatronic house band started playing, he sprinted off to the safety of the back of the room.

On a family vacation in Aruba, he was so scared of the ocean that it took forever for his family to coax him onto a boat. Even after they did, he jumped off and took off running before the boat could leave the dock.

Bobby Witt Jr. was afraid of roller coasters. He was afraid of fireworks. He was afraid to go anywhere without the prized pillow he named Mushy Gushy.

“I guess he got his speed,” says his sister Kianna, “from not wanting to do the things we were probably forcing him to do.”

The boy known within his family as “Junior” is fearless now.

He doesn’t cower in the company of fireworks; he sets them off with his deep blasts at Kauffman Stadium.

He doesn’t sprint away from bodies of water or amusement rides; he swipes bags and streaks his way to doubles and triples.

He doesn’t need the comfort of Mushy Gushy when he’s got the security of an 11-year, $288.8 million contract with the Royals.

One of the great stories of this 2024 season is Witt’s emergence as a bona fide superstar. The timid child who found comfort and confidence on the baseball field has become possibly the most electric player in MLB — a five-tool talent excelling at the plate, on the bases and at shortstop for a Kansas City club that went from a 106-game loser last season to a playoff contender, thanks in large measure to his MVP-worthy performance.

By FanGraphs’ Wins Above Replacement calculation, Witt has been the most valuable player in the sport since the 2023 All-Star break:

fWAR since July 13, 2023 (through Friday’s games)

1. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals: 12.0
2. Aaron Judge, Yankees: 10.8
3. Juan Soto, Padres/Yankees: 10.4
4. Gunnar Henderson, Orioles: 9.0
5. Francisco Lindor, Mets: 8.2

“Baseball,” Witt says, “just takes me to a different place. I feel like when I’m on the diamond, I’m just a kid out there, just enjoying it and just having fun and just doing what I love.”

You would be correct in assuming that being the son of Bobby Witt, who pitched in 16 big league seasons and won a World Series with the 2001 Diamondbacks, has had an enormous impact on Junior’s trajectory. His father impressed upon him not just a knowledge of the game but a respect for it, and his dad’s career and connections exposed him to opportunities he might not have otherwise had.

But that’s not the only element of Witt’s DNA that defines him. Because when Junior is asked who in his life is worthy of a nod of appreciation as part of the Players’ Weekend festivities in which big leaguers celebrate those who helped get them here, he is just as quick to acknowledge his “four moms” — his actual mother, Laurie, and his three older sisters Nikki, Kianna (who he calls “Kiki”) and Shaley.

“They always pushed me to want to be the best I possibly can be,” Witt says, “and then they’re always there for me to comfort me whenever I need it.”

With Witt’s first All-Star Game having taken place mere minutes from his Dallas-Forth Worth-area hometown in July, we had a chance to spend time with these women and interview them for an MLB Network feature on Junior. It was a wonderful experience because it helped us get to know this quiet 24-year-old who is so dynamic on the baseball field yet relatively reserved off it.

“It’s funny, because he’s definitely grown and gotten bigger,” says Shaley. “But to me, he still just has that little kid’s face. … He is a man now, but, personality-wise, he hasn’t changed much, which I think is just incredible with everything that’s come with all his accomplishments and accolades. He’s still just my little kid dorky brother that I’ve always known.”

Junior was born June 14, 2000, and his sisters constantly wanted to hold him.

“So they go to school in August, and I don’t think he’d ever been put down during the day, literally,” Laurie says. “And now he starts crying when I put him down. I’m like, ‘What am I going to do with this kid?’”

The boy was held close, and he was held in check. With three older sisters, there was never a chance of ego or arrogance developing as Junior’s baseball profile grew.

“He was an unbelievable kid,” Nikki says. “Just humble, always, like how he is now. Kind. He was very shy. I do a lot of the talking, which is probably why he doesn’t talk.”

Junior might have done his loudest talking the day the family visited Walt Disney World (they were regular visitors to Orlando, Fla., for his sisters’ various cheerleading competitions) and coaxed him onto a ride called the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios, promising it was a nice and easy attraction.

Because the coaster is enclosed, Junior didn’t know what he was getting into. Once the ride started and it became clear it was way more accelerated than advertised (it went from 0 to 57 mph in 2.8 seconds), Bobby went ballistic.

“You lied to me!” he yelled to his laughing sisters. “I can’t believe you!”

(That was the only time Bobby Witt Jr. rode a roller coaster at Disney World. His time at the theme parks was instead devoted to tracking down the autographs of all the characters — including his hero, Goofy. To this day, that experience shapes Witt’s approach to fans, for whom he’ll often spend long periods of time signing autographs before games.)

Junior wasn’t happy with his sisters when they tricked him, but he’s more than pleased with their marital choices. Their father had given them one piece of relationship advice:

“Don’t marry a ballplayer.”

Naturally, all three Witt girls married ballplayers.

Nikki, the oldest sister, is married to James Russell, who pitched in seven seasons for the Cubs, Braves and Phillies from 2010-16 and wound up throwing to Junior at this year’s Home Run Derby (together, they came inches away from tying Teoscar Hernández’s total and forcing a swing-off in the finals).

Kianna is married to reliever Zach Neal, who pitched parts of the 2016, ’17 and ’18 seasons for the A’s and Dodgers and then made it back to the bigs with the A’s last year in time for a series against Witt’s Royals.

Shaley, the youngest sister, is married to outfielder Cody Thomas, who made his debut with the A’s in 2022, the same year Witt debuted with the Royals. Thomas trains with Junior in the offseason and is currently playing for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan, where Shaley spoke to us over Zoom.

And that’s not all the ball coursing through this family’s gatherings. The three Witt sisters all played softball growing up, as did Maggie Black, Junior’s fiancée. The two started dating at Colleyville Heritage High School, and Black went on to play shortstop and third base (Witt’s two positions with the Royals) for Northwestern State University of Louisiana.

“Whether it’s at Christmas dinner or whatever it is,” says Junior, “we’re always talking about the game.”

Because the elder Bobby Witt hung ‘em up when Junior was only 1-year-old, it was actually the experience of following Russell around with his sister, Nikki, that honed Junior’s understanding of clubhouse culture, professional protocol and all the other stuff that turned him into a natural-born leader.

Nikki would bring Junior on trips to visit Russell in Chicago, where Bobby would beg to attend batting practice every day. One time, while shagging fly balls during BP, Russell gave his little brother-in-law some important advice.

“You can throw a ball to a cute girl,” Russell said. “Shoot your shot.”

Young Bobby threw a ball to every girl he saw.

Just as those experiences shaped Junior’s visions of becoming a big leaguer, now he’s a hero to James and Nikki’s son, Jayce. The little boy, who has overcome complications from being born extremely premature, turned 3 on the day of the Home Run Derby, and watching his uncle and his dad perform on the big stage at Globe Life Field was quite the birthday present.

Earlier, though, he had received an even better present — a life-sized cutout of Junior.

“Anytime Jayce is upset or anything, we’ll say, ‘Bobby Jr. will come eat with you,’ and just bring it over,” Nikki says with a laugh. “He pitches to the cutout and then will wipe it off after. It’s pretty funny.”

Jayce will blurt out, “Bobby Junior’s the GOAT!” at church or the store or other random public places. He wears his uncle’s jersey constantly.

Visit Kansas City, and you’ll see Bobby Witt shirseys and jerseys and T-shirts bearing his catchphrase, “The boys are playing some ball.” But seeing the impact he can have on a child in his own family gives Junior an even deeper appreciation for the responsibilities that come with his increasing star power.

“That was me as a little guy, running around, wanting to play ball in the house,” Junior says. “It’s so special just to see how he just gets pure joy whenever I see him and he gets excited. When we were in Texas, I think I struck out a couple times and we lost, and I was kind of bummed. But I walk out there and he’s just smiling with the ball and glove in his hand and his Royals stuff on and so happy. So it’s really special.”

Even as he burst on the big league scene so soon after the Royals took him with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft and even as he has used this 2024 season as his springboard to superstardom, Bobby Witt Jr. has not forgotten what it’s like to be that child. He was a bashful boy who turned into a puddle when he once realized he had left Mushy Gushy at a hotel room on a family trip, then waited by the front door for days for the FedEx package containing his prized pillow (which, for the record, he still has in storage somewhere).

He was afraid of so many things.

But with the upbringing and encouragement of his “four moms” and his broad baseball family, Junior found his footing in a game that built his confidence and then his clout.

And now he’s running toward a special career.

“What I love seeing the most,” says Shaley, “is how he carries himself. As his big sister, that’s the biggest thing you could ask for, just knowing that he is still that good person that you’ve always known him to be.”