About

Welcome to BaseballExtra.com. Baseball is America’s national pastime, and in the last twenty years, the number of minor league baseball teams has proliferated. In our family travels, we notice that nearly every town of a reasonable size has a professional or semi-professional baseball team. Fans and players at this level simply love baseball!

This blog is about life in minor league baseball, from the player view and the fan view. I’m the webmaster and my family is a host family for the San Jose Giants—the Class A minor league baseball club for the San Jose Giants major league baseball club. The two clubs are separated by Highway 101, but a world apart in salary and perks. During the five month season, host families are needed because minor league players can’t afford apartments in this area. Plus they are on the road at away games fifty percent of the time! And like all baseball players, they are subject to being moved to another club with a few hours notice.

We genuinely enjoy minor league baseball—the stadiums are intimate and “kid-friendly”. The ticket prices are reasonable, and it’s easy to go at the last minute, instead of planning long in advance for a major league baseball game in San Francisco. Our perks as host family are minimal—a season pass and recognition at special events. We enjoy the players who are in their 20’s seeking to move up through the baseball farm system to the rewards of major league baseball.

Meet Steve Holm, one of our pro baseball players, who writes about life as a baseball player. He is currently a catcher on the San Jose Giants baseball team, and also plays third base. Last season, Steve played in Class A baseball in Augusta, Georgia, and was moved mid-season to the Class Double A minor league baseball club in Norwich, Connecticut.

Steve was drafted out of Oral Roberts University where he played NCAA Division I baseball. Unlike many baseball players, he went back and completed his degree in the off season, so he is eligible to coach college baseball when his career as an active player ends. Like many baseball players, he began his college baseball career at a community college in Sacramento, California, his home town.

The road to breaking into the majors is long and unpredictable. Similar to Steve, my son started by playing Little League Baseball, progressing from T-Ball, to Minor League, Major League, and then Juniors. He’s played junior varsity baseball, and varsity baseball, and American Legion baseball. Needless to say, we’ve spent a lot of family time on baseball fields, as well as volunteering for youth baseball organization.

In addition to his commentary about player live in minor league baseball, Steve will be reviewing baseball equipment and providing baseball tips to improve player skills. You can have him answer questions by using Ask the Pro (provide link).

Enjoy!

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Comments

Steve,

Following your career from HS, I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for you making the Giants 25 man opening day roster!

Congratulations! You’ve worked extremely hard to accomplish your goals.

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Jean,

My family has considered becoming a player host family. We have three boys (12,4,2) who all love baseball and sports in general.

We have the means to provide a suitable environment for a player, my question is what type of experience can a family expect in this type of situation?

Given that the player is gone a lot, I can only imagine that it is not as close or involved as an exchange student type of situation. Still, we would look for a personal investment into a person rather than just an in/out border.

Can you elaborate on your experiences? Thanks.

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Being a player host family varies a lot, depending on the player and their personality. We have generally hosted older players who had their own vehicles since our house is a ways from the ballpark. They did not eat with us since they have different hours. Most ball games are in the evening, so the earliest a ball player would come home is about 11 in the evening, and the earliest they usually got up would be 9 to 10 in the morning. The players who have stayed with us were pretty serious about baseball, so did not party heavily.

I have a home office, so I could chat with them in the mornings but my husband was long gone to his office. My son was in school for part of the time, so he would also be gone. Afternoons and evenings, players are at the ball park. Sometimes, the ball player would join us Sunday evening since the team played an early game that day.

Players are on the road for half of the games, some of which were commuters, meaning they left early in the morning to get to the game. When they came back from a bus trip, they sometimes got in in the wee hours of the morning.

It is similar to having a college student living with you who is gone half the time…..they do have their own lives. We did enjoy our players, and learned a lot about them and their families. We got complimentary season family passes to the games, which was fun, since we sometimes saw our ball player on the field, though it is not very predictable.

Also, you may not have a player for the entire season….changes come quickly. We had more than one player moved to another team and another city on a few hours notice….sometimes, we got another player, sometimes not.

I would encourage your family to try being a host family for at least one season…..it is not a lot of work, and the experience can be rewarding.

Host Mom, Jean

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