From Ask the Baseball Pro:
Corey wrote:
What type of education do you need to play on a minors baseball team?

From the Baseball Pro:
Corey,
In order to play in the minor leagues the only education you need is your high school diploma. A team can not sign you until you have graduated from high school. But no other education beyond that is required.
Your baseball pro, Steve Holm

P.S. Most of the baseball players we host have at least some community college experience, which gives them more baseball experience, as well as additional education. Think long-term beyond a baseball career-today’s jobs require more education.
Host mom, Jean

From Host Mom:
What a Mother’s Day gift to his mother and grandmother as our baseball pro hit his first major league home run, and won the game! Here is a quotation from the team’s website:

Holm’s first homer lifts Giants past Phils
Catcher slugs two-run shot in seventh; Molina gets two hits
By Rick Eymer / Special to MLB.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Holm got creamed and he couldn’t be happier about it. The rookie catcher, who during Spring Training only wanted a chance to play somewhere in the organization, became the latest Giants hero when he delivered a game-winning home run Sunday in a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The shaving-cream pie, in honor of Holm’s first Major League home run, was courtesy of some of the bullpen pitchers, with winning pitcher Jack Taschner (2-0) the main instigator.

“I was on guard for that,” said a smiling Holm. “I was in the dugout doing an interview and I don’t know if I even looked into the camera. I kept looking over my shoulder.”

The attack came inside the clubhouse, while Holm was doing another TV interview.

“I was able to get a hand up and fend off about half of it,” said Holm, a Sacramento native who had both his parents and grandparents in the stands.

Holm, who rifled a line drive into the left-field stands, was able to secure the ball in a trade that sent a bat and a helmet to a happy fan.

“[Director of media relations] Blake Rhodes did a great job getting the ball for me,” Holm said. “I don’t think they would have let me go out there and get it during the game.”

You can see Steve’s home run on this video from the game.

Way to go, Steve!
Host Mom, Jean

From Host Mom:
Our Baseball Pro was the feature story in the Sports section on May 6,2008, , with a piece entitled “Well-prepared Holm catches an opportunity”

Here is a quotation from the article, noting that Steve played in San Jose during 2006 and stayed with us:

Holm hit 15 home runs in 2006 while committing two errors all season. After a year of Double-A in 2007, he became a minor-league free agent but re-signed with the Giants after being told he had a good shot to go to Triple-A Fresno this season.

Needless to say, Holm sped past Fresno on Highway 99 on his way to San Francisco, where he is batting .333 with three doubles in 27 at-bats and learning that he has reached Valhalla.

“I don’t think you understood exactly how cool the majors were going to be,” he said. “Once you get here, some things are pretty amazing, the locker rooms, the travel,” and, of course, the pitchers.

“Your pitchers can do a lot more. It makes it a little more fun to call a game because they can accomplish what you want them to do.”

At 28, Holm finally accomplished what he wanted to do. A decade after leaving Sacramento’s McClatchy High, where Washington Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson was a teammate, he is crouched behind the plate in big-league stadiums, his blond hair stuffed into a Giants helmet, quarterbacking some of the best pitchers on the planet.

Fortunately, most of the San Francisco Giants games are televised, even the away games, so can see Steve play. Go Giants!
Host Mom, Jean

From Host Mom:
This was an exciting weekend. Our Baseball Pro, Steve Holm, played in two exhibition games against the cross-bay Oakland A’s. It was fun watching him play behind the plate in the Giants ball park in the San Francisco Giants major league baseball uniform. And he got several hits.

Then on Sunday, Steve made the 25 man starting day roster for the Giants baseball team, so he will be starting in the majors this season. It’s quite a change from last season when he was playing for the AA Connecticut Defenders, and named Most Valuable Player. He expected a promotion to the AAA Fresno affiliate team for the Giants, but got a big step up by being named to the #2 catching position for the Major League Giants. You can read about it in this article from the San Jose Mercury News. And of course, the San Francisco Chronicle carried the story, about Steve’s start at high school in Sacramento, then moving on to Oral Roberts University.

Steve is a quiet guy, and a talented player. He has the discipline to do well in the majors, and we will be thrilled to watch him this season. Yeah, Steve!

Host Mom, Jean

Our Baseball Pro was invited to “Big League Camp” in January, a big step up from Minor League Camp. He’s still there, and doing well, as you can see from this news release from the San Francisco Giants, which is a major accomplishment. Steve has a great work ethic and disciplined approach to the game.

Way to go, Steve! We want to see you back in the Bay area.
Host Mom, Jean

From Ask the Baseball Pro:
Kevin wrote:
What is the average amount of hours a professional baseball player works in a year?

From the Baseball Pro:
Kevin,
This is a hard question to answer because we do not have normal work schedules. Also we must work out at the gym so I guess you must count that as work also. On most day games you spend a minimum of 8 hours at the park. You get there at 2 for some early hitting or throwing, batting practice starts at 3:30 and the game is not over til 10 or so. Spring training days tend to be a minimum of 8 hours as well. So 140 something games a year plus 30 days of spring training bring us to 170 days. 170 days times 8 hours a day comes to 1360 hours. Add in 1 hour of gym time every other day during the season and you get 85 more hours. So from spring training through the last game you have close to 1500 hours of work. That is only in a six month span and does not include offseason workouts which usually are 5 days a week for 2 hours, as well as baseball ativity which begins in January and that takes a minimum of 1 hour a day until spring training starts.
Your Baseball Pro, Steve Holm

P.S. Welllll, my observation is that baseball pretty much occupies a player 24/7 from the time they go to spring training camp in March through the end of the season in September/October. A player is either at the game, getting ready for the game several hours in advance, or doing his own personal conditioning at a local gym. There are also some team meetings, and promotional activities. A player is at the game every day, even if not playing, except the 2 or 3 days the team does not play during the month.

There isn’t much personal time, even for doing laundry or taking care of bills. Travel also takes a lot of time, particularly the bus rides in the minor leagues. Keep in mind that half of the baseball games are on the road, so the player is at the home city only half the time.

After the season is over, players get temporary jobs, preferably in something related to baseball. But most importantly, they need to have time to continue their conditioning and practice in the off-season, so they are ready for spring training.

Baseball is a passion, and the hours are demanding!
Host Mom, Jean

Host families are a key part of the minor league baseball system. Players simply don’t make enough money to afford to live in Silicon Valley for the six months they play for the San Jose Giants. This article from a local newspaper, the Campbell Reporter, describes Paul Oseguera’s life with his host family. Paul is a pitcher for the 2007 San Jose team, an affiliate of the San Francisco Major League Giants.

We enjoy hosting these players and following their careers….
Host Mom, Jean

From Ask the Baseball Pro:
New Host Mom, Shari wrote:
My husband and I have for the last 2 months been a new host family for a AA Minor leaguer. We are so thrilled to do this but have ran into a problem. What do you do when he is so discouraged and down on himself . He is an incredible defensive player but his bat has not been consistant and one month he is batting great and the next his bat is stone cold. It’s the end of season and he has not been hitting. I know he is worried and extremely stressed out. What can we do? or say? My heart breaks for him. What would you recommend?

From the Baseball Pro:
Shari,
If I had the answer to this question I would have more money than I knew what to do with. This is something that plagues all athletes. The fact of the matter is that when baseball players try harder they perform worse. Somehow he has to relax and just play the game
like he knows how to play it. You can not think about all the negative things, ie getting released, moving down, etc.. My only suggestion would be to tell him to stay in the moment and concentrate on the one task at hand.
Your Baseball Pro, Steve Holm

P.S. Your player might try listening to motivational tapes/CD’s…athletic performance is as much mental as physical.
Host Mom, Jean

Minor league baseball teams like the San Jose Giants are used by the major league teams for rehabilitating injured big league players, particularly pitchers. As players come off the disabled list, they need to regain their skills by with game time playing at a lower level.

Proximity is a key advantage for the San Jose Giants. It’s much easier to bring a player back up by rotating them from the San Jose A club to Fresno AAA then to San Francisco, rather than flying them to the AA club in Connecticut. Both Russ Ortiz and Shawn Estes have pitched this season in San Jose on their way back to the majors. And being able to see these players in action, without the major league ticket prices, is a treat for minor league baseball fans!
Host Mom, Jean

It’s time for late season moves….Wayne got called to go to the Augusta Green Jackets in the South Atlantic League for the rest of the season. He’s a closing pitcher, so we didn’t get a chance to see him actually play. Then he had injured his shoulder, so hadn’t gotten much game time. This move will give him more game time and pitching, then he expects to move back to San Jose next season.

In typical baseball fashion, he found out during afternoon practice, and had to stay for the game that evening. Then he told us when he arrived back at the house about 10:30 in the evening. He had to leave the house 7 hours later to catch a flight with two stops to join the team on the road in Hagerstown, Maryland for the evening game. He grabbed the opportunity to wash his clothes, made arrangements to have his family pick up his car, and said good-bye! We wish him good luck….And this is why experienced ball players learn to travel light, and keep their belongings organized!
Host Mom, Jean