What if someone told you that you could have Madison Bumgarner as a houseguest? How about Brandon Crawford, or maybe Matt Cain, or even Buster Posey?
It wasn’t that many years ago that the San Jose Giants afforded that opportunity to area residents through their host family program.
Those were just a few of the World Championship San Francisco Giants who were among the Class A Giants looking for a home when they made a stop in the California League on their road to the big leagues.
And right now, San Jose director of player personnel Linda Pereira is making her annual pitch to area residents, seeking host families to take in a player for the spring and summer months.
“It’s just a great experience,” Pereira says of the host family program. “And when the players get to the big leagues, they’re just right up the street [at AT&T Park in San Francisco].”
That was certainly the case last season when no fewer than 16 former San Jose Giants played “up the street” with the big league club, including Bumgarner, Crawford, Cain, Posey, Tim Lincecum, Brandon Belt, Sergio Romo and Joe Panik, among others.
In all, nearly 150 former San Jose Giants have gone on to play in the Major Leagues, and many of them made the jump after living with a family in the San Jose area for a season.
Pereira is seeking to place 25 players for the 140-game season that runs from April 9 through Sept. 7, and any league playoffs that would follow. It’s a responsibility that she doesn’t take lightly.
“I try to match the right players with the right families, and I’m proud of my record,” she said. “It’s incredible … the players become part of the families, and the families come to the games and live and die with their players.”
Host families provide a player with a room, and the Giants provide families with season tickets and parking passes for all of the club’s games at San Jose Municipal Stadium. The team also hosts picnics for the families and other events.
“Host families are integral to San Jose Giants players’ development into homegrown champions,” adds Pereira. “Players’ relationships with their families continue well beyond their time in San Jose, as many remain in contact while they progress toward their ultimate goal. It is incredibly gratifying to see them do well and watch them realize their dreams of playing in San Francisco.”
Many of them have realized that dream. Along with those already mentioned, Gary Brown, Matt Duffy, Adam Duvall, Juan Perez, Hunter Strickland, Andrew Susac and Ryan Vogelsong were other members of the World Championship Giants team last season who had host families during their time with in San Jose.
While all of Giants on the big league club appear to be poised and mature today, when they played in San Jose they were very young men–most of them in their late teens or early 20s. They were assigned to a team in a city far away from home in what may have been their first life experience on the road.
That’s what the members of the 2015 San Jose Giants are facing, and that’s why Linda Pereira is trying to make things a little easier for them by reaching out to local families to create a home away from home for this year’s players … among them, maybe a future Madison Bumgarner or Buster Posey.
For more information on the host family program, call Pereira at 408.297.1435, ext. 19, or visit www.sjgiants.com.
