Host families open homes to Wild Things
Wild Things players Matt Phillips, left, and Al Yevoli laugh with host family parents Jim and Geri Ott during breakfast. The two pitchers live with the host family, and although they don’t get to spend much time with the players, the Otts attend as many games as possible.
Wild Things players Al Yevoli, left, and Matt Phillips with host parents Geri and Jim Ott. The Otts have hosted players for several years at their home in Scenery Hill.
0722_SPT_wildthings_04 Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Shortstop Shain Stoner catches a hit and throw to first for a quick out in the top of the fourth inning against the River City Rascals June 21, 2013.
The Corwin family has hosted Wild Things players for six years and this year are hosting pitcher Shain Stoner. From left are Patrick, Maureen and Michael Corwin, Stoner, and Shane and Matt Corwin.
Wild Things player Shain Stoner pitches to Michael Corwin, 12, of Canonsburg.
For Jim and Geri Ott’s 50th anniversary on June 15, Washington Wild Things baseball players Al Yevoli and Matt Phillips presented the couple with red roses and a cake during the seventh inning of their game against the Evansville Otters.
Yevoli and Phillips wanted to come up with a fun way to mark the milestone for the Otts, of Scenery Hill, who have opened their home to the Wild Things pitchers during the Frontier League season.
With a small salary and a need to be able to move at a moment’s notice, having a place to come home to is one less worry for minor league baseball players as they pursue their dream to make it to the Major League.
Enter host families like the Otts, who give the ballplayers a chance to focus more on baseball than on dealing with an apartment that they would have to leave if they sign with another team or get traded, or a hotel without a stove or a refrigerator to cook and store healthy foods. Many landlords don’t want to rent their apartments for only a few months a year, anyway
“It’s awesome. When I was playing in Boston, we stayed in hotels or we got apartments, so this is working out really well,” said Phillips, a native of the state of California who played in the Boston Red Sox organization and also stayed with the Otts last season. “They’ve been great to us.”
It’s worked out well for the Otts, too.
“We had the space, and I just think it’s a nice thing to do,” said Geri Ott. “When we first started doing this I didn’t even like baseball. Now, I don’t miss a game, and when they’re on road trips, I listen to the games on the radio. It’s been fun.”
The Wild Things host families are required only to provide players with a room, a shower and access to a washing machine and dryer.
“Our host families are fantastic,” said Wayne Herrod, manager of community relations for the Wild Things, who coordinates the host family program. “We ask them to provide a minimum, but they often do so much more, and it often becomes a long relationship where the players stay in touch with their host families. One host family throws a barbecue for all of the players during the summer, and it’s a really good time.”
Yevoli and Phillips have free run of the Otts’ home, where Geri stocks the refrigerator with their favorite foods – plenty of yogurt and fruit – and snacks, and Jim does laundry, a welcome change from Laundromats for Yevoli and Phillips. The Otts have even lent the ballplayers their car on occasion.
Yevoli, who doesn’t mind cooking breakfast, regularly whips up omelets for the four of them.
“They’re always doing stuff for us like making us food and things like that that they don’t have to. A lot of guys go out to eat a lot if there’s nowhere to cook, but we get home-cooked meals. They’re nice people,” said Yevoli.
Most years, Herrod finds host families for all of the players. Those who don’t wind up with a family stay at a local hotel.
Matt and Maureen Corwin of Canonsburg, the parents of three teenage sons who play baseball, have hosted Wild Things players for six years and say they like providing a home for boys who often are far away from their own families.
“We want to provide them with a stable place. They’re just kids, and their families want to know someone’s taking care of their child,” said Maureen Corwin, who happily pitches in with laundry and cooks for her Wild Things players. “We always get shirts with the name of the player we’re hosting on the back.”
The Corwins have a finished basement with a bedroom and shower that Wild Things infielder Shain Stoner has called home for the past two seasons.
Stoner, from San Diego, has found a good fit with the Corwins.
He has attended the boys’ ballgames and given them fielding and batting tips.
“It’s hard to go somewhere and meet new people and come into their house and live with them. The main thing is feeling comfortable, and when you find a family that makes you comfortable, it makes things great. I like being here,” said Stoner.
Matt Corwin texts Stoner messages wishing him good luck when the team is traveling and saves newspaper clippings about the Wild Things games for him to read when he returns.
“I want him to feel welcome because the nature of their job is so tough. If you have a crappy day, you can get fired. It’s hard for these guys to have a real job, per se, because they’re playing. We love rooting for them,” said Corwin. When Corwin’s sons were younger, the players often went to their elementary school to talk about setting goals and making good choices, which Corwin appreciated.
Season ticket holders Don and Kathi Oles of Moon Township have hosted players for two years and call pitcher Shawn Stanford, who is lodging with them this season, “a true gentleman.”
Stanford often accompanies the couple on outings, and they enjoy ordering pizza in and talking with Stanford over the meal.
Recently, Stanford’s mother visited from Florida and his girlfriend flew in from San Francisco to visit, and over dinner they thanked Don and Kathy for taking in Stanford.
“His mom was really grateful; she really appreciated that we reached out to her son. My wife goes the extra mile: She does his laundry, folds it and puts it on his bed. When they’re on the road, we send along cookies and snacks. We treat him he’s like our own son,” said Oles.
And while they enjoy the relationships they develop with the players, all of the host families hope they come home one day to find their Wild Thing packing his bags because he got called up by a Major League team.
At a recent game against the River City Rascals, Don and Kathi Oles weren’t the only ones watching Stanford pitch. Two scouts from the Milwaukee Brewers were evaluating the right-handed pitcher, who was drafted by the Texas Rangers out of high school and by the San Francisco Giants after he graduated from South Florida University in 2009.
“We enjoy having him,” said Don Oles, “but we’d love to see him go. It would mean his dream was coming true.”
For information on becoming a host family, contact Wayne Herrod at wherrod@washingtonwildthings.com/.