Column: The World of Baseball as a Host Family

During the summer of 2013 my family began opening our doors to host baseball players from a local minor league baseball team — the Boise Hawks.

The Idaho-based Hawks were affiliated with the Cubs from 2001-2014 before transitioning to the Colorado Rockies. They later joined as a member of the independent Pioneer League in 2021.

For the Piña family, baseball has always connected us in a different way which is why we started hosting in the first place. I grew up following my brothers to their little league baseball games, and as they got older, I watched them play with their high school team. 

Every summer, I sat in the stands with my parents, watching my brothers play baseball like it was their entire livelihood.

As my brothers developed their passions for the sport, my appreciation for the baseball world grew alongside them. We even share a favorite team — the Chicago Cubs. 

The Cubs have been my family’s favorite baseball team since before I was born. As Major League Baseball teams enter spring training and play exhibition games, fans from all over prepare for the regular season to start. They wait with giddy anticipation to see if their favorite team will win the World Series. 

Unfortunately for my family and I, the last time the Cubs played in the World Series was in 2016, beating the Cleveland Indians in a seven-game series. 

Having not played in the World Series since 1945, the Cubs’ 2016 win broke a 108-year championship drought. Cheering fans crowded North Clark Street bars and clogged Wrigleyville. Over 1,900 miles away, my family in Idaho also celebrated, jumping up from the couch in both disbelief and excitement. 

Renowned players from the winning squad — all no longer with the Cubs — included World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and National League MVP Kris Bryant.

Before Bryant’s call-up to the majors in 2015, he played for minor league Cubs affiliates — the Daytona Cubs, Tennessee Smokies and Iowa Cubs. But well before those promotions, Bryant began his professional career in 2013 with the Boise Hawks of the Class A Short Season Northwest league.

My family’s first host player from the Hawks was Canadian pitcher Jasvir Rakkar, who stayed with us during the summers of 2013 and 2014.

As a host family, we provided housing and food to the players and helped them adjust to their new location. In return, we got free season tickets, discounts on merchandise and attended host family group events. 

During our first summer hosting, a few host families and players took a trip to Roaring Springs — a water park in Meridian, Idaho. We were with Rakkar, and with us in the crowd was a young Bryant and his host family. 

My older brothers remember this summer better than I do, but I can still recall the warm days at the Hawks Memorial stadium. I got to run the bases after games and take pictures with Humphrey the mascot, all while eating ice cream from a plastic souvenir hat.

After Hawks games, I would run down to the dugouts after the last inning, hoping to get a signed baseball or bat from one of the players. My brothers and I collected quite a few over the years.

In July, the Hawks had post-game firework displays with country music playing in the background. The entire stadium would sing along to “Sweet Caroline.”

These moments when everyone was in unison, brought together by sport, are what I remember most fondly.

Long-time friendships forged with the players and other host families are what remain of those years.

Rakkar ended up playing for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans for a year — a minor league team associated with the Cubs — and then played for the Canadian National Baseball team during the Pan American games in 2015.

My mom still reaches out to him every now and then. After wrapping up a career in the minors, Rakkar moved back to Canada and is now married with a daughter.

We hosted players from 2013 to 2017, but after the team transitioned to a Rockies affiliation, it wasn’t the same for us. Other players we hosted were Marcos Derkes from Puerto Rico, Anthony Brito from the Dominican Republic and Collin Ferguson.

Ferguson was the last player we hosted, and he was only with us for a few days before being sent to a different minor league team. Derkes ended up enlisting with the Marines, Brito played with the Hawks for another year and Ferguson remained in the minors until 2018.

Some of the other players who advanced to the Cubs after playing with the Hawks include Baez, Willson Contreras, Albert Almora, Rob Zastryzny, David Bote and Kyle Schwarber.

As the Cubs began their regular season March 18 in Tokyo, Japan, where they lost against the Dodgers 4-1, several thoughts went through my head.

I wonder if this’ll be the year the Cubs return to the World Series. I think of that 2016 championship run and reminisce fondly about my time with the Hawks. While my family doesn’t host anymore, we will always have our connection to the host families and to our former players, as well as the prominent memories to look back on.