People Rolling out the welcome mat Edwardsville couple serving as hosts to four minor league baseball players By MATTHEW KAMP mkamp.edwi@gmail.com It’s a typical Saturday at the Leys’ ranch-style home in Edwardsville. Frank is outside working on the yard and Sue is on the patio enjoying the cool spring weather. Their two children, Jessica and Jacob, are long moved out of the house. The house is nice and neat, with no clutter and everything picked up. It’s just Frank and Sue there — except during baseball season. The Leys are a host family for four Gateway Grizzlies players this season. It is the fifth year that the Edwardsville couple has opened up their house to the players that are hoping to one day make it into Major League Baseball. “They have a dream and we have the room,” Sue said. Stacks of shoes line the floor next to the front door — it’s one of the few rules that Sue has for the players. Just inside the entrance, steps lead to a finished basement that acts as an apartment for the players. Living with a host family is the everyday life for players in the lower levels. The Grizzlies play in the Frontier League, and with player salaries being low, host families are a necessity during the season. “This is like my seventh host family, between college and pro ball. They are unbelievable people that let us into their personal lives and be part of their family. It’s something that we could never really thank them for,” said Gateway first baseman Ben Waldrip, who was born in Memphis, went to high school in Massachusetts and college in California and Alabama. Waldrip, a 6-foot-7 first baseman and former Colorado Rockies prospect, is joined by his teammates and California natives Jonathon “J.J.” Johnson, Richard Seigel and Michael Wing at the Leys this season. The four just recently moved in for the summer. The preseason started on May 6 and the regularseason opener is May 16 at GCS Ballpark in Sauget. The four have a place to stay this upcoming season because of a chance encounter Sue had with the team’s host family’s coordinator a little over five years ago. “I was volunteering at Anderson Hospital, and there was a woman there that was in charge of the host families. I heard her talking one day, and asked, ‘How do you do that?’ She told me to let her know if I was interested and that they would give me an application,” Sue said. “I came home to Frank and asked him, ‘What do you think?’ He said he didn’t care and that it was up to me.” After looking into the program a little bit more, the Leys decided to give it a try. “(The coordinators) came over and looked at the house and made sure we had enough space for the boys. They had a dinner before the season for the staff and host families. We went, they gave us a stack of tickets for the game and told us that they would let us know who we got and when they would be there,” Sue said. The stack of tickets was season tickets for the Leys. It is one of the perks, along with concessions at the game, that the Grizzlies offer host families.
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Matthew Kamp/The Edge
The Leys are hosting four Gateway Grizzlies players at their Edwardsville home this summer. From left are Jonathon Johnson, Michael Wing, Richard Seigel and Ben Waldrip. Not much of a fan, Sue wasn’t too upbeat about hearing the news of season tickets. That changed, though, in a hurry. “We went to our first game to see what was going on. Pretty soon, we were following them out of town,” Sue said. Frank jumped in, saying, “We are Gateway Grizzlies junkies now.” Wing, who was traded to the Grizzlies toward the end of last season, said the players do notice when they see their respective host family. “It is nice that they are out there,” Wing said. “They already do so much. That is nice to see them out there. We don’t expect it.” Showing up to the games is just another of the many things the Leys do to make the players feel at home and like family. The Edwardsville couple goes above and beyond for the players, including cooking meals and doing laundry. Frank was quick to credit Sue for the cooking, which Waldrip called “unbelievable.” “The feeding is up to the individual host family. The only thing the host family is promising to do is giving them a place to stay,” Frank said. “However, when you have a motherly figure in the house, she kind of takes over in terms of feeding them, doing their laundry. Not all host families do that.” Seigel found out just how different it is to stay at the Leys the first 24 hours he was there. The couple picked the first-year player up at the airport, despite his flight being delayed several times. The next morning, Sue cooked him breakfast. “I got in late, because my flights kept getting pushed back. I figured I would just take a cab. They were so adamant that they would come get me no matter the time. That
On the Edge of the Weekend
June 5, 2014
spoke to the character of the people that they were,” Seigel said. “The next morning I was making breakfast and Susan just came up, ripped the eggs out of my hand and said, “What do you want? I’ll make it. It is just open arms, huge hugs and a welcoming into the family.” The family environment has helped Seigel make the move to the St. Louis area, after graduating from the University of CaliforniaSan Diego last year. “Being my first year in pro ball and that I’ve been here a week, they have made my transition from home to being out here unbelievably easy,” Seigel said. Seigel said there is always a hot breakfast for the players when they wake up. The Leys also usually cook a meal after games. If a host family is feeding their players, the Leys said they are going to need a lot of milk. “We go through probably five or six gallons of milk per week,” Sue said. “Before, it was next to zero.” When the guys aren’t eating or with the Grizzlies, they usually spend their time hanging out in the basement or watching TV with the Leys. “We do a little bit of everything,” Waldrip answered about what he does during his down time. “A great part about the Leys is they treat us like we are family and this is our house as much as theirs. She says she is always here to help out and Frank says that they are there to serve. It goes to show the type of people they are.” It’s the type of atmosphere that Johnson wanted to be part of again. Of the four players, he is the only one to have already stayed at the house. Johnson said it was an easy decision to come back to the Leys. “I have been living with many host families throughout the years, and, by far, they make me feel the
most comfortable,” Johnson said. “They make me feel the most at home.” “My first year, I wasn’t living here. I came over here and visited guys that were living here. They made people that didn’t live here feel comfortable and like it was their home, as well.” Wing experienced the same thing Johnson did last year. He would visit the Leys to hang out with Johnson, who grew up with in California. Now, Wing is with the Leys for the full season and is the oldest of the four there. “I am two days older than J.J., so these are the young bucks,” Wing said while motioning to the other players. “I am the old man.” Wing and Johnson are 25 years old, while Waldrip is 22 and Seigel is 21. Playing together on the diamond and hanging out away from the ballpark will allow the four to form strong bonds and friendships. “We are all here to play baseball, but a lot of times you see guys that get too caught up in that and don’t form the relationships and friendships that’s part of the game. It is one of the things that I enjoy the most,” Waldrip said. “You can get to know and be best friends and brothers with them.” Seigel believes a close bond will make winning that much better. “You get to know them, hang out with them all the time. The pool table is used every day. We are all down here hanging out. Those relationships are being built,” Seigel said. “Once you get into the season, it makes playing together and winning so much more gratifying.” The red-felt pool table sits in the corner of the basement, just a few feet away from one of the giant leather couches where the players are spread out.
Asked who the best pool player was of the four, only Wing was brave enough to raise his hand. “It is friendly competition down here. I think everybody was wanting to raise their hand, but I was the only one to do it,” Wing said. Seigel said it’s, “Up for debate.” Waldrip was quick to note that, “Frank is the king. He won’t come down and play us yet. He is waiting until we are good enough.” The camaraderie built around the pool table or playing video games helps the players focus on something other than baseball when they are not at the field. It gives them a chance to ease their mind and be normal adults. An eased mind is needed for success on the diamond according to Johnson. “When you have to worry about things other than what’s between the lines, it is just a distraction. Here, there is no distraction,” Johnson said. The Grizzlies aren’t the only area team using host families. The Frontier Greys, a second-year traveling team, stays in the area 70 nights during the summer and is based out of Highland. The Leys help coordinate host families for the Greys. For more info on that program, Sue can be contacted at sjl9353@gmail.com. “Even though we are hosting Grizzlies, we agree to help coordinate host families for the Frontier Greys, which is another team in the same league that doesn’t have a home stadium,” Frank said. Host families — like the Leys — are needed to help the players progress their baseball careers. Without them, many players would have to turn to other careers. “Without them, it wouldn’t be possible,” Waldrip said. “It’s like a saving grace at the end of the day.”