Jackie Bradley Jr. Maintains Strong Bond With Cape League Host Family
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Cape Cod Baseball League gives the hopeful stars of a future a great stage to show off their talents in front of Major League scouts.
But it also means spending a summer away from home and in a new and unknown setting (for most of the players, anyways). Players travel from all over the country to take part in the league, in hopes of catching the right set of eyes and fulfilling their hopes of becoming a big leaguer.
Those players need a little help along the way, and it stretches far away from the diamond. Perhaps most importantly, they need a place to stay, a home that will make them feel welcome and put them in the right mindset to succeed on the field.
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Meet Tino and Terri DiGiovanni, who since 2003, have welcomed Cape League players to their Cape Cod home, giving the young men some cozy quarters and delicious meals as they try to accomplish their lifelong dream.
"Your job is to look over them, protect them and help them when they need it," said Tino, who has been involved with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks since 2003. "You're at a very critical spot in a kid's life. He's dreamed about being a Major League player, and now he has an opportunity to be seen by Major League scouts. His head is spinning; doesn't know if he's going to be successful. He's not at his comfort level because everyone is trying to do what he's trying to do. You're there to try and pick him up. Not to drill in baseball or try to fix everything, just making him comfortable, relaxed and focused. The focus part for me is the biggest thing you could do."
While Tino has his focus on baseball, Terri has her sights on another important aspect in the lives of these young men.
"My goal is when they get home from that game, to make sure they're fed," she said. "And my next goal is to make sure the first thing they do when they come through that door is to give me a hug. And they do."
One of the many young gentlemen to greet Terri with a hug over the years is current Red Sox star Jackie Bradley Jr., who lived with the DiGiovanni family during the summer of 2009. Ask him today and Bradley Jr. still remembers how great it was to live with Tino and Terri for a summer.
"That really set the tone for playing on the Cape," he said. "Being comfortable allows you to be comfortable on the field. I probably had the best host family on the Cape and I can say that with no inflection. It was a lot of fun and they really made things comfortable for me; meals, making sure I was there on time. It was a professional organization and I had a lot of fun playing."
"I loved everything about him," Terri said of Bradley Jr., who invited his host family to his wedding. "He was very quiet. The other thing I loved was he loved to eat. He liked to make pancakes, but let me tell you, Jackie did not do a good job. He burnt my pans."
During his summer with the DiGiovannis, Bradley's struggles were more than just in the kitchen. But that's where Tino comes in, helping these players get over the mental hump that may keep them from reaching their true potential on the field.
"It was my responsibility, when they were down – I've been in business long enough to know when something is going on in your mind and how to approach them. I found so many were struggling, mentally. On the outside they were laughing, but on the inside…
"Jackie is a good example," he said. "The first half of the season I don't think he was batting the size of his hat. He had a heck of a freshman year at South Carolina and came here and expected to do the same thing. He didn't make the All-Star team, and then said to me 'watch me the second half.' That second half he was by far the best player in the league. He was comfortable.
"He had a way about him, a way of confidence a lot of guys don't have. It's a quiet confidence," Tino said of the Sox outfielder. "That 'I can do it.' Most of the guys that stayed with us have varying degrees of ability, and some of them will never tap their real ability for one reason or another. They don't believe in themselves enough."
Bradley Jr. finished the 2009 season with a .275 batting average for Hyannis (then known as the Hyannis Mets) and led the league with four triples. Now that he's tearing the cover off the ball for Boston, Tino and Terri can make a quick trek to Fenway Park to see one of their favorite players in action on the big stage. Even Bradley Jr. makes a point of paying his former summer parents a visit from time to time.
"I'm still close with them now," he said. "Sometimes when I have an off day I'll pop over to the Cape and see them."
Watch: John Garner Talks Cape Cod Baseball League History
The only problem with Tino and Bradley Jr.'s relationship reared its ugly head with the outfielder was drafted by the Red Sox in 2011. The issue: Tino is a lifelong New York Yankees fan.
"Our four daughters, six grand kids and myself were euphoric over [Bradley Jr. being drafted by Boston]. This gentleman was not," Terri said of her husband.
"I told him 'I'll root for you, but the Red Sox, not so much,'" Tino said. "When he was in the hitting streak [earlier this season], we text quite a bit. I text him, 'I'm going to baseball hell if this keeps up.'"
Unfortunately for the stars of tomorrow, the DiGiovannis will not be hosting any players this summer as Tino recovers from a kidney transplant. Both are bummed that their home will feel a bit empty this year, but Tino is on the mend and looking forward to opening their doors for the ballplayers of the future again in the near future.
