Hoss and Trashman: Family Bonded by Baseball

Around the world, it is estimated that over two million children play little league, many with the idea to one day become a Major League Baseball player. A fraction of that number moves onto high school ball, and even less grace a professional baseball field of any level, let alone a Major League field.

Should you have a brother, odds are that only one of you will ever make it to the big time, as there has been just slightly over 400 sets of brothers to take a Major League diamond. Factor all that together, it makes it even more unlikely for the two to crossover with the same franchise, albeit at different times.

Included in that 400 sets of siblings are Brock and Max Stassi, two of three sons to Jim and Racquelle Stassi. Born in Yuba City, Calif., a decent distance away from any MLB team and affiliate (at the time), they set out on the baseball path much like many other young children and set their sights high. Their story was much like any other brothers, as they, along with their youngest brother Jake, got into baseball from an early age and took to it like naturals.

It helps when your dad was a former ballplayer as well, and a good one at that as Jim was a standout at the University of Nevada (where he eventually was inducted into the Wolf Pack Hall of Fame in 2005) before being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 17th round of the 1982 MLB Draft. Their genes in baseball extend even further, as both Brock and Max are the great-nephew to MLB All-Star and three-time World Series Champion Myril Hoag, who played alongside the New York Yankees dynasty of Ruth, Gehrig and DiMaggio.

Brock and Jake would often take the hill and play the field on the days they didn’t pitch, while Max followed in the footsteps of his father Jim and got in the squat behind the dish. It should come as no surprise that trio of brothers dominated the sport in their hometown, serving as the anchors of their teams in high school for the Yuba City Honkers.

As kids, the Sacramento River Cats came into town during the year 2000, and occasionally they would come down to take in a ballgame despite the fact they were watching the Oakland Athletics top affiliate as San Francisco Giants fans.

“We would come down a couple of times per summer, but we were so busy playing, so we didn’t have too much time,” Max said. “But there were definitely a few games that we would come to.”

Working into college, Brock traveled a similar path to Jim and attended Nevada, playing four years in the Silver State compared to the two for Jim. Moreover, Brock was drafted twice—first in 2010 when he was selected in the 44th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians. Brock returned to the Wolf Pack and improved his stock for 2011 when he was chosen by the Philadelphia Phillies with the 30th pick in the 33rd round.

On the other hand, Max was a highly-coveted prospect coming out of high school, at one point ranked the No. 30 overall prospect in the 2009 draft class by Baseball America. A member of the Team USA 16U and 18U national teams (and winning gold at the 2006 Pan American Games), Max committed to UCLA as he prepared to graduate high school in 2009.

That was, until he was selected with the 123rd overall pick by the Athletics in the 2009 MLB Draft. While it was well below where Max had been ranked as a prospect leading into the draft, he decided to forgo his college career and sign with the Athletics.

Traditionally, it can be thought that the big brother is the one to give advice, gain more experience and share with his brothers. For the first time, Brock and Max found it to be a bit of a reversal, a trend that would continue throughout their careers.

When Brock was drafted for the second time in 2011, Max was already though Rookie level and Short-A seasons, getting his first taste of the California League A (Adv). By the time that Brock reached that level, Max was making his MLB debut with the Houston Astros, doing so on Aug. 20, 2013 against the Texas Rangers.

“He just filled me in on what the big leagues are like, stuff you would expect, but we didn’t try to treat it that much differently,” Brock said. “It wasn’t anything crazy though.”

Once the duo has shared the field together while wearing professional uniforms, as the Phillies played the Astros during spring training in 2016 in the Grapefruit League, the first time they had been on the same field at the same time since their time as Honkers in Yuba City.

Finally, it was the 2017 season when Brock made the Philadelphia Phillies roster out of spring training, playing in 51 games but batting .167 with two homers and seven RBI. After finishing the season in Lehigh Valley, the Triple-A affiliate for the Phillies, Brock did not return to the Major Leagues.

While 2017 served as the end of his time with Philadelphia, he was leaving the organization with a cool parting gift—a nickname. When asked about his nickname “Trashman,” Brock recounted with a chuckle.

“That came from Zac Eflin when we were playing together in Reading in 2015, in Double-A with the Phillies,” Brock said after a laugh. “He just looked at me and said, ‘man you look like trash,’ and it ended up sticking. I ended up being the Trashman.”

After signing with the Minnesota Twins prior to the 2018 campaign, Brock would play just two months of the season with Double-A Rochester before being released. Looking to continue his baseball career, much in the way that his father, Jim, did when he finished his playing career in Italy, Brock began to look abroad for opportunities.

Just when it seemed as if Brock would be heading south to the Mexican Baseball League for his next shot, he got a call from his agent.

“I was actually on my way down to Mexico because I was playing independent ball after I got released from Minnesota,” Brock said. “It was getting later in the season, and I had signed a deal with Diablos Rojos (del México). He called and asked if I had gotten on the flight yet, and said don’t get on it because the Giants want to sign you. I went from thinking about going to Mexico to getting on a plane and sleeping in my own bed the next night.”

The next day Brock was officially assigned to the River Cats. There was some familiarity there, as Brock had played for manager Dave Brundage when the duo was with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in the 2016 season during Brock’s first year in Triple-A. Not only was it a homecoming for Brock, but noted it was awesome to be able to do it under someone who he still has a close relationship with to this day.

That familiarity helped as Brock adjusted to the West Coast, spending his entire playing career back east to that point, as one of his favorite things about playing for Sacramento was being able to drive himself to the ballpark daily. Getting into that routine helped the left-handed batter find success, as he reached base safely in all 21 games he played for the River Cats that season after officially signing on Aug. 12, 2018. He posted a .536 on-base percentage in that time, and only Kyle Tucker had a higher on-base percentage during the final 30 days of the season.

“I went to [independent] ball that year and fixed some things with my swing, and it was cool to see it carry over in Sacramento,” Brock said. “I was getting good pitches to hit, and I was doing what I should have with them. I knew it was a pretty good stint but didn’t know I was up there with Kyle Tucker in that time.”

“That’s decent, it’s OK,” Max said with a sly smile. “I would say it could’ve been better, but he got on base every single game.”

Most of Brock’s fond memories came off the field as he also recalled meeting “the legend” that is River Cats former announcer, Johnny Doskow, again someone he remains close to until this day. The two even had the chance to be on air together, broadcasting a pair of Saturday River Cats games during the 2019 season.

Meanwhile, Max went on to play in parts of 10 MLB seasons, last appearing in MLB with the Los Angeles Angels after 102 games on Oct. 5, 2022. Prior to the 2023 season he sustained a hip injury in spring training that eventually required surgery, setting him up to miss most, if not all, of the season.

That was also a challenging family time as Max’s son, Jackson, had been born three months premature, forcing Max to put baseball on pause as detailed in this Sussan Slusser article for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Upon his return to baseball, he was traded twice, first to the Atlanta Braves. However, one day later and it now appeared that Max would be spending the year with the Chicago White Sox. Once more the year was cut short due to injury, appearing in five rehab games with the Double-A Charlotte Knights before being shut down for the season and electing free agency.

Quickly he was signed by San Francisco on Nov. 19, 2024, and assigned to Sacramento much like his brother six years before him. Finally, it was time for Brock to give the advice to Max.

“It wasn’t anything too crazy as he had already spent a good amount of time in the PCL (Pacific Coast League) himself, but he had never played for Brundy (Dave Brundage) before,” Brock said. “I told him he would love (Brundage), that he was going to love the organization as well because the Giants are a first-class organization. They do things the right way, it’s a good organization to be in.”

“He told me how much he loved here,” Max said. “He said to enjoy every day because it’s not often you can sleep at home and play for the hometown team. The whole experience, it’s second to none.”

Unfortunately, Max will not show up with as cool of a nickname as “Trashman,” but he has taken on a bit of a new moniker for himself.

“Everyone just calls him ‘Hoss,’” Brock said. “He started calling everyone Hoss a few years back, so now everyone just returns the favor.”

After watching the eldest play in 2018, the River Cats saw the middle Stassi take the field for the first time on Opening Day this season. Though he missed time with another injury this season, he returned to the field with a literal bang by crushing a home run on the first pitch he saw on May 18 against Salt Lake.

The moment is not lost on the two brothers of getting their respective chances to play for their closest hometown professional team.

“It’s pretty incredible that we’ve both played for the same team, it’s kind of a dream come true,” Max said. “Very thankful for the opportunity to be here, and I know he was, too. It’s pretty surreal to finally play at this park after coming here all these years.”

“It’s special, we both grew up going to those games as a kid,” Brock said. Being able to step on that field where we went to a lot of as kids is just kind of a dream come true. Being so close to home and have family be able to come out and watch has been special for sure.”

To make it more special, it is now yet another bond they share with their father—all three have played for San Francisco’s top affiliate at the Triple-A level. Upon being drafted by the Giants in 1982, Jim reached Triple-A when the Giants’ affiliate was the Phoenix Giants of the Pacific Coast League in the 1983 season, playing in 39 games and batting .278 with one homer and 10 RBI.

“I had never even thought about that, that all three of us have played for the Giants’ top affiliate,” Brock said. “It’s special—you don’t take it for granted, none of us do, about what this game has been able to do for us, both individually and as a family. It’s kind of just one of the things we do and one of the things we love to do.”

Despite being retired from his playing career, Brock is a bit busy to catch Max at Sutter Health Park. He resides down Highway-99 in Modesto as he currently serves as the hitting coach for the Modesto Nuts, Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Currently, the Nuts lead the California League North and are second in the California League at 25-16.

Though not physically, Hoss and Trashman are back together again in the River Cats record book.