One of the most valuable assets for Boise Hawks: A bilingual player to bridge the gap

Four days before the Boise Hawks’ season opener, a mix of players from colleges and Latin American countries — some as young as 17 years old — were asked to fill out a team questionnaire. The questions were in English.

It’s times like those that a bilingual player such as catcher Hidekel Gonzalez becomes one of the most valuable assets on the team.

The Hawks opened the 2019 season last week at Salem-Keizer and played their home opener Monday night against Everett at Memorial Stadium. Almost everybody on the roster is new, including the coaches — and most players speak English or Spanish, but not both.

“You have to have bilingual guys in the clubhouse,” Hawks pitcher Joel Condreay said. “Without those guys, it’s hard understanding each other. You know, when you are down in the bullpen and half the guys speak English and half the guys speak Spanish, it’s great having (a guy) that can translate and keep everybody on the same page.”

Gonzalez, who is back for his third season with the Hawks, was born in New York but grew up in the Dominican Republic. His first year in the organization was spent in the Dominican with the DSL Rockies in 2014. Now 22, Gonzalez played for Boise and Grand Junction (Colorado) in 2017, his first year in the U.S., and was called up to long-season Single- A Asheville in 2018 and Triple-A Albuquerque earlier this season.

“(In Triple-A), I was one of the youngest guys, but here I’m one of the oldest,” Gonzalez said. “I’m glad to be here because over there they have the experience and they are just trying to get the job done. They are really smart over there.”

While in Albuquerque, Gonzalez failed to register a hit in three at-bats during short stints in April and May, and struck out twice, but he shared a locker room with the likes of Brendan Rodgers, who was picked third overall in 2015 and made his MLB debut May 17, and Pat Valaika, who’s hit 16 career home runs and driven in 47 runs.

“That was amazing, just one step away from being in the big leagues,” Gonzalez said. “I’m glad that they sent me over there to help the team.”

Now back in Boise, Gonzalez is expecting more playing time and is embracing his role as a leader and the clubhouse translator. Over his two seasons in Boise, Gonzalez has played 70 games, driven in 30 runs and hit four home runs, all of which came in 2017.

“It’s important as a team, for myself, to know that I have some guys that the other guys, who are new, can lean on,” Hawks first-year manager Steve Soliz said. “From where the grocery store is, or how to navigate myself around this clubhouse or this city. So it’s always nice when you have a resource, and a lot of times that resource is in the coaching staff. There’s nothing like peer resources.”

This story was originally published June 17, 2019 at 12:06 PM.