In
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, a batboy or batgirl is an individual who carries
baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...
s to the players on a
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
team. Duties of a batboy may also include handling and preparing players’ equipment and bringing
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
s to the
umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
during the game. During games, a batboy remains in or near a team's
dugout and the area around
home plate
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
.
A batboy should not be confused with
ball boy
Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tenn ...
s, who are stationed down the
foul lines to retrieve
foul balls. As batboys are stationed on the field, albeit in foul territory, they can occasionally interfere with play; such events are governed by Rule 6.01(d), the main point of which is that if the interference is unintentional, any live ball remains alive and in play.
History
Mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
s and batboys had both been part of baseball since the 1880s. Perhaps the most famous mascot/batboy was
Eddie Bennett
Eddie Bennett (November 19, 1904 – January 16, 1935) was an American batboy for the Chicago White Sox (1919), Brooklyn Robins (1920), and most notably for the New York Yankees (1921-1932) where he was also served as the team's mascot.
Dur ...
, who was supposedly hired as a mascot by the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
at the urging of
Happy Felsch
Oscar Emil "Happy" Felsch (August 22, 1891 – August 17, 1964) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 to 1920. in 1919, a tale Eddie told often but no White Sox player ever corroborated. After the
1919 World Series scandal, he was hired by the
Brooklyn Dodgers in 1920. When the Dodgers lost the
1920 World Series to the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
, some suggested the four straight losses on the road were due to leaving Bennett behind. He then served for almost 12 years as mascot/batboy for the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
.
Calvin Griffith served as a batboy for the
Washington Senators, which was owned by his uncle
Clark Griffith
Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Reds ...
, including during the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
of and . The younger Griffith became the principal owner of the franchise upon the death of the elder Griffith in 1955, and orchestrated the relocation of the franchise after the 1960 season; the team has competed as the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
since 1961.
Uniforms
![Mets dugout (50381392121)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Mets_dugout_%2850381392121%29.jpg)
Batboys typically wear the same uniform design as their associated team. They will also usually wear a
batting helmet
A batting helmet is worn by batters in the game of baseball or softball. It is meant to protect the batter's head from errant pitches thrown by the pitcher. A batter who is "hit by pitch," due to an inadvertent wild pitch or by intent, may ...
to protect them from flying balls or bats.
During any given major league game, both the home and visiting team batboys will be drawn from the city where the game is taking place (batboys typically do not travel on the road with their team, unless they are relatives of a player). Home batboys often have regular jobs with a team, and thus may wear their first names on their uniforms; visiting teams, on the other hand, usually do not know who will be serving as their batboys on the road, and thus will send uniforms of various sizes to accommodate batboys of varying heights and weights.
A batboy may be provided his own number, but will usually wear 00 or 'BB' in its place. If a batboy uniform does not have a first name on it, it will usually have the term 'BAT BOY' or no name at all.
In the news
*In the
2002 World Series, a batboy (Darren Baker, the 3½ year old son of
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
manager
Dusty Baker
Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker Jr. (born June 15, 1949) is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Houston Astros in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in the MLB for 19 seasons, most notably with the Lo ...
) was involved in an incident when he went out to get a bat while play was still in progress.
J. T. Snow, while in the act of scoring a run for the Giants, grabbed the young boy at home plate, avoiding the batboy possibly being involved in a collision with other baserunners or players from the opposing team. After the incident, MLB set a minimum age of 14 for batboys.
*Matthew McGough described his batboy experiences with the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
in ''Bat Boy: My True-Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees'', a book published by
Doubleday in 2005. McGough's book served as the basis for ''
Clubhouse
Clubhouse may refer to:
Locations
* The meetinghouse of:
** A club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal
** In the United States, a country club
** In the United Kingdom, a gentlemen's club
* A ...
'', a prime-time television show that aired on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
in the fall of 2004.
*On April 27, 2007, former
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
batboy (1985–1995)
Kirk Radomski
Kirk J. Radomski (born 1969) is a former batboy and clubhouse employee, colloquially known by players as Murdock, for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball from 1985 to 1995. On April 27, 2007, he pleaded guilty in United States district cour ...
pleaded guilty in
United States district court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
to
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
and illegal distribution of
anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone (medication), testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related ...
s,
human growth hormone,
Clenbuterol
Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most commonl ...
,
amphetamine
Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
s and other drugs to "dozens of current and former Major League Baseball players, and associates, on teams throughout Major League Baseball." He faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine,
["Ex-Mets clubhouse worker admits dealing steroids to players" ''NBC Sports''](_blank)
/ref> but he was sentenced to 5 years probation and ordered to pay a fine of $18,575 due to his cooperation with the federal government and the Mitchell Report
The ''Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball'', informally known as the Mitchell Report, is the res ...
.
*In a pregame ceremony on May 5, 2007, Stan Bronson Jr. received recognition by ''Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' as the "Most Durable Batboy" ever. Bronson, known as "Stan The Man", had served as the batboy for the University of Memphis
}
The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...
baseball team since the 1958 season. His 50 years of service was recognized in the 2008 edition of the Guinness book.
*Dominick Ardovino wrote about his batboy experience with the New York Mets in ''The Bat Boy'' (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967).
Batboys who became MLB players
Examples of batboys who went on to play in Major League Baseball include Drew Storen
Drew may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
;In the United States
* Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Drew, Mississippi, a city
* Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community
* Drew County, Arkansas
...
, who served as a batboy for the Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...
when the team visited Cincinnati, and Jesse Litsch
Jesse Allen Litsch (born March 9, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. After working as a batboy for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, he was drafted in the 24th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in , and played from 2007 to 2011, when ...
, who was a batboy for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...
in 2001 and 2002.
In popular culture
The batboy, Bobby Savoy, is a supporting character in the 1984 film, ''The Natural''. At the finale, Bobby gives the main character, Roy Hobbs
''The Natural'' is a 1952 novel about baseball by Bernard Malamud, and is his debut novel. The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked after being shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. The story mos ...
, a bat that he's made with Hobbs' help after Hobbs has broken his own personally made childhood bat.
Two Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
cartoons, ''Porky's Baseball Broadcast'' and ''Baseball Bugs
''Baseball Bugs'' is a 1946 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' theatrical animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on February 2, 1946, and stars Bugs Bunny.
In the short, Bugs Bunny singlehandedly defeats the "Gas-House Go ...
'', feature sight-gag
In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretation ...
s involving batboys who fly in on bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...
wings to deliver bats
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bir ...
.
See also
*Water boy
In the United States, a water boy or water girl (sometimes spelled waterboy or watergirl) was someone who worked in the field, providing water to farm workers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the name is given to those who work on the ...
References
External links
"A Boy and His Job.”
1969-06-04. Elliott Ashley, bat boy for the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
, explains his duties in this documentary produced by National Educational Television
National Educational Television (NET) was an American educational broadcast television network owned by the Ford Foundation and later co-owned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It operated from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970, and ...
, preserved in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting
The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The AAPB is a national effort to digital ...
.
*Morris, Pete
Eddie Bennett
via baseball biography project
Excerpt from Matthew McGough's book Bat Boy (Part 1)
Excerpt from Matthew McGough's book Bat Boy (Part 2)
*Grossfeld, Stan (April 27, 2005)
Batboy finds it tough to pick up his life.
''Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''
*ESPN (August 25, 2005)
Suspended batboy mulling two offers.
{{Baseball positions
Baseball occupations
Baseball terminology
Baseball bats