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And He Didn’t Even Have to Fetch Earl’s Cigarettes

Rick-batboy16.jpg

[Editor’s Note: Today we have a guest entry from Rick Friedel, who got to be an Orioles batboy-for-a-day back in 1981. Here’s his story. — PL]

By Rick Friedel

When I was nine years old, my parents bid on — and won — the opportunity for me to be an Orioles batboy. This all happened because of the then-annual Orioles wives’ auction, which took place in the bullpen to benefit charity.

Actually, I was a co-batboy. I shared the duties with a leukemia patient who was granted the same opportunity. His name was Eric. I don’t know what he was thinking, but one of my first thoughts that day was that I hoped I’d get to keep the uniform. No luck there, unfortunately.

The date was September 2, 1981. My day basically started by being escorted to the Orioles clubhouse and seeing the likes of Eddie Murray, Al Bumbry, and Jim Palmer, all preparing for that night’s game that night. We were shown to equipment manager Enrnie Tyler’s office, where the batboy lockers were located, to get dressed for the game. Gary Deaton was the “real” batboy assigned to work that night, so he showed us the ropes. He gave us our uniforms, which were just off-the-rack jobs. Mine had “Bat Boy” on the back, which was fine by me — I never really thought they’d put my name on back. But I felt bad for Eric when I noticed that his jersey was blank on the back.

We were then instructed on how to get dressed, with special attention paid on how to get the pants and stirrups just right. I followed the instructions it exactly because I wanted to look the part, although it didn’t quite look right because the pants and jersey were a bit big. Then they gave us an adjustable hat to wear. I remember being disappointed by that, because I really wanted a fitted cap.

So now we’re all dressed except for our cleats. In the bottom of the batboy lockers were boxes of black and orange cleats. I so wanted to wear those cleats, but they didn’t have any my size( remember, I was only nine at the time, and most of the batboys on staff were in their teens), so I wore my own cleats that I had brought along. Then I noticed that Eric was putting on white cleats. Now I felt extra-bad for him — a blank jersey and the wrong color cleats [and, um, leukemia! — PL]. Looking back, though, I’m sure he was just happy to be there and wasn’t too worried about these differences.

Once we were dressed we then went out to the dugout to get the rundown of our duties for the night. I remember feeling pretty good overall about the whole uniform.

I had a few memorable experiences before the game got started. I got to play catch with Eddie Murray while he was wearing his white turfs for warm-ups (he switched to black and orange for the game), and I was able to do a quick interview for the local news. Even got to chit-chat with the Demper!

Once the game got started, I had a few hiccups. Gary, the real batboy, had to come out and move me over to the other side of the on-deck circle so I wouldn’t be in the players’ way (I got it right after that). Also, after one of the innings I attempted to gather all the gear at one time and ended up dropping everything on the way back to the dugout. I got a few laughs from someone in the stands. Another time I even forgot to go get the bat from the batter’s box after a hit, simply because I was just taking everything in. I remember pitching coach Ray Miller calling to me to make sure I go get the bat next time.

I was also fortunate enough to get to count pitches with Jim Palmer. He demonstrated to me how he used a towel on the dugout step to sit on, so he wouldn’t get his uniform dirty. Cal Ripken (he was up during a brief stint) also had fun with me by throwing sunflower seeds at me while on the step and blaming it on other players.

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All in all it was a great experience — even if I didn’t get to keep the uniform or wear the orange and black cleats.

+ + + + +

Another giveaway? Sure, why the hell not: Paul here, with yet another giveaway. Chris Speakman, the man behind longtime Uni Watch advertiser Sports Propaganda, is generously offering one of limited-edition screen prints to a lucky reader. The winner will be able to choose any of the unframed prints listed on this page.

To enter, send an e-mail with your shipping address to the giveaway address. by 10pm eastern this Thursday, September 23rd. One entry per person. I’ll announce the winner on Friday.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Is your name William Sanderson, Walter Smith, or something else that reduces to “W.S.”? Then you may want to buy this jersey. ”¦ Some of the most beautifully textured chain-stitching you’ll ever see can be found on this boxing jacket (awesome find by Ben Wideman). ”¦ Really beautiful typography on this old tobacco tin. ”¦ A reader who prefers to remain anonymous reports that college lacrosse officials will have some uni adjustments next year: “Pants: All black for both shorts and long pants. (We will no longer be wearing white shorts.) Jackets: We will transition to all black coats. It is preferred to go to black sooner than later. The Board OK’d one-year waiver for black and white striped that we have worn in the past. All officials must wear the same jacket if jackets are worn. Socks: Either the high black-over-white socks we have worn in the past or the short (just out of the shoe) black socks are acceptable. No calf-length black socks.” ”¦ Last winter I wrote about my friend Sherman’s book about professional rasslin’ in Memphis. He’s now producing a documentary film about that same topic. It’s in the final stages of editing, post-production, etc., but meanwhile check out the groovy poster. ”¦ Attention Matt Powers and all other sneakerheads: The excellent design site Core77, which I used to write for a million years ago (the material is still there), is running a cool contest based on making sneakers out of Play-Doh (thanks, Kirsten). ”¦ Hey, speaking of Powers, he reports that Majestic umpire attire is now available at retail. ”¦ New mask for Michael Leighton (with thanks to Matt Pesotski). ”¦ Justin Bates reports that Arkansas is planning a red-out for this Saturday, although it isn’t clear if that will have uni-related implications. ”¦ Oregon State is preparing for Boise State’s blue turf by painting their practice field blue (with thanks to Ryan Dowgin). ”¦ New mask for Alex Auld. ”¦ James Spears sent me a photo of this Mizzou helmet cart, but I was intrigued by one of the links in his signature. So I clicked on it and found something interesting: a high school team that manages to rip off two NFL logos at once. ”¦ The story behind each NHL team’s name can be found here (with thanks to Eric Bunnell). ”¦ Man, the last time the Redskins wore gold pants, they had plaid carpeting in the locker room (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ I’d previously reported that Colorado State would wear orange jerseys this week against Idaho, but no photos of the orange jerseys had shown up until now. My understanding is that they’ll be sticking with their usual gold helmets, which I’m pretty sure is gonna look awful. ”¦ What do the Islanders and Cubs have in common? Take a look at this shot. See that little right smudge to the right of the “S” in the logo crest? That’s a circle-R trademark symbol. “If that’s not a sign of hell, I don’t know what is,” says eagle-eyed Rob Siergiej. … Very odd situation brewing in Hartford, where the Wolf Pack — that’s the Rangers’ AHL affiliate — is about to become the Connecticut Whale. The weird thing, aside from the new name being one of the worst in all of professional sports, is that the team will get a new logo and uniforms in the middle of the season. Bizarre. ”¦ I asked Joe Skiba about the super-wide pants striping on some of the Giants. He said it’s a new seamless pant design, “and remember — seamless stretches.” He also said he thinks the Jags, Colts, and Bengals might be experimenting with something similar, so let’s keep a close watch on those teams. ”¦ Before Mike Scott wore the tequila sunrise design for the Astros, he wore it for Pepperdine (good find by Jim McCue). ”¦ Also from Jim: Check out Pepperdine’s unusual 1944 hoops uni. The “GPC” stood for George Pepperdine College.

 
  
 
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Comments (99)

    Too bad the guy thinks the widest separation between uniform numbers can’t be broken. In 2003, the Cardinals had players wearing 99 and 0, which is a difference of 99.

    For the purpose of number separation, is 00 considered to be the same as 0? Or are they on opposite ends? In at least one video game (yeah, I know), a jersey number of 00 was actually represented as 100 in the player’s bio/stat screens.

    I remember Jayson Stark writing mentioning in a column that Robinson pinchhit for Taguchi in a game on Aug. 29, 2003, meaning a 0 pinchhit for a 99. He was amused by that.

    great story~thanks for sharing rick!

    ~~~

    “I shared the duties with a leukemia patient who was granted the same opportunity. His name was Eric. I don’t know what he was thinking, but one of my first thoughts that day was that I hoped I’d get to keep the uniform.”

    probably either “i hope i get to keep the uniform” OR… “i hope cal ripken can cure leukemia”

    Thanks Phil…great point as well. Not sure Cal had his special powers back then but looking back now I certainly wish something could have been done. I’m sure he was able to put somethings aside for at least one day and have a super experience.

    Of course there is NO coverage of the activities from the Bronx last night, not even a mention in the ticker…

    Here: The Yanks unveiled a huge-ass monument for the Boss, which every other sports media outlet is already covering.

    Happy now?

    Honestly and truly: I wasn’t snubbing the Yanks — it just didn’t occur to me. I was out of the house for part of last night and spent the rest of the night watching the Niners/Saints game. As I got ready for bed, I saw that Davidoff and Kepner both Twittered about the monument being really, really big, and thought to myself, “Oh, right, that was happening tonight.” Didn’t really give it any more (or less) thought than that.

    You poor saps in the Bronx. link! What do you need to do to get noticed?

    Boy, I’m glad I’m not in your shoes.

    How could things get any worse for you?
    You’re so fucking alone.
    How could things get any worse for you?
    I don’t blame you when you piss and moan.

    Actually wasn’t such a big deal for the fans. Of course YES pumped it up..but we Yankee fans didnt really think much of it. To be perfectly honest I didnt even remember it was last night until I tuned into the game.

    What uniform is he wearing?

    We’re talkin about a statue. Not a game. We’re talkin about a statue. We’re not talkin about a game. We’re talkin about a statue.

    Historically, the NFL has supported high schools and youth leagues using NFL logos for their football programs. Thus, I don’t know that ‘ripped off’ is the best phrase to use there, because of its pejorative nature, however, the NFL does prefer that the colors of its logos are not changed when they are used by schools and leagues.

    Speaking of which, here’s a badass take where the high school changed the colors and tweaked the logo off a link. A clear shell ta boot.

    The Spring Ford Rams in PA use the Niners logo: link

    That is their current helmet. They used to have that logo on their sleeve, and helmets like the St. Louis Rams, but I couldnt find a pic of that

    You were a blessed boy Rick. I would have traded in everything I owned and my big brother for a chance to spend a day as a batboy in 1981! Great story.

    In 1981 I was 10 years old. There was an exhibition game at Yankee Stadium in the middle of the season ( before they resumed play after the strike). It was a miserably rainy day and I was able to sit behind the Yankee dugout. Dave Winfield broke his bat on a pop up and as he walked over to the dugout, he looked at me and gave me the broken bat. I smiled for about 2 years!

    I still tell my kids and nephews that story. I could not imagine having had a chance to be a batboy, sit in the dugout and walk onto the field with the players! What a great experience! Thanks for sharing!

    Throwback to the old Colorado A&M days, I believe. I mean, the whole design isn’t a throwback, but the orange is supposed to evoke that earlier era.

    Great bat boy story! Unfortunately it wouldn’t happen today. Bat boys must be aged 14+, because of the “Darren Baker rule” (Dusty Baker’s young son, who almost got run over at the plate in 2002). Two years ago my son received a Rochester Red Wings bat boy for a day certificate from his uncle, who had bid on it at a charity auction. He was 11 at the time and was so excited. However, when I called the Red Wings office to schedule a date, we were informed that he could not participate due to this rule. It was not his best birthday, to say the least.

    While on the surface it does seem stupid, I guess I don’t have strong feelings against the Connecticut AHL team being The Whale, considering everybody colloquially called the Whalers “the whale” and I’m sure there are trademark/copyright issues with the name Whalers.

    Although, changing in the middle of the season is very strange.

    Umpire attire available??? My dream of owning a Red Cashion throwback ref’s shirt is getting even closer…

    wasnt that skiba who also got some air time (and who had to be shitting bricks) when jacobs tossed his helmet into the lucas oil crowd on sunday?

    A ‘RED OUT’ is planned for every Arkansas game, and always very poorly planned. People around here can’t get on the same page and unless the athletic dept is the one promoting it, it’s gonna be half-assed. This ‘celebrate’ magazine is just a local magazine like all the others and will show no hints to the uni’s the team will be wearing.

    GREAT story, Rick. I’m sure that every one of us has had wishes of something like that happening for us.

    Oregon State painting the turf blue? I understand when teams practice with loudspeakers blaring to become accustomed to crowd noise, but the turf? C’mon!

    P.E.T.A. won’t care for this comment but dammit, it must be asked:

    Birds suffering broken necks due to confusing the Boise turf for water could be considered natural selection, no?

    Cool story and pics, Rick. Brings back a lot of memories for me – I was a Junior Oriole back in those days.

    Note to Reebok (or whoever):
    Be professional enough to anticipate the stretching. Make the stripes narrower, etc. to begin with to compensate for it.

    Oh, no, wait…then football people couldn’t tell the manufacturer right away, could they, and that IS the most important thing.

    —Ricko

    That’s asking too much of a contractually obligated firm…imagine if building contractors failed to account for weather related expansion and contraction!
    Lawsuits, galore.

    “I’d previously reported that Colorado State would wear orange jerseys this week against Idaho, but no photos of the orange jerseys had shown up until now. My understanding is that they’ll be sticking with their usual gold helmets, which I’m pretty sure is gonna look awful.”

    Colorado State wears green helmets with gold ram horns, not gold helmets. Just FYI.

    link

    Ugh why can’t Reebok ever get striping right? Or do they just enjoy making super tight jerseys and pants with crappy looking stripes.

    I had a similar experience as a batboy, although it was at charity old timers games in Phoenix. The game was played annually in the late 80’s / early 90’s at Phoenix Municipal Stadium called the Dream Game. I served as the batboy for 5 of these games for teams including the 1972 A’s (where I played catch with Catfish Hunter), the 1968 Cardinals (Met Bob Gibson & Lou Brock), the 1969 Orioles, and one “Windy City” game that featured various Cubs & White Sox old timers from the 60’s & 70’s.
    Each time i got a uniform with my name stitched on the back and got to keep all the uniforms.
    They of course don’t fit anymore, and I’m not sure what happened to all of them. I think they’re hanging in the closet at my mom’s house.
    There’s nothing that compares to putting on a uniform and walking out onto a major league field, even if it is a Spring Training ballpark for an old timer’s game.

    The Boston Bruins have a player in camp by the name of Jordan LaVallée-Smotherman, but it looks like he is only wearing Smotherman on his sweater.

    link

    And how about this cool color shot of Colorado State in 1954. Check out the Rams horn helmets.

    Possibly playing Utah?

    link

    Methinks is actual color photograph.

    Them are some serious horns, though, huh.

    They were “Colorado Mines” before Colorado State, right? I remember Colorado Mines.

    Also remember when Utah State was Utah A&M (which explains, for those don’t get it, why they’re the “Aggies”) and UTEP was Texas Western (think they wore mono orange back then, btw, but tough to tell from b&w photos because orange and royal blue track very much alike).

    Also remember when Marquette and U of Detroit still played football, too.
    Jeez, I’m old.

    I do NOT, however, remember when U of Chicago did. Or when Jay Berwanger passed on the pro game.

    —Rams

    Be a real coup if you could dig up a color shot Texas Western at home in the 60s…to see if they did wear mono orange.

    Appeared to be orange helmet, white side numbers.
    Orange jersey, with numbers and white NW sleeves stripes.
    Orange pants with single white stripe.
    One or more of those elements could be royal blue, I suppose, but they sure looked to be the same color (in b&w).

    If it helps your search, two of their better known players in late ’60 were QB Billy Stevens and WR Chuck Hughes (yes, that Chuck Hughes, the Detroit Lion who died during a game vs. the Bears at Tiger Stadium),

    —Ricko

    I will see what I can do. Lately I have been hunting down color pictures from before 1970.

    Been finding a bunch. I figured wait before burying Paul or Phil with them right now. I found a couple that Jim Vilk would like. Such as Indiana Pa and smaller western Pa colleges.

    Yep a few Indiana Pa color pics. And one pretty sure is Slippery Rock vs Indiana. I have family down by the Brownsville Pa area and a couple cousins that graduated from California Pa.

    Ricko,

    You don’t remember when the Maroons played football?

    That memory’s really failing you, eh? What a shame. ‘Twas just this past Saturday. link.

    We’re playing them for homecoming this week. (Wabash, for the interested.) I can say I’ve seen them play the last few years. ;)

    Monday Night Football started 40 years ago tonight. Here’s a slideshow that show how the Jet’s sleeves SHOULD look link

    From the ticker …. Man, the last time the Redskins wore gold pants, they had plaid carpeting in the locker room (thanks, Brinke)….

    Gotta be the shoes!

    RIP, Kenny McKinley.

    And since I know this question is going to come up, the Broncos will have link on their helmets this weekend.

    Thanks everyone for the kind words…

    Unfortunately we lost touch with Eric short while after our batboy experience…at that time he was doing well, but as for now I am unaware of how he is or if he is with us.

    His health and well being is/was obviously more important than being batboy, but on that day you can be sure he felt like a million dollars. He was a big baseball fan and loved every minute of that experience.

    Again most young kids going to baseball games always envied the bat boys. You have fond memories to cherish.

    The headline reminded me of a GREAT Weaver tirade.

    NSFW! NSFW! NSFW! NSFW! NSFW!
    link

    “Well, this show’s gonna go down in history, Earl!”

    Really?

    Here’s another Earl- NSFW! NSFW! NSFW! NSFW! NSFW!

    link

    i like how the ump goes “BOOM!” when he tosses him. Man, whatta classic.

    OK, last Earl: comment from the second clip.

    I believe it was Joe Garagiola whom I heard my favorite baseball story from, involving Earl and an umpire.

    Earl: Would you throw me out if I called you an ignorant son-of-a-bitch?

    Ump: I damn sure would.

    Earl: Would you throw me out if I just thought it?

    Ump: I can’t throw you out for what you think.

    Earl: Well then, I THINK YOU’RE AN IGNORANT SON-OF-A-BITCH !!!!!!!

    Ump: YOU’RE OUTTA HERE !!!!!!

    I’ve been looking & can’t seem to find these anywhere…does anyone know where you can buy NFL socks? Specifically, the Bears Navy striped socks??

    The Triple-A teams playing for the championship tonight definitely look like minor leaguers. Both teams wearing blue jerseys; fortunately, Tacoma has a big fat red stripe going down the shoulders and sleeves.

    Philly Flyers wore white at home for their first preseason game earlier tonight.

    Bill Guerin wearing #9 for the Flyers.

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