Bat-Boy/Ball-Boy styles

[nybatt]

watching the yankee-white sox game last night I noticed the white sox batboy uniforms featured their last names on the back. it was the first time I could recall seeing this from any major league team. the uniform also included the obligatory "07" for the season.

I posted this on the uniwatch blog, but considering not everyone here goes "there" I wanted to offer it up on this board.

I'm intrigued by the team-by-team discrepancies when it comes to how they choose to outfit their bat/ball boys. I thought it'd be interesting to compile a list of all 30 clubs and what they feature.

For example:

• do they wear uni numbers
  
• do they go blank
  
• do they use "BB"
  
• first names or last names?
  
• pajama pants, or appropriate lenght?
  
• do they use boys, men, or women?
  

and any others that are interesting/historic/of note.

It is also an interesting fact that in the early months of the season, when school is still in session, bat/ball boys do not travel with their teams. I believe a road uniform is provided for the home team's batboy for him to hang in their dugout and do their duty. The summer months feature a travelling "home" batboy on the road. I always imagined how difficult it would be for, let's say, a die hard yankee batboy to have to put on the grey red sox road uni for a three or four game series!!!

I suppose I'll get things rolling with the yankees, the team I live and die with:

I cannot remember them ever wearing uni numbers at any time.

Obviously names never appeared, but I do recall "BB" being used for a few seasons in the early-mid 90's.

So, the batboy/ballboy jerseys are blank for both the home pinstripes and road greys.

Most pants are worn pajama-style, the exception being the old left-field foul line ballboy, "skippy", who wore his pants high for years.

[Discrim]

This could be the beginning of a great topic...I'll toss in the Brew and Cubs.

it's kinda odd at Wrigley...while the Cubs do have uniformed batboys (I think like the Yanks, Cubs batboys wear blank jerseys, though I'm probably wrong as you don't see em that often, they're usually in the dugout), the ballboys/girls who sit on each foul line and behind home wear blank navy helmets, light blue polo shirts and khaki pants. IIRC the batboys wear high socks.

the Brewers, meanwhile, their batboys are uniformed, and all wear 99 with BATBOY on the back*. Strangely enough, this threw a bit of a monkey wrench in Curtis Leskanic's number choice when he came to Milwaukee, he wanted 99 but as the Brew reserve that for batboys, he went with 00 instead.Back when the Brew wore the second Motre Bame unis, they had ballgirls on the foul lines, and I recall them wearing what was essentially a green version of the blue alt. I can't for the life of me remember how Brew batboys wear their pants

*edit: I just now remembered that fact

[Gothamite]

Paul Lukas devoted a column to this a while back.

[njmeadowlanders]

I know the Mets do their first name instead of last name, and 07 as the number...

I know the Mets do their first name instead of last name, and 07 as the number...in a regular uniform, no stupid pants or anything like that...

[TheStoicPaisano]

The Indians use "BB" on their jerseys. I don't recall if it is on the front of the vests.

When the Tribe had Ellis Burks, his son was a batboy for awhile and wore a mini-Burks uniform. He was much smarter at his age than Dusty Baker's kid.

[nybatt]

Paul Lukas devoted a column to this a while back.

gotham...

paul's column didn't come close to gathering the kind of info I was talking about. I read it on the blog as well.

I was thinking of digging a little deeper, gathering some of the great stories that have already come up.

[maz]

PNC Park has uniformed bat/ball boys. Socks over pants and team jackets avalible when it rains or if its old. They dont have numbers or names. {But some camera men wear jerseys that say "Camera Man". Dont ask me}

[nwtrailtrekker]

i think the mariners bat boy wears "07" and has his first name, whatever it is. and the ball boys are girls.

[Discrim]

PNC Park has uniformed bat/ball boys. Socks over pants and team jackets avalible when it rains or if its old. They dont have numbers or names. {But some camera men wear jerseys that say "Camera Man". Dont ask me}

weird. wouldn't, you know, being seen operating the TV camera be indication enough?

[darkshadow1031]

The Indians use "BB" on their jerseys. I don't recall if it is on the front of the vests.

When the Tribe had Ellis Burks, his son was a batboy for awhile and wore a mini-Burks uniform. He was much smarter at his age than Dusty Baker's kid.

Ellis Burks is great, I just saw him last week!

[OMMF]

Someone say ball girl? Makes a for a legitimate reason to post a picture of the real reason the Sox won it all in '04.

[Gothamite]

PNC Park has uniformed bat/ball boys. Socks over pants and team jackets avalible when it rains or if its old. They dont have numbers or names. {But some camera men wear jerseys that say "Camera Man". Dont ask me}

weird. wouldn't, you know, being seen operating the TV camera be indication enough?

I do believe that's more for the security staff's benefit, so they know at a glance who is supposed to be near the very expensive and surprisingly fragile equipment.

[Sport]

Cincinnati uses the BB.

[meetthemets]

I know the Mets do their first name instead of last name, and 07 as the number...

I know the Mets do their first name instead of last name, and 07 as the number...in a regular uniform, no stupid pants or anything like that...

The Mets have the first names and the number usually coincides with the year. This year they are 07. Next year they will be 08, etc.

[BallWonk]

PNC Park has uniformed bat/ball boys. Socks over pants and team jackets avalible when it rains or if its old. They dont have numbers or names. {But some camera men wear jerseys that say "Camera Man". Dont ask me}

weird. wouldn't, you know, being seen operating the TV camera be indication enough?

I do believe that's more for the security staff's benefit, so they know at a glance who is supposed to be near the very expensive and surprisingly fragile equipment.

No, it's for exactly the same reason that law-enforcement officers conducting surprise raids wear clothes with "POLICE" or "FBI" emblazoned on the back -- it's so that their comrades don't shoot them. Cameramen used to shoot other cameramen all the time. You'd see crowd-reaction shots, or slo-mo replays of foul balls caught up against the wall, and there would be an unsuspecting other cameraman in the middle of the frame.

But with the easy-to-read "CAMERAMAN" on the back of each cameraman's shirt, cameramen can now easily avoid shooting film of other cameramen.

[TFoA]

Paul Lukas devoted a column to this a while back.

Look at the BB in the background. You'll know which BB I'm talking about.

[Cianfrocco]

Barry is not a happy camper there!

[Bouj]

The Astros use BB. Their uniforms match whatever the team is wearing that day (the pinstripes during the week, all-white on Saturday and for day games, and the brick on Sunday). And details-wise, I think they wear them like the major leaguers do (long pants-style).

[totc]

Minor-league teams do something unique: outfit the road team's batboy with the road jersey and pants of the home team. That's how I first knew the Potomac Nationals pulled a Chicago Cubs and wore a navy road jersey and white pants on the road.

[bterreson]

working at Safeco I'm 95% sure that both the ballgirls and batboys where

"FIRST NAME"

07

The ballgirls wear the home uniform.. but the woman cut version..

the mariners home bat boy wears the mariners home garb, while the mariners vistor bat boy wears the other clubs uniform.

.

I told my boss that I was interested in being the visting team batboy in a few seasons.. hopefully that works out