The Washington times., 1938-05-13


son than go
out to Grit
fith's stadium
and see the
Lillian Rixey Mats pl ay
their own particular brand of
baseball. For Johnny Catloth.
affectionately n C kn a m e d
sails" by such of his buddies
as Nick Altrock and Bucky
Harris because of his rather
prominent ears, is none other
than that schoolboy's dream,
the Senator's bat boy.
When AL Simmons steps up
to the little white circle to
await his turn, it is Sails who
hands him his hefty club. Sails
rarely makes a mistake.
One thing a bat boy must
bear in mind or he won't last
long. He must learn to keep
his lips tightly buttoned up
for baseball players are about
the most temperamental sports
men going and a small, though
well-meaning boy who tries to
make conversation or ask in
telligent questions soon gets the
gate. and I don't mean box
office. Sails is as silent as the
hush that comes over a baseball
crowd just before the homer
is smacked out into the
bleachers.
Errand Boy
When the Mats play at. the
local ball park Johnny gets out
of classes a little earlier at Lang
ley Junior High School and
dashes over to the stadium to
put on his specially-made home
whites. He hangs around the
home clubhouse unobtrusively,
while the boys are dressing and
If any of them want some ice
cream or a chew of tobacco, he
runs out and buys it for them.
After the game is over, he's on
hand to run any last-minute
errands they may have before
they leave.
For such a glorified occupa-
tion Johnny, Is years old. and
the son of house painter,
naturally receives no pay, ex-
cept for a baseball from each
days game. Most of us have to
wait until we are hit by a pop
fly to stalk home VIGOROUSLY
with a big-league ball, but
Johnny gets one, without en-
dangering his life, almost every
day. The players are generous
with tips and, of course, a wise
little bat-boy could do quite a
thriving business in used base
balls among his less fortunate
cronieS.
His brother George, 10, is the
Mats ball boy. He is not so
particular about his uniform as
Johnny. Georges white uniform
was cut down from an old dis
carded suit. He has finished
school and can spend more of
his time around the diamond.
His ambition, of course, is to be
a big-league player but he's
afraid he is not going to be big
enough to smack them out. He's
a darn good infielder though,
and practices with the team be-
fore the games. His ambition
is to be like his hero, OsSie
Bluege, great third baseman.
Although Johnny's schooling
prevents his practicing much,
some of the attendants at the
park think he is going to make
a great hitter some day. He
likes an outfield position and
bats them out left handed.
Go to Camp
The bat and ball boys do not
60 with the Senators on their
tours but they always accom-
pany the Mats on spring train
ing. And that's when they get a
real chance to play a little base
ball on their own.
The attendant situation out
at the ball park seems to run
to brothers. Larry and Lancy
Piza are ball and bat boys, re-
spectively, for the visiting team.
They see that the visitors cleats
are free from clogging turf and
that the dugout benches have
the proper allotment of towels.
Visitors, they find. are apt to
be more generous with tips, and
besides you get to know all the
players that way.
Another brother team are
Fred and Frank Baxter. Fred
Is the visitors clubhouse attend
ant. Nine years ago he used to
be bat boy, but now he's grad
uated. Some of the prima don
mas on visiting teams get a lit
tie hoity-toity now and then
when they think they should be
receiving more attention than
their teammates. but Fred never
minds them and treats them all
alike with strict impartiality.
Frank Baxter is on the home
team side and has worked up to
the position of assistant trainer.
Only club Gus attendant
who seems to be lacking in rela-
tives Is Harry kelly" Miller,
He assists Fred Baxter. Says
Fred: ''When a guy takes off
his wet shirt and hands it to
me. I says. Here Kelly and
z - 4