Evening star., 1938-07-31
BY FRANCES LIDE,
Junior Page Editor.

iol -tle NATIONALS, mas SuppileQ the
Junior Page with some interesting in
formation on these jobs.
Mr.. Baxter, by the way, once was
mascot for the local team and step
by step has worked his way up to
his present position. The players
must have thought him lucky, too,
for he took several out-of-town trips
with his team-something which
doesn't happen to q mascot unless
he's good.
SUMMING up the bat boys job Mr..
Baxter said:
ITS his business to help make the
game run a little smoother. He's not
out there for any Of the glory Just
to be johnny on the-spot when he's
needed"
And, Of course, the main thing for
which bat boy is needed Is to
hand out the bats-the right ones to
the right batters.
"A good boy can learn that without
much trouble" Mr.. Baxter said. II
he's wide awake when he first goes
on the job he soon knows his players"
When game isn't in progress
bat boy may be called upon for
a number of small jobs. He runs
errands for players. He secures auto
graphs for fans who are waiting out
side. And sometimes, in a pinch,
he's called upon to help around the
clubhouse with cleaning shoes and
what not.
As FOR his pay-well good
many aspirants for these Jobs
think that the opportunity to know
major league baseball men is lust
about all that any reasonable fellow
could ask
But the bat boys do better than
that. For every game, each receives
a new baseball. which is worth IS
cents. They are allowed to sell these
and most Of them do. In addition,
they receive tips for errands, the tips
running from 81 to So week.
And then We get to play a little
at batting practice" says Johnny
Catloth, who is mascot for the team
this year. I'VE catch fly balls some
times and We can ask questions. And
when they are training a rookie We
can learn a lot about baseball by lust
listening
Odd as it may seem, none Of the
local bat boys try to collect auto
graphs for themselves. though they
often arrange for the players to auto
graph balls for the fans (The
players do not autograph score cards)
All Of the boys, however, enjoy their
chance to know the players. Most
of them want to go into professional
baseball and George Catloth is said
to be a fine player now.
ORDINARILY the top position
among the bat boys is mascot
for the local team. At present Is
year-old Johnny Catloth. the mascot,
cannot be said to outrank his brother,
however. George. who is 10, outgrew
the job of mascot after holding it
down for three years, and. now is
ball boy and Mr. Bakers assistant,
which is a promotion.
The mascot, who serves as bat bov
for the home team. easily outranks
the two bat boys provided for the
visiting team, however These last
two jobs are being held down now
by the Pizza brothers-Larry, who is
II, and Lars, who is a. AS the
latest boy to join the staff. Lars is
still regarded as something Of
rookie and hopes to work up to
mascot one of these days.
Mr.. Baxter says he doesn't have
any hard and fast rules for inter-
viewing applicants for bat boy jobs.
First, OF course, he has to meet
the boys and there are several
youngsters now working around the
clubhouse running errands and so on
just to be given chance. Before
he was taken on as mascot, George
Catloth used to sell papers around
the park and met Mr.. Baxter through
a friend he cultivated.
ONCE boy is being considered for a
trial, however, Mr.. Baxter meas
ures him for several qualifications.
Does the boy have spunk?
That's important Mr.. Baxter ex-
planned. There is some danger of
being hit by flying bats attached to the
job and boy has to develop courage"
Is he quick?
Is he honest?
Absolute honesty is necessary" Mr..
Baxter commented, because the boys
have the run of the club house"
Does the applicant talk too much?
Is he shy?
Does he have good education?
And I'd like to say, in connection
with schooling that we don't tolerate
hooky," Mr.. Baxter remarked. In the
spring We work out an arrangement for
the boy to have their classes in the
morning 50 part of the afternoon
will be free: but working out here
doesn't mean that boy can quit
school,"
A ND once a boy has been given a
trial, he doesn't hold the Job un-
less he makes good.
we keep on until we fnd q boy
who can do the work-and without be-
coming cocky over it," Mr. Baxter said.
When we find a good boy, however
we try to hold on to him as long as
we can"