I finally have some time to write as I now have easter break for college! Quite a few people wanted to know the full details of my bat boy experience in Tucson, AZ during spring training and I am now letting out the secret luck that I got to have.

The day was March 11th, and the Colorado Rockies were playing the Oakland Athletics. My dad and I stayed at the Omni Tucson National Resort and took the 30 minute drive to Tucson to get to the practice fields early that day. We didn’t get any autographs there, so we headed inside and went right to the “autograph spot”. This spot is infront of the bleachers and to the right of the home dugout. I was about 10 to 15 people over at this point and had gotten about four autographs. At one point, at about 11:20, three kids my age (18) left their spots to go get two players autographs because it was “autograph day”.

“Well that was a stupid move” I said to my dad. He replied by shaking his head and smiling.

To my pleasure, I moved over a few spots. My dad left from that point to go sit in the shaded seats that we had. Then the point came at 11:45 or so when I was just standing and a man in a Rockies staff uniform with sunglasses on stood next to me.

“Whats up man?” I asked him.

“Not much. Hey do you want to be the Rockies bat boy for today?” He said calmly.

“Of course! Thats awesome!” I replied in excitement.

He asked where I was from and if I had ever done this before. My reply was simply, New Jersey, and no, I hadn’t. However I had played baseball and I knew what I kind of had to do. He brought me up to my dad, who had earlier left from his spot and he was amazed and excited for me. He explained where to meet me at the end and asked if I should bring my autograph book. The man that picked me said there were no guarantee’s but possibly at the end of the game I could get some. He then asked if I could help out cleaning up after the game and I said sure.

So we went down to these doors and the “guard” let us in. I soon went in and saw Alan Embree sitting at a desk with Clint Hurdle and then was led into a room. In that room, Glendon Rusch saw me and said,

“Hey man we have two rules here, alright? First is safety.”

“Safety,” I said.

“Second rule is team work.”

“Teamwork, I got it” I replied. He then asks me to repeat them, and I do. “I sure hope I can remember those, I’m a college student.” We both share a laugh.

I then have to get a Rockies staff shirt, which I get to keep, a helmet that fits perfectly and bring out the rubbed balls, gum, seeds and on deck necessities. While all this is happening, I see everyone in the clubhouse just chilling around and eating. I then notice that my stomach is growling as it was 12:20 and I hadn’t eaten all day. When we finish that, the man asks if I have eaten. “Perfect timing!” I say in my head. We go to see what there is to eat and he says to help myself. There is lasanga, BIG meatballs, and other stuff that I really didn’t pay attention to. I grab a powerade and eat while standing up. A few of the players acknowlege me while standing there.

“Yo, Mike, is there Ice Cream that we can get somewhere?” Jason Marquis asks the man that picked me.

“Uh, yea sure, I think so. I’ll get it for ya.” Mike replies.

After eating, Mike goes through a few rules with me about when to go get the foul balls or the bat and how you have to pay attention to the umpire when he holds out fingers for how many balls he wants during the next “dead” play, or whenever you can get them to him.

The experience starts off with Mike standing in the dugout for the first inning, however he then leaves. I have to get the umpire water/powerade every few innings and I also have to put out all of the on-deck supplies before the Rockies come up to bat. The first few innings were nuts because there were many foul balls and a lot of hitting so I was running a lot.

During the 5th inning or so, I got caught running behind the umpire when he got a foul ball that I thought I was going to get. He flipped me the ball and I ran to the visitors dugout! “Oh man, should I be doing this!?” I thought to myself. After the next play, I ran back and saw Mike. I thought I was going to be told not to do that, but instead he said, “Great job, didn’t think you would know what to do.” I was impressed with myself…yes..I was (haha).

A couple of players acknowledged me (Rusch, Marquis, Barmes, Ortemeir, Fasano just off the top of my head), but some didn’t, which isn’t a big deal.

At the end of the game, I helped clean up whatever the players and coaches left behind such as towels and bats. I then cleaned up a bullpen and it is amazing what people think of you when you are on the field. They think you are important.

“Excuse me, are there any broken bats!?” a 15 or 16 year old kid asks me. I simply say “no, sorry man”, as I figured that’s what I was supposed to do.

And again…

“Excuse me!! I am a friend of Danny Ortemeir’s. I am afraid I won’t recognize him when he comes out, could you tell him that (forget her name) is here and this is where I’ll be?” I reply yes and unfortunately never tell him because I never see him.

I then clean everything up and I thank Mike one last time. It was such an amazing experience that I will probably never get to experience again, unless I get to talk to Mike when I go to Denver this summer, possibly he will hook me up…I guess you never know.

If anyone has any more questions, comments or anything, leave a comment and I will comment back!!! Go Rockies, 3-1 to start of the year, I LIKE IT!