They’re not listed on the Jacksonville Suns roster, nor do their names appear in the program.
But the bat boys are critical members of the team.
They keep the game moving, sprinting on and off the field before most fans have stopped discussing the previous play.
“There’s a lot more to being a bat boy than most people think,” said 16-year-old Hank Whitehouse, who has been one for three years.
It’s more than picking up a bat or ball. What they do can affect the pace of the game. They have to anticipate what’s coming next and be ready to run on to the field at any time.
“We have to get out there fast and not slow down the play,” he said.
Whitehouse began playing baseball in fifth grade and played for University Christian School.
His partner for a recent Saturday game was 17-year-old Ben Wright, a four-year veteran bat boy.
Starting out in T-ball, Wright plays outfield and pitches for Bishop Kenny High School. He dreams of a professional baseball career.
Both are huge Miami Marlins fans, the big league affiliate of the Suns, and admit baseball is their life. They are the oldest and most experienced on the crew.
“We have about eight bat boys and we just make a schedule of when everybody’s available,” Wright said.
Usually there are three or four bat boys for each game. But Whitehouse recalls a night when he was the only one who worked a game. That kept him on his toes and is something he’d rather not do again.
Before the change in ownership, if someone showed up, they could have the job. Now candidates have to go through an application process, including an interview and drug test.
Was it very competitive? “Not a lot of people want to do this job,” laughed Whitehouse.
Bat boys are now paid minimum wage, which is more than what they used to make.
“We used to average about $3 an hour,” Wright said, with a huge grin.
Both agreed they’d probably do it for free because they enjoy it so much. Watching the boys during the game, though, you can see they take their job seriously.
Having a job where he’s around baseball motivated Wright to become a bat boy, a job that comes with a uniform that has BB on the back.
“Being here is a good taste of the professional baseball life,” he said. “The players are really nice and they become friends.”
The boys are treated like members of the team. The players kid and roughhouse with them in the clubhouse and dugout. And they’re eager to help the boys with more than just baseball.
“Oh, yeah,” Whitehouse said. “One of the players helped me with my geometry homework the other day.”
The bat boys arrive at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville two hours before the scheduled start, work a three-hour game and spend another hour or two cleaning up afterward.
In addition to what fans see on the field, they bring out equipment, make sure the players are stocked with drinks, towels, bubble gum and sunflower seeds, take out the trash in the clubhouse and clean up the dugout.
They also make sure to keep the umpires supplied with baseballs and drinks.
Without question, the worst chore for them is cleaning the players’ cleats after the game. Especially at the end of a recent rainy game when they had 15 pairs with mud caked all over them.
That night, Wright recalled, “was really bad.”
The boys also sometimes sign autographs after games.
“Some of the little kids think we’re actually players. I try to make the BB look like an 88 so they don’t know,” Whitehouse said.
So, the next time you’re out at Bragan Field, take a moment to appreciate the work of the Suns bat boys as they scramble across the infield.
And if you’re lucky, maybe they’ll give you an autograph.