The Batboy

Batboys originated in the Major Leagues during the early 1900s, and their role was problematic; at that time, baseball teams often hired people from marginalized backgrounds, fetishizing them and turning them into mascots. In an article titled “The Disturbing History of Baseball’s Mascots” (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 June 2014), sports journalist Frank Fitzpatrick discusses the Tigers’ batboy and mascot Ulysses Harrison, a Black man who endured considerable racism at the hands of the team. The Tigers called him “Li’l Rastus” and engaged in highly inappropriate behavior, such as rubbing his head for good luck. In Lupica’s novel, Brian does not face such dehumanization from the Tigers, but it is nonetheless important to note that the cultural history of the batboy is fraught with problematic details that complicate the history of Major League Baseball.

While popular culture often romanticizes the role of the batboy, Lupica counters such idealized depictions by inserting a more realistic description of the duties involved. As the narrative states, “Brian realized he’d never really understood as a fan what the job meant. The hours you had to put in every day—eight usually and sometimes nine” (16). Being a batboy is