Shea Believer

When I first started working there, in April 1965, my job was clubhouse and dugout duty, no on-field activity. One evening, while working the pregame clubhouse, Mickey walked up to me and told me to get my glove, put on the ball boy uniform and get out onto the field. Paul, the usual batboy had called in sick.

Well I didn’t have my glove with me and told Mickey it was home. His very loud response was “you must always have your glove with you.” By then, I was use to Mickey yelling at us, but still – he never had told me I would need my glove! A pitcher for the Cubs, Bill Faul – who only played six years in the majors and won only 12 games during his career – overheard the conversation and offered one of his gloves to me to use during the game. I took the glove and thanked him.

I was given a uniform that was about five sizes too big – I’ve always been skinny and tall, but the ball boy, Paul was huge in comparison – and I rushed out into the field. Somewhere during the warm-up time, I found a minute to get back inside the clubhouse to call home and let my parents know that I would be working the field and to be sure to watch the game.

I had not yet seen a night like that -- when Mickey switched us all around, ball boy move to batboy and clubhouse boy to ball boy. Later on, I became completely used to switching positions – in the next four years, I mainly worked as a ball boy, but sometimes I worked either as a batboy or in the clubhouse during the game.

Early in the game, Mets first baseman Jim Hickman – a lifetime .252 hitter who played thirteen years in the majors – hit a hard foul groundball my way. I jumped up off my stool and caught it clean.

What happened with that groundball is still a blur to me. I remember sitting back down along the field box railing, but not much else. I guess I threw it back in toward the dugout since back then the used balls were saved for batting practice the next day. No fan friendly practice of giving them away. The final score: Cubs 8, Mets 6.