Bat boy

Duties of a batboy may also include handling and preparing players’ equipment and bringing baseballs to the umpire during the game.

As batboys are stationed on the field, albeit in foul territory, they can occasionally interfere with play; such events are governed by Rule 6.01(d), the main point of which is that if the interference is unintentional, any live ball remains alive and in play.

Perhaps the most famous mascot/batboy was Eddie Bennett, who was supposedly hired as a mascot by the Chicago White Sox at the urging of Happy Felsch in 1919, a tale Eddie told often but no White Sox player ever corroborated.

When the Dodgers lost the 1920 World Series to the Cleveland Indians, some suggested the four straight losses on the road were due to leaving Bennett behind.

During any given major league game, both the home and visiting team bat boys will be drawn from the city where the game is taking place (batboys typically do not travel on the road with their team, unless they are relatives of a player).