Danny Gray must arrive at Busch Stadium a few hours before the game, when he sets up the seed and gum trays, fills the coolers with water and Gatorade and cleans the uniforms and towels. About 30 minutes before batting practice, Danny gets dressed in the visiting team’s uniform and collects balls from batting practice. When the batter is at the plate, it’s Danny’s job to find his spare bat in case the original bat shatters. If there’s a pitching change, it’s Danny’s job to go to the bull pen and grab the pitcher’s jacket. Danny is the only visiting team bat boy at Busch Stadium.
Danny applied, along with hundreds of other teens, to be home team bat boy last summer. He made it to the interviews, but did not get chosen.
“I didn’t think I’d get it because a lot of kids applied,” Danny said. “When I got to the interview round with about 10 other kids, I knew I had a shot for it. I was really bummed when it didn’t work out.”
Then, a few months ago, he received a phone call from his soon-to-be boss, who urged him to apply for the job of visiting team bat boy. Danny did, and out of all the applicants, he was the only person selected.
“It was exciting,” Danny said. “I thought it would be an awesome job to have, so when I got it, it was great.”
Diana Gray, Danny’s mom, thinks this is a great experience. According to her, Danny has wanted to go into sports as a career, and she thinks this is a good opportunity for him to get the foot in the door.
“It’s really exciting,” Diana said. “It’s also going to give him a better understanding of how professional teams work, so there’s more of a big picture. Also, to other people it might look like just fun, but Danny works really hard before and after every game. But I think he has fun the whole time.”
In the first week on the job, Danny worked 33 hours, 13.5 hours alone on Opening Day. But he enjoys the job, so much that instead of going to University of Missouri Columbia or University of Indiana, he is attending St. Louis University in the fall, in part so he can keep the job. His favorite part is watching the game from the field and meeting the players.
“It’s so cool to see the players. You say hi to them, and they all seem pretty nice. Yadi [Yadier Molina, Cardinals catcher] asked me to throw something away for him once,” Danny said. “Sitting on the field during the game is pretty awesome. I’m tired, but it’s really cool to watch the games from there. It’s a really different perspective.”
