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- [00:00]
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- [01:21]
Dan Kennedy
Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy. The Moth features true stories told live without notes. All stories on the Moth Podcast are taken from our ongoing storytelling series in New York and Los Angeles and from our tour shows across the country. Visit themoth.org the story you're about to hear by Matthew McGough was recorded live at the Moth mainstage.
- [01:43]
Matthew McGough
I grew up a huge fan of the New York Yankees, which when I was very small involved going to games maybe once a year with my my father, my little brother watching Reggie Jackson, then a little bit older watching Dave Winfield and then when I kind of came into my teens, Dom Mattingly, who was, you know, my absolute favorite player. And as I went to high school in New York and it was kind of a turning point the first time that I went to Yankee game by myself and I started going to Yankee games by myself. And it was at one of these games in the fall of 1991 that I went up to the stadium and bought a ticket to the bleachers and went and sat in the bleachers and was watching the game and noticed for the first time something that I'd been to the stadium so many times before, but I'd never seen this kid in right field wearing a Yankee uniform who was a bat boy playing catch with the right fielder and I'd never noticed the bat boy before. And this kid could not play catch for his life. He was Throwing the ball over Jesse Barfield's head, the right fielder. And he was one hopping him. And I was like, you know, I'm not a great athlete, but I can play catch at least as well as this kid can. And I don't understand why he has that job. And I couldn't. So I went home that night and I tore a page out of the program that listed all the different Yankee executives. And I wrote a handwritten letter to everyone from Steinbrenner on down to Stunt Merrill, who was the manager at that point, and basically said, you know, my name is Matt and I'm 16 years old and I'm a huge fan of the Yankees. And, you know, I don't know if you can apply for this bad boy position, but if you can, I really would like an application. And I'm so excited to hear from you that if I don't hear from you soon, I'm going to follow up with a phone call. So, sent these off, and about two weeks went by, and after two weeks, I hadn't heard anything. And so I picked up the phone, and the Yankee switchboard number was on the same list of executives and secretary asked for the phone. Hello, New York Yankees. And I said, hi, this is Matt McGough. And I sent a letter in a couple weeks ago about applying for a bad boy position, and nobody got back to me. So she's like, okay, well, take your name down and I'll have somebody get back to you. And she took my number down and another week goes by and I don't hear anything. So I pick up the phone again and I call, and this woman answers the phone. Hello, New York Yankees. And I say, hi, this is Matt, you know, sent some letters in about the bad boy position. And I called last week and somebody was supposed to call me back, but, you know, I thought it was kind of rude that they hadn't. And so she, you know, she laughed and she asked me, how old were you? And I said, 16. And she laughed some more, and I didn't really understand what she was laughing at. But, you know, she took down my name again. She said, you know, I'll make sure that somebody gets back to you. So, you know, a few days later, sure enough, in the mail, a letter arrived on Yankee letterhead, official letterhead, letterhead, and invited me to come up to the stadium for an interview with Nick Priori, who's the clubhouse manager. So I put my jacket and tie on, and I don't even think I told any of my friends about this because it was way, way too weird to explain. So I went up, took the 4 train up to the stadium and walked into the, you know, walked around the stadium. And this is October, so they weren't playing in the World Series in October back in 91. So it was very, very quiet. And I walked around the stadium and walked into the Yankee lobby and there's a security guard there. And I introduced myself and I say, I'm here for the bat boy interview. And he picks up the telephone and he's like, you know, Nick, some kid's here to see you. And, you know, okay. So he says, have a seat. So I sit down in the pinstripe lobby and I'm passing about 10 minutes waiting for this guy Nick to come up for the first job interview of my life or the first job of my life. And I'm, you know, trying to think of the questions that he might ask me. And so I'm ready to tell him what my favorite subject is in school and tell him, you know, why I think the Yankees need a big bat behind Mattingly, you know, to win the pennant next year. And what, you know, Mickey Mantle's batting average was in 1956. And like, all these different questions. So, you know, I'm kind of passing the time and these double doors burst open and this guy walks in, obviously Neck, but he doesn't introduce himself. He's, you know, could be anywhere from 40 to 80 years of age. He has this greased back hair and he has a stogie between the two teeth left in his mouth and a chalk, tobacco, possibly also. And this wife beater T shirt and Yankee shorts and white athletic socks pulled up to his knees. And he has shoe polish, like black sneakers that are obviously shoe polished. And he just looks at me and says, are your parents going to mind you taking the train home late at night? So I say, you know, I take the train to school every day. I think. I think it'll be fine. And he just kind of looks at me and finally I say, no, I don't think my parents will mind me taking the train home late at night. And he says, we'll come back opening day. So that was October, you know, I go home, I think I have the job. I'm not really sure. And, you know, six months later, opening day, 1993, I show up at 9:00am I put on my jacket and tie, I walk back to the stadium. I go back downstairs through these tunnels and come to this big steel door that says Yankee Clubhouse on. And I walk inside and it's complete pandemonium. And there's these ballplayers that I'd only seen before on TV or across rows and rows of stadium seats, and they're there in the flesh in front of me. And Dom Mattingly is over on the right. And I had a poster of Dom Mattingly above my bed, you know, for my whole life. And he's standing right over there. And Jimmy Key, the ace of the pitching staff is over there, and all these guys. And, you know, Opening Day, Yankee Stadium is not just a sports event, it's a news event. It's the beginning of spring and in New York, and Mayor Dinkins is there with his entourage, and just Mayor Dinkins and Dom Mattingly. You know, it's so walking around and just kind of lost. And I figure, you know, I better go find Nick. So I went. I walk up to Nick and I say, nick, what do you. You know, what do you. I'm mad. We met a couple months ago. What do you want me to do? It's my first day of work. So he says, stay that f. Out of my way. So I kind of, like, shrink back and throw my backpack over on the side and just kind of wander around in a daze. And I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn around, and it's Dom Mattingly. And he sticks his hand out and he says, how's it going? I'm Dom Mattingly. Are you going to be working with us this year? Which even at that moment, I never really thought about the experience in those terms. And he could have said so many other things that wouldn't have been as cool as that. He could have said, who are you? Or are you the new bat boy? Are you going to be working for us this year? But he said, I'm Dom Mattingly. Are you going to be working with us this year? I said, I know who you are, Mr. Mattingly. I'm Matt. I'm the new bat boy. And he's like, great to meet you, Matt. I have a very big, very big job to ask of you. I've just unpacked all my bats from spring training. And I don't know if it was the altitude of the flight up from Florida or the humidity down there or what, but the game starts in about two hours, and I need you to find me a bat stretcher. So I say, okay. So I go. I go and find Nick, and I go, you know, Nick is busy. Probably half a dozen ballplayers are, like, bothering him for double A batteries or, you know, my hat sizes, my hat's too small or this or that. And I go up and I'm like, nick, I need a bachelor of Don Mattingly. And he lets loose with a stream of expletives that fell on, I swear, completely virgin ears. Like I never, never heard that type of language in the movies before or anywhere, let alone direct it at me. So I kind of like rock back on my heels and go and find somebody I can trust, like Nick's assistant Rob. And I ask him, you know, I need a bachelor for Don Mattingly. And Nick told me to go F myself and I don't know what to do. So he was like, chill out. You know, I saw Danny Tardable using one in his lockers. So Danny Tartable's the power hitting right fielder. I go to his locker and he's getting dressed in his uniform and I stand off on the side and he says, you know, how's it going? And I'm like, fine, I'm Matt, I'm the new bat boy. And I need a bat stretcher for Don Mattingly. And I heard you were just using one. So he's like, well I was using one, but I left it in the manager's office. You should probably go check in there. So I say than thanks to see you around. And I go into the manager's office and walk in and buck Showalter, the manager is having a press conference with probably like eight or 10 reporters. And I stand off on the side and I'm kind of, you know, the conversation comes to a standstill basically because there's the 16 year old kid there in his Easter blazer and jacket, standing in the manager's office at Yankee Stadium two hours before first pitch on opening day, looking very lost and very anxious. And Showalter turns to me and he's like, can I help you? And I say, I'm mad. I'm the new bath. I'm really sorry to interrupt, but I need a Bach stretcher for Dom Mattingly. And Danny Chartable says that he left it in here. So Showalter looks down like beneath his desk and he's like, well, do you need a right handed one or a left handed one? So this is the first moment all day that I actually, this is the first question that I had that I could answer with complete confidence because you couldn't have grown up in New York at that time, you know, without knowing that Matt Inle was the best left handed hitter in baseball. So I say I need a left handed bass stretcher. So he's like, well, I think we maybe have a right handed one around here, but probably not a left handed one. And like you should try down at the Red Sox clubhouse and see if they have one. So I said, okay, thanks. You know, I'm sorry to interrupt. I go at this point, I'm like sprinting down the hallways, like the tunnels beneath the the first base stands at the stadium. And I run into the Red Sox clubhouse and find their equipment manager and give him like the whole story. I mad him the new bat boy for the Yankees. And Danny Charlebal left his right handed bat stretcher. And I'm in Buck Schultz office and he left handed one and like the game's about to start and he's like, calm down. Like, you know, we don't have one, but we need one. Like, here's 20 bucks. Go up to the sporting goods store on 161st street and River Avenue and buy two. Like buy a left handed one for Mattingly and a right handed one for us and then bring me back the change. So he gives me the 20, I put it in my pocket, I run upstairs. You know, at this point, it's like an hour before opening day, the fans are coming down, like 50,000 fans are coming down from the subway in the opposite direction that I'm walking. I'm the only person in the world who knows that if I don't come through on this mission, Mattingly is going to go up there against Roger Clemens and the Red Sox on opening day at Yankee Stadium with a toothpick in his hand, basically. So I'm like fighting against the crowd and feeling so much weight on my shoulders. And I make my way and I'm about to cross the threshold of Stan Sporting Goods when it dawns on me like I've played a lot of baseball in my life and I've, you know, been a big fan for a while and like I don't even know what a Bach stretcher looks like. And this moment that I'm like walking into the store, it dawns on me for the first, first time like, is, is this a joke? Like, could this possibly, could this possibly be a joke? And if it, you know, but I had so much fear because like, if it is a joke and I go back and I tell Dom Mattingly, you know, I'm too smart to fall for your, you know, your BS bat stretcher story. And I'm wrong. I'm going to be back in the bleachers like before my first game, you know, and lose my dream job. So you know, I take three laps around the stadium, kind of convincing myself like it's got to be a joke. Like it's got to be. It's got to be a joke. And I, you know, I walk back in, I go down the stairs, I walk into the clubhouse. Mattingly winks at me from across the clubhouse. A couple of the other ballplayers laugh. Mattingly goes 3 for 5. That day, Yankees went It was my first day in pinstripes. And I didn't learn until later on that I was the first kid in anyone's memory to have gotten the job without having a connection, without somebody knowing somebody or my dad knowing somebody or whatever, which was a lesson in itself. And as intensely naive my pursuit of that job was, I was probably as naively intense in chasing the bat stretcher. But the lesson in the story is, you know, when there's with a great deal of persistence and a little bit of common sense, even if the thing you're chasing may not exist, you can sometimes will it into being. Thank you.
- [13:55]
Dan Kennedy
Matthew McGough is the author of Coming of Age with the New York Yankees and a writer on NBC's Law & Order. Consider supporting our free podcast by going to our podcast contribution page or or by becoming a moth member@themoth.org where you can also buy moth stories on CD, including today's story, which is featured on Audience Favorites Volume 1. And don't miss the annual Mothball in New York City on Tuesday, November 18, featuring John Turturro, Garrison Keillor, Andy Borowitz and many others. To learn more about this and all of the Moth's upcoming shows and our corporate events and training program, Visit our website themoth.org and please tell us what you thought of today's episode. Tell us what you think of the Moth podcast in general. What do you love? What do you hate? What would you like to hear more of or less of? Email us@podcastthemoth.org thanks to all of you for listening. We hope you'll have a story worthy week. It.