No matter the generation, the A’s have had some epic bat boys and ball girls roaming foul territory. If you like cookies, awesome music and general buffoonery, chances are you’re already a fan.
Let’s take a look at some of the notable alumni. From Mrs. Fields, to MC Hammer to that guy who always sprinted everywhere, Oakland has been home to the best.
The next time you bite into a delicious, overpriced cookie from Mrs. Fields, just think of the green and gold. For sure, Charlie O. Finley had an eye for talent. The crazy A’s owner made a young Debbi Sivyer into a ball girl when she was 13 years old in 1970. She started off by making cookies for umpires before games and then they got hella popular and now you can go to malls and buy her delicious cookies for absurd prices.
Finley also had the clairvoyance to appoint MC Hammer as a batboy and subsequently the executive VP of the team at age 13. Here’s a mini-column eBm wrote for The State Press, Arizona State’s student newspaper:
“Most remember Stanley Burrell for his outrageous dance moves and ginormous parachute pants. Others, as the kid named “Pipeline.”
All remember him as MC Hammer, though.
So what the hell does “Pipeline” mean?
Back in the day, (1972 to be accurate) a 10-year-old Hammer was hired by Oakland Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley to be the team’s batboy.
You have to realize Finley was a crazy, crazy mother-you-know-what. He paid players to grow mustaches. He turned the A’s official mascot into a live mule named after himself. He created mechanical rabbits to deliver fresh baseballs to umpires.
Anyway, back to “Pipeline.” He eventually became Finley’s Executive Vice President as a 13-year-old. No joke. Anything Hammer heard, he told Finley. Anything Hammer saw, he told Finley. Hence, players started calling him “Pipeline.”
As for his more famous, onstage moniker?
It, too, spawned in the clubhouse of the Swingin’ A’s – who won three straight titles during Hammer’s first three years on the job.
ASU alum Reggie Jackson was the one to give Hammer his nickname, citing Burrell’s visible likeness to Hank Aaron.
So don’t blame Hammer. Blame Reggie.”
Mrs. Fields and MC Hammer for two seasons? That’s eBm HOF material right there.
But the A’s have also had quite a few mini-celebs throughout the years. In the early 2000s, there was a kid who pulled an Adam Rosales everywhere he went. eBm remembers when the TV crew would do a split screen with the batboy on one side and Eric Byrnes on the other. The batboy always dominated Byrnes.
Then you have the latest round of legends. First of all, you have to mention Kevin Fennell – aka the Bullpen Casanova.
Second up is this poor guy:
Last but not least, the guy who got intercepted by Jerry Blevins:
