In the Clubhouse
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Adam Stowe does more than root for the home team. The sophomore entrepreneurial studies major spends his time out of class doubling as clubhouse attendant and ball boy for the Cincinnati Reds, sometimes clocking in as many as 75 hours a week. His job, though, is sort of a family thing. Adam's grandfather, Bernie Stowe, worked his way up to being the Reds' clubhouse manager. He then hired his sons, Rick and Mark, Adam's father. "My dad's first years as clubhouse attendant were 1975 and 1976, which was really exciting as they were the back-to-back years of the Reds winning the World Series," says Adam, who began assisting his uncle in the Reds' clubhouse when he was 16. Mark manages the visiting team's clubhouse and Bernie, though semi-retired, can be found in the kitchen helping with food preparation on game days. So what is a typical day like for a clubhouse attendant? "For a 7:10 p.m. game, we go in at 1:00 p.m. and usually don't leave until 11:00 p.m. or midnight," says Adam. "Tasks consist of folding laundry, setting up hats, helmets, gum and feed for the bench, and by then it's time for batting practice, where I am out on the field behind the centerfield screen with a bucket to collect balls." For the game, Adam puts on his own jersey and assumes his position down the rightfield line as the ball boy. "My job during the game is to sit in foul territory, stay out of the way of fair balls, field the foul balls and usually hand them out to fans, and toss with rightfielder Jay Bruce between innings." Adam's first tossing partner was hall-of-famer Ken Griffey Jr. "It was a dream come true," he says.
Tags Spring 2011, Students, X Files, Xavier Magazine
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