As a boy in the 60s and 70s, John was crazy about baseball—and now that he’s in his 50s, he recalls how his obsession landed him his first job—a groundskeeping gig with the Boston Red Sox.
When he was younger, John would often write letters to many players and teams—it was fun and exciting for him. When he came home from school or from playing sports, he would run to the mailbox to see if there were any envelopes addressed to him. He would start each letter in the same fashion. “Dear Sirs, I’m a fan of your team…”
John lived less than 2 miles from Fenway in Brighton. He often walked there and scoured the streets looking for anything baseball-related.
When John turned 14 or 15, he applied for “working papers” and obtained his social security number enabling him to get a job. He wrote a letter to Dick O’Connell, the GM of the Boston Red Sox. In the letter, John professed his desire to get a job at Fenway. To John’s surprise, O’Connell responded thanking him and to either go see H.M. Stevens, (concessions stand at Fenway Park) or Joe Mooney, the head groundskeeper. John went down to Fenway, letter in hand, to see Mooney. John was hired on the spot.
The grounds crew and clubhouse attendants were all friends with John. Everybody knew each other from the neighborhood or from playing little league. It was a very different time in the 1970s: Baseball players and clubhouse attendants would mingle and hang out outside of the ballpark. “One my friends, Richard Connelly, went to a concert with Dennis Eckersley. It was fun.”
Being on the grounds crew was tough. There wasn’t much horsing around, and Mooney expected a lot from his crew. During away games, owner Tom Yawkey would always play “pepper” with a few of his selected favorites. Unfortunately, John never made the cut.
“During a rain delay, I usually sat in the visitors’ dugout. One specific game I remember was against Texas Rangers, and I sat at the end of the dugout with Jim Fregosi, Mike Cubbage and Roy Smalley Jr. They were super cool players, and I was in heaven!”
The pay was about twelve dollars per game—but the memories for this Boston Red Sox fan will always be priceless.
