White Sox’ Pat Seerey Hits Four Home Runs in One Game! But that’s not why I posted this pic!

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Pat Seerey Hits Four Home Runs in One Game!

But that’s not why I posted this pic! Read on to find out more…

Take a good look at this photo. That’s Pat Seerey planting a big “smoocheroo” on his bat that came through for him “big time” on July 18, 1948. That “baby” came through with a four home run day.  Seerey became only the fifth player in major league history to accomplish the four homer feat. To this day, only a total of 17 players have done it. On the right enjoying the locker room celebration is Hall-of-Famer Luke Appling. Looks like Ralph Hodgin on the left and Floyd Baker in the middle.

Check out the excited young lad in the center gazing up all starry-eyed at Seerey. That’s 14-year old Ron Meadows, the White Sox bat boy photographed on a day I’ll bet he’s never forgotten. In a nice gesture by the White Sox this week, Ron, now 84 and residing in Hilton Head, S.C., was invited back to Guaranteed Rate Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. This was his first time back at the park since Game Two of the 2005 World Series.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Ron talked about his time in the White Sox dugout. He says he got the bat boy job – coveted by every kid in the city – after winning an essay contest in the old Chicago Daily News.  He was with the team for the entire year, except for school days early in the season. Ron remembers traveling with the team to every city in the American League, except St. Louis. That’s quite an experience for a 14-year old kid back in 1948.

Ron has plenty of fond memories. He recalls that White Sox players Frank Papish and Tony Lupien occasionally drove him to his Evanston home after games. He shared a few other interesting reminisces:

“The hilarity that goes on in the clubhouse and in the dugout was something that was just amazing for me. I learned an awful lot as a 14-year-old kid.”

“Pat Seerey was a pretty good buddy…He used to call me ‘Meat,’ short for ‘Meathead.’ That was among the better nicknames I can recall. Most of the guys…just called me ‘Kid’ or ‘Red’ [for his ginger hair].”

“One day a White Sox player got a base hit and dropped the bat right on the plate as he ran away. Yogi Berra very nicely suggested that next time I ought to get my butt out there and pick up that bat.”

“I’ve seen the ’48 White Sox are being compared to the current team…We finished last in the American League (51-101), which consisted of eight teams in those days. But to a 14-year-old kid, it didn’t make any difference.”

Ron also said being a bat boy back then was actually like being a glorified gofer. He had expanded duties, and some were not very glamorous: “We had actual work to do before and after the game…We had to chip ice to make the water cold. Our other duties included picking up uniforms, and bringing cushions to the dugout. The clubhouse manager was sort of a dictator. He didn’t care bat boy or not. So we had to clean shoes. They were all black in those days [so we] had to put polish on them. It was a pretty messy job.”

Is there anything a kid wouldn’t give for a chance to be a major league bat boy? For Ron Meadows, it was the experience of a lifetime. 

Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from article on Ron Meadows on MLB.com; and article on Ron Meadows in Chicago Tribune online.

Check out my two books, both now available on Amazon in e-book and paperback:  “Paul Pryor in His Own Words: The Life and TImes of a 20-Year Major League Umpire” and “Memorable World Series Moments.” All profits go to the Illinois Veterans Foundation