Friday, April 24, 2009

Red Sox Give Tip of the Cap to No. 100

Arthur Giddon, who turns 100 on Sunday, with his daughter Pam.

Hi ya, young fella.”

Babe Ruth greeted Arthur Giddon as he did most 13-year-olds, even those in uniform. Giddon chatted with the Babe for a moment but tore himself away because he had a job to do. It was 1922, and as a Boston Braves bat boy, Giddon had to break out the bats, polish some spikes and otherwise outfit his players for that afternoon’s game at Braves Field.






Giddon in his youth. As a 13-year-old in 1922, he met Babe Ruth and Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.




Eighty-seven years later, on Saturday, Giddon will reprise his role for his now-beloved Red Sox — as a special 100th birthday present, he will serve as the team’s honorary bat boy prior to the game against the rival Yankees. The same hands that delivered bats to Billy Southworth and softened Rube Marquard’s glove will do the same for Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester.






















The back of a jersey celebrating the occasion.

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