DETROIT -- The American League All-Star rosters are set, with four Tigers set to go to Atlanta. But there’s one more guy Tigers players are lobbying for: Frankie Boyd.
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He doesn’t have a spot in the lineup, the rotation or the bullpen. But if you’ve watched Tigers home games at Comerica Park or on television, you’ve no doubt seen him. To players and coaches, he’s one of the cogs that keeps the American League’s best team going, and they want to send him to Truist Park.
“He’s the best bat boy in the league,” catcher Dillon Dingler said. “A lot of the umpires say it, too.”
“I’m not kidding you, he might be the hardest-working bat boy I think I’ve ever seen,” fellow Tigers catcher Jake Rogers said.
“He’s the man,” Spencer Torkelson said. “He better be an All-Star.”
“If we can get him there,” All-Star Tarik Skubal said, “that would be sweet.”
Thanks to the MLB All-Star Ball Crew vote, Boyd has a chance. But he needs your vote. And Tigers players are lobbying hard to ensure everyone knows how important Boyd, part of the crew since 2017, is to their season.
“That guy is all over the place,” Rogers said. “If you were just to watch Frankie during a game, you would be amazed. He’s going to get the bats, he’s going to get the gloves, he’s getting the balls, he’s giving the balls to the umpires. If it’s raining, he’s squeegeeing the dugout to get all the standing water out. He’s getting a towel for the umpire to wipe off the plate. Oh, and he has to go back and get the bats, and he has to make sure to have Colt [Keith]’s bats, so he goes and gets Colt’s bats. Now [Zach McKinstry] is up, and he has to get Z-Mac’s bats. It’s crazy. His step count would be crazy.”
It is.
“I put a tracker on my ankle one game,” Boyd said. “It was like 4 1/2 miles.”
It’s not just the game work. In addition to his bat boy duties, Boyd is a key part of clubhouse manager Dan Ross’ crew. As such, his day begins long before the first pitch. For a standard night game, he’ll arrive around 11 a.m. to help prepare the clubhouse and the gear. When the pregame work begins, he not only has the gear ready, he often becomes an extra body on the field.
“Frankie's a Swiss Army knife,” Torkelson said. “A lot of people see how hard he works grabbing the bat, making sure you’ve got your sliding stuff and your batting gloves and everything. But in the clubhouse, he is as dialed in as it gets. He knows everyone, exactly what they need, every single day.
“In [batting practice], he’s shagging [fly balls]. He’ll take throws at first base. He does everything. I don’t know how he has the energy, but he’s the man.”
His postgame work keeps him around long after the final out. Add it up, and Boyd is often pulling 13- or 14-hour days.
Within those long days, players say, is an incredible attention to detail.
“There’s small things,” Rogers said. “He knows exactly where to put [Javier Báez]’s stuff. Javy likes his stuff at the end of the bench. Gleyber [Torres] likes his stuff in a certain spot. Javy likes his bats by his spot. I like one bat by my spot. I don’t like two bats, but Javy likes both of his.
“Players don’t really notice it and realize it, but if you were to not have it, you’re like, ‘This is off. I don’t know what to do with myself.’ Sounds like a crazy thing to say, but he knows every little thing about everybody.”
Said Boyd: “I’ve just been really paying attention to what players want and what they need, what’ll keep their mind in the game instead of looking around for things. Just things like that, try to make it easier on them.”
Boyd is one of four finalists. Two were selected for highlight plays during the season. Boyd was one of two wild cards, but don’t let that fool you. He saved manager A.J. Hinch from taking a foul ball with an acrobatic play last year.
“Frankie should be an All-Star,” All-Star Riley Greene said as part of the Tigers’ social media campaign, “because one, he has the fastest 40-[yard] time in the league. It’s guaranteed faster than anyone else’s.”
He has to be fast to be everywhere.
“He probably is the fastest,” Hinch said.
“He honestly deserves it,” Rogers said, “and I hope he does get it.”