Tom Jones

Working at the Ballpark is an inside look at what people in major league baseball do for a living and how they feel about their jobs by taking readers into dugouts, clubhouses, bullpens, press boxes and executive offices where fans dream of going. In the rich oral history tradition of Studs Terkel, this is an entertaining collection of 50 candid, engaging interviews with players, managers, coaches, peanut vendors, ushers, groundskeepers, clubhouse guys, executives, broadcasters, mascots, and others who work at a major league ballpark: From John Guilfoy, who sells sausages behind the Green Monster at Fenway Park, to Chris Hanson, who plays “Bernie Brewer” in Milwaukee, Johnny “from Connecticut,” who is a street ticket hustler, to Glove Glove shortstop Omar Vizquel, who anchors the infield at AT&T Park.

Working at the Ballpark provides fascinating and gritty details about the working lives of men and women who are passionate about baseball. These are their personal, poignant stories. In their own words.

Jones, Tom. Working at the Ballpark: The Fascinating Lives of Baseball People—From Peanut Vendors and Broadcasters to Players and Managers by Skyhorse Publishing,  Apr. 2008. 364 pages. photographs. ISBN 978-1-60239-226-7. paperback. $17.95.

from the Library Journal: "Here are insightful interviews with baseball folk... . In their own words, edited slightly "for clarity and brevity," they speak about their work, how they got where they are, and what it means to them. Arranged thematically, from front office to playing positions, ballpark crew, and reporters, the resulting mixture of the personal and vernacular with the precision expertise gained only over years of devotion to the game is fascinating. Strongly recommended for public libraries."

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"The book is riddled with... interesting tidbits, whether they come from a scoreboard operator, an usher, a guy who designs ballparks or the mascot. There are thousands of people working behind the scenes around baseball who aren't as noticed as the players, but they all contribute to bringing us this great game. This book does an excellent job of bringing us their stories, and helping us understand the complex nature of how much work goes into each and every ballgame."  TOTK.com Sports

Foreword by

Hall of Fame Pitcher

Nolan Ryan

Publisher’s Weekly

“… the interviews cover all the bases: owners, general managers, managers, coaches, players, umpires, media, vendors and ushers…For example, MLB’s VP for on-field operations, Bob Watson, chats candidly about a host of colorful topics including how the Yankees overpaid when they traded for Chuck Knoblauch, who could “have been had for, maybe not a broken bat, but a good bat.” But it’s the small nuggets of information that epitomize this book: how much does a ballboy make? what’s Omar Vizquel’s preferred bat? where does Boston’s Sausage Guy go to the bathroom? As Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan writes in the book’s foreword, just “skip through the pages” and find someone that interests you.