His arm around David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Dustin Pedroia and other Red Sox greats, Arthur Giddon looked right at home in the Fenway Park dugout Saturday.
"I would like to meet and hug the ball players," Giddon told reporters before the game against the New York Yankees. "I want to see them win number one, secondly I want to see these ball players."
It was all Arthur Giddon wanted for his 100th birthday and his wish came true.
Wearing a jersey with "Big Pappy" across the back and the number 100, Giddon served as an honorary Red Sox bat boy.
He got a chance to mingle with the players and see the Red Sox go on to win 16-11, the largest comeback against the Yankees since 1968.
Arthur Giddon might be the oldest batboy to ever take the field at Fenway Park.
For his birthday, he asked to go to the Red Sox-Yankees game Saturday, with one condition.
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"Only if he could be a bat boy for the first batter," explains Pam Giddon-Freedman, Arthur’s daughter.
It's something that comes naturally for Giddon, who was a batboy in 1922 and 1923 for the Boston Braves.
His job was a little different from when he was a 12-year-old boy.
He helped out during practice, not the game. But that didn’t change how seriously he took his duty.
"Some batter will bat and I will go out and pick it up and bring it back to the dugout," said Giddon.
His trip to Fenway came almost by accident. His daughter Pam mentioned his love of the game to the CEO of his assisted living complex. Next thing this Red Sox fanatic knew, he was headed to Boston for his birthday.
"I loved baseball all my life and I just can’t believe I’m being called to sit there at the dugout with all these wonderful players," said Giddon.
It’s a dream come true for the successful lawyer who would’ve given anything to throw a ball for a living instead.
"I played baseball as a kid, but I never was strong enough or good enough to play," says Giddon.
