Dr. Batboy does it all for Erie SeaWolves

Brad Fox, a doctor based in Erie, Pennsylvania, has been practicing medicine since 1991. Like seemingly all doctors, Fox is a very busy man, but it's during the baseball season that his schedule is fullest.

By day Fox is a family doctor, working out of his office on Erie's Cherry Street. But in the evenings, Fox can be found 2 1/2 miles to the northeast, practicing his craft at Jerry Uht Park, home of the Erie SeaWolves. Fox is the SeaWolves' team doctor, a position he has held for the entirety of the franchise's existence.

I spoke with Fox in the SeaWolves' press box during August 24's ballgame, shortly after witnessing team president Greg Coleman sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" while undergoing a prostate exam (Fox had helped coordinate this "two-knuckle challenge," which was administered by his colleague Dr. Peter Lund). In our conversation Fox spoke about the origins of his stadium-based practice, the demands placed on a Minor League team doctor, and, perhaps most intriguingly, his current status as the only "Dr. Batboy" in professional baseball.

MiLB.com: How did you first land a job as a Minor League team doctor?

Dr. Fox: I was interested in sports medicine, and we had the [New York-Penn League] Erie Sailors at the time [1992]. I went into their office and said "I'd like to do an internship, a rotation with your team physician." And they didn't have one. Their league rules said they had to have one, so after a little discussion they asked me if I wanted to do it. And...I did!

MiLB.com: And now here we are, 22 years later. On a daily basis, what does the job entail?

Dr. Fox: Basically, you're responsible for the players -- injury-wise as well as illness-wise -- and you're also responsible for their families. For instance, a lot of the guys here are a little older. They have wives and kids, so I take care of the wives and kids. If they get sick, I deal with it. If they need blood tests, I deal with it, and if they get injured, I'm responsible for making sure their injuries are taken care of.

If they need surgery or anything like that, I'm responsible for anything that needs to get set up here and be taken care of. A lot of times I work with the [parent Detroit Tigers], because if it's a major injury, they'll have to go back to Detroit for something. For instance, Brandon Loy this season when he broke his ankle, I had to coordinate getting him through the ER and to the operating room, and he was actually operated on here [in Erie]. And then through rehab. So basically it's all day-to-day functioning from the health standpoint of the entire team.

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MiLB.com: I guess it stands to reason, then, that you're in constant contact with the team trainer?

Dr. Fox: Daily. Multiple times a day. [SeaWolves trainer T.J. Saunders and I] are in communication pretty much 24/7. There is not an hour that has gone by over the course of 20 years where I haven't been contacted by a trainer, whether I'm in town or out of town.

There are levels of contact. The trainer's hands-on. The player goes to the trainer and says "I need this." The trainer gets a hold of me, says "Hey, so-and-so needs their eyes checked or so-and-so has a sore throat. So-and-so has a rash. So-and-so needs his regular medicines filled for whatever his illness is." We deal with it. The trainer does a lot of the initial upfront stuff and passes it to me by text or email. Or, because I'm at [the ballpark] constantly, in his office.

MiLB.com: Are you in regular contact with the other doctors and trainers in the Detroit system?

Dr. Fox: If we transfer a player up or down, there's times when I have to communicate either with their physician or, a lot of times, with their trainers. I do a lot of communication with the big league club when it comes to ongoing medicines for players or coaches -- we do the coaching staff too -- or if a guy is [promoted] and things have to follow him that have been going on here. The [Detroit Tigers] physician, Mike Workings, has actually been a good friend of mine for years. We've known each other pre-dating my working with the Tigers organization.

There's a lot of [roster turnover]. When we had Buck Farmer come through here, I never met him. He came to the ballpark one night, he pitched, back in the clubhouse he's doing an interview and basically the next day he's up in Detroit. I was like, "I never met the guy." So, it happens, we get pass-throughs. And another thing is that when a new guy comes in, I immediately need the trainer to give me all of his information. In case he gets injured or ill I don't want to be scrambling for that while we're dealing with it in real time. But you make a lot of good relationships with the players, especially the guys who are here for a full season or a couple seasons. You get to really develop good relationships with a lot of them.

MiLB.com: This all sounds like a lot of work, considering that you also practice family medicine. Is it tough to juggle your day job with your responsibilities here at the ballpark?

Dr. Fox: There are several answers to that. My wife's answer would be [emphatically] "Yes!" But over the course of the 22 years, I've been doing this I've developed a rhythm -- it has becomes part of the fabric of my life. ... I start helping the guys find housing once they're assigned here in early to mid-March. Then we start getting the information about chronic illnesses and who's on medicines -- ADHD meds and things like that -- we start getting that in the end of March or April. Then they come up here in April, and literally its part of my life the whole time after that. So, it's integrated. I guess my answer is yes and no.

MiLB.com: Last, but certainly not least: you also occasionally serve as the team batboy. How'd that happen?

Dr. Fox: God, it began several years ago. [Early in the season] when the kids are still in school and they had a day game, the team was always scrambling to find someone who would be a batboy. They were using grounds crew, they were using front office. They had used a lot of guys who were really ticking off the players and the coaching staff because they didn't know what to do. I happened to be in the clubhouse one day and said "Why don't I do it?" It was like, "What are you talking about?" I said "I'm here anyway. I'm at the game. I might as well be in the dugout. I understand what happens."

I ended up doing both sides -- visiting and home -- that day and I had a blast. So, every year I try to do one or more games during those early-season games when kids are in school. Or sometimes in the midsummer if they get short, I'll say "Hey, don't work with just one [batboy]. I'll work. I'm here anyway."

The coaching staff gets a kick out of it. [SeaWolves manager] Lance [Parrish] thought it was hilarious when I came down and was all set to go as a batboy. Other teams get confused by the whole thing. I had a situation with the [Reading] Phillies where I was talking with their trainer about one of their players who was injured and their manager just laid into him for talking to the batboy. He was just reaming him a new one until the trainer kind of explained "It's the team physician. We're talking about a player." He was like "Oh, OK. Sorry."

I consider myself to be a fan who happened to be in the right place at the right time and I got lucky to get a good job that I like. But there's one thing that hasn't happened yet: I haven't had to deal with an injured player on the field while I've been the batboy. I think that would have created a stir.