Hermon native enjoyed tenure as Boston batboy Reynolds says there are no secrets in Sox clubhouse

How many times have you wished you were a fly on the wall in the Red Sox clubhouse? Corey Reynolds spent the last year and a half as the team’s batboy and he says the fly knows no more than you. He says there’s no such thing as a Red Sox secret.

“The amazing thing about everything that happens is it all gets out. I was there about 12 hours every day and heard everything. Anything that happens gets in ESPN.com, the Globe, the Herald, somewhere,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds, 22, is a 1997 graduate of Hermon High School where he played baseball. He attended Boston College and spent three years as a student manager on the football team when an opportunity came along to join the Red Sox.

“I was there for everything. Under the big top. That’s what we referred to it as sometimes. A lot of crazy things went on,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds was there late in the season when Red Sox outfielder Carl Everett arrived late for a workout and then berated manager Joe Kerrigan.

Everett hasn’t exactly endeared himself to Red Sox Nation but Reynolds said he and his colleagues saw a different side of the man.

“[Everett] was one the nicest. He was always asking about school and about our futures. He cared,” he said.

Reynolds also was only a few feet away when Jason Varitek dove for a foul ball that resulted in an elbow injury and the end of the season for the Red Sox catcher.

“It happened right in front of me. I was on SportsCenter all week because they kept replaying it,” Reynolds.

He believes that injury ended the Red Sox’s chances at postseason play.

“The ‘Dirt Dog’ term [used to describe the Red Sox] was great. Unfortunately it didn’t work out because we didn’t have our superstars to help. You can’t make injuries an excuse but obviously people know if the team had been healthy things would have been a lot different,” Reynolds said.

Among his many duties as batboy was to flag down foul balls off the screen behind home plate at Fenway Park. A miss would draw the ire of the crowd.

“Most of those people are season-ticket holders and you get to know them. They gave me some grief if I missed but cheered when I caught the ball. They learn your first name very quickly. They want you to give them the ball,” Reynolds said.

The players often included the batboys and clubhouse attendants in their practical jokes.

During this past season, the Red Sox played an 18-inning game against Detroit that Boston eventually won on a Shea Hillebrand home run.

“I had about a .500 record [for wins and losses] as batboy,” Reynolds said. “We had another batboy sitting on the bench who was 5-0.”

So in the 15th inning of the game, Brian Daubach drew laughter from the fans and his teammates when he climbed to the stop of the dugout steps and called out to Reynolds.

“He was tapping his right hand. I’m a lefty. They had decided to go with the righthanded batboy,” Reynolds said.

He says that Trot Nixon was the player providing leadership this year. And that if Nixon felt strongly enough to voice his opinion that some players were not playing hard at the end of the year, then it must have been true.

“I will say that Trot Nixon is the guy I respect the most in the clubhouse. He’s somebody that people in Maine would really respect because of his grit and determination,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds received his degree in history from Boston College in 2001 and works as an associate teacher at Hermon High School. He said he is considering a number of things, including returning to college to obtain a teaching certification. He would like to work as an athletic director or in sports business.

One thing is certain. His days as a Boston Red Sox batboy are over. Not that he minded the day General Manager Dan Duquette came up behind him and mistook him for Craig Grebeck or the day he ran through a driving rainstorm to pick up pizza for Nomar Garciaparra. The shortstop, Reynolds said, did not know that it was raining outside the clubhouse.

Reynolds said that he could have returned but felt he had reached retirement age.

“The players were always joking me that I was the oldest batboy in the majors. So, I decided it was time to get done before I was,” Reynolds said.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or via e-mail at 1-800-310-8600.