Interview with Dean Lewis, Fenway Park Umpires Room Attendant

Interview with Dean Lewis conducted by Bill Nowlin on July 4, 2015.

Dean Lewis has been with the Red Sox since 1980, when he was 16 years old, working in the Red Sox clubhouse with his twin brother Dan. Dan has gone on to other work as a VP in the hotel industry. Dean spent 25 years investigating insurance fraud, working both jobs, but has been exclusively with the Red Sox since 2005.

He started as the umpires room attendant in 1990, some 25 years as of the time of the interview.

Bill Nowlin: So you’ve been doing it from when the room used to be above the Red Sox clubhouse.

Dean Lewis: Yeah, that whole room was about as big as this room right here [the eating area]. That room had like six showers. They make this nice room, but here it’s only one shower. The umpires are usually leaving right after the game. They always cut their flights close. They’ll be like running back and forth — “keep the water running. Keep the water on” — and then they go flying out the door.

BN: You never know when you’re going to have an extra-inning game.

DL: Exactly. Many times they miss their flights. I already asked them, “Are you leaving Sunday night after the game, or are you leaving Monday morning?” They said Sunday night. I always like that.

It’s come a long way, the way the umpires are treated. They used to get eight cold sandwiches after the game and they’d have to ask for hot dogs before the game. Now I get everything. We’ve got deli meats, tuna, chicken. There’s catered food that I start heating up right now so it will be done. Its fresh catered, not frozen.

BN: In the refrigerator there you’ve got about 10 kinds of drinks — ginger ale, Sprite…

DL: Then I record the game for them in case they want to see. … Now with the replay on the field, they don’t do this as much. But before replay, “Could you go back to the play in the fourth inning with Pedroia?”

BN: But you’re video recording the whole game here? [Television and DVR on top of the refrigerator]

DL: Right.

BN: Did they ever come in during a game? Like if there’s a delay or something?

DL: There’s the home run thing, for the disputed home runs. [Points to closed door.] That’s a replay box they can look at. They only use that for home runs and that was before they had the replay on the field, but I think they can still review home runs here. We haven’t had one reviewed for quite a while. But they check that box every day; a rep from MLB comes in and checks the box. They open the top thing, they get on the phone, and the people in New York ask, “What do you see on the screen?” I’ll hear them say, “I see stripes in right field. OK, it’s red. It’s green. OK.”

And they come in during a rain delay.

BN: They usually get here about an hour and a half before the game?

DL: Yeah. Some are a little earlier, some are a little later, but that’s probably the average.

BN: And how long after the game are they gone?

DL: It depends. The crew chief or whoever does home plate, I’ll go, “Do you want a drink? Do you want a beer?” He’ll go, “Oh, just throw me a Miller Lite or a water for now.” Usually, they’ll just want a water.

BN: Do you stay in the room here during the game in case they need something?

DL: No, I go back to the [Red Sox] clubhouse. I have to do laundry and towels.

BN: What if they need something?

DL: They’ll call the batboy. If all of a sudden the temperature dropped or the sun started glaring, the batboy will say, “Dean, Laz Diaz says he needs his sunglasses. They’re in the top right of his trunk.” I’ll come down and run them to the batboy on the visiting side. I’ll say, “Here, just give these to Chris.” Our batboy. He’ll give them to the umpire.

BN: When they go to the field, they go from here over across the way to the visitors….

DL: Right. They’re led by Security. There’s a new rule – it’s posted right here on the wall — that the visiting team can’t go in the runway…. Official MLB Director of Security. The umpires had an incident this year. Doug Eddings. [There was a shoving incident during the April 29 game at Fenway, where Blue Jays hitting coach Brook Jacoby shoved umpire Eddings after the game. Jacoby was suspended for 14 games.]

BN: “Must wait until all the umpires are completely off the field and out of the visitor umpire tunnel before departing the…” So the visiting club has to stay in their dugout until after the umpires have left the field.

DL: It only takes a few seconds. I remember the umpire telling me, “I’ve been umpiring a long time and, including my minor-league career, I have never been pushed by a coach or a player.”

BN: Back in the old days, 100 years ago. … No umpire’s going to linger on the field for very long anyhow. They have no reason to.

DL: You might see them get yelled at by players, and they’ll yell back. I remember the old umpire room — Jim Leyritz, the catcher, yelling at Tim McClelland, who’s like seven feet tall, about something, a call. And Tim McClelland was not taking it. I was midway on the stairs up to the room and I’m thinking, “Are they going to charge each other?” They didn’t, but I was right in the middle on the staircase and I had nowhere to go.

DL: I’ve never had any bad [relationships with umpires]. Based on my job, we’re all “yes men.” Even with the ballplayers. I mean, if they asked for something illegal. … Major League Baseball prohibits chewing tobacco. We’re not allowed to get that.

DL: They get treated well now, the umpires. They didn’t used to. They got treated like crap back in the day.

BN: They were telling me the other day that DHL ships their trunks in. You’re the one who opens them up.

DL: Yeah, I unpack them. It doesn’t take long.

BN: They’ve got their dirty laundry in there from the night before.

DL: Right.

BN: So you have to take that for the four of them and get that all washed.

DL: Yeah, the laundry room is right there [across the way.]

BN: You wash it and dry it and hang it up in their lockers here.

DL: It’s not a hard job. It beats insurance. I didn’t sell insurance; I did claims. But this job beats that. I never went back.

BN: You get tips from them.

DL: Oh yeah. They take care of me. The Red Sox don’t pay for this. They don’t pay for the food. I pay for it out of the money they give me. I also do all the baseballs. Up until the mid-’90s, the umpires did the baseballs. One by one, the umpires would ask, “Do you mind doing the baseballs?” and next thing you know, I do them all the time. That’s why they take care of me.

BN: You’ve got that Chesapeake mud.

DL: Yeah, here it is right here.

BN: Each crew comes through maybe twice a year?

DL: Some of these guys it seems like I see them three or four times a year and then I don’t see them for a couple of years. I get the schedule at the beginning of the year.

BN: What is it that you’re making there for them right now? You’re cooking something for them?

DL: Today I’m making lasagna, ribs, chicken wings, and then there’s a veggie. I usually get a pasta, two meat dishes, and a veggie dish.

BN: Do they tell you what they’d like to have?

DL: I just sort of mix it up. It’s the caterer who used to do both clubhouses for 20 years.

BN: Oliva’s?

DL: Right. I pick it up now. They don’t deliver it. He’s in Milford. He does a great job.

BN: So if there’s a rain delay, you come whipping back over here to see if they need anything.

DL: If they’re wearing their jackets, I’ll ask if they want me to put them on a low heat. Maybe they’ll say, “No, I have another one here.”

BN: But for the most part if something happens in the middle of the game, like a piece of equipment…

DL: The batboy calls me. He doesn’t have a key to get in here. They just call me. I’m in the clubhouse. Maybe the umpire brought out a heavy jacket and all of a sudden, the sun came out. Or he’ll need his sunglasses.

BN: If they want a bottle of water during the game, the batboy….

DL: He has those. Mostly I’m in the clubhouse during the game.

BN: But as soon as you know the game’s wrapping up, you’re over here.

DL: Yeah, to finalize the DVR.

BN: And then you’ll pack up their trunks?

DL: They’ll pack up their trunks. Sometimes if they’re running late at the end of a series, like if the game ends at 4 and they’ve got a flight at 5:15, they’ll get a police escort. They’ll say, “Dean, we’re cutting it close. Do you mind packing our trunks?” I never say no. Or if they’re going on vacation, I’ll have the guy from DHL — there’s tons of food left over every night — I’ll have him sit down and eat. “Do you want me to do your clothes for you so you don’t have them stinking up your trunk for a week?” Usually, they say, “Oh, that would be great.” Like I say, I try to help them out as much as I can.

It’s a pretty simple job. It’s just the hours. We’re here a lot of hours. Twelve, 14, 16-hour day. I mean, I’m not complaining.

BN: You wouldn’t have been doing it all these years if it was intolerable.

DL: Exactly. The players are good. The umpires treat me good. They never got any of this. Like I said, they used to get cold sandwiches. They used to stay at the old Howard Johnson’s, right behind. Now they all stay at upscale hotels. The money’s a lot better for them. The conditions are way better for them. They get a lot more than I get.

They get tickets to each game; they can upgrade their rooms. They can give tickets to hotel clerks and hotel general managers. “I can give you tickets tonight — Yankees/Red Sox.”

BN: When you get into the postseason, is it much different for you?

DL: Well, there’s six umpires. I get more food. A lot of people in and out. The Commissioner was here. Joe Torre, really nice guy. In fact, he had a really classy comment when the umps thanked me at the end of the 2013 World Series. The umpires said, “Dean, congratulations for winning the World Series.” I looked at the umps and said, “Well, thank you, but I really didn’t have anything to do with it. All I did was show up each day for work.” Joe Torre — he was right here, and I was right here, finalizing the DVR — he goes, “Dean, that’s what it’s all about.” I thought that was classy. I just said, “Thanks, Joe.”

BN: Well, if you hadn’t rubbed up the balls….

DL: Yeah, exactly. It was nice that somebody recognized me a little, being the peon that I am. Working in the back room.

BN: Joe Torre worked from the ground up. He was a catcher, had to go through the minor leagues before that.

How many balls do you do per game?

DL: Like 12, 14 dozen. It depends if it rains. Or if Pedro Martinez is pitching and they’re fouling them off. Out it goes. Out it goes.

BN: Clint [Fagan] is a minor-league umpire now, filling in. I guess most crews usually come in together, but do you sometimes have guys that had never been here come wandering in on their own?

DL: That hasn’t happened in a long time. Maybe once in a great while. They might be directed to the umpires room. They’d say, “He says he’s umping the game, and it’s his first time here.” I’d say, “Oh, tell him I’ll be right down.” I’ll unlock the door in two seconds. He’ll say, “I just landed. They told me to meet them at the park.” I’ll say, “Well, just relax. Sit down and watch TV.”

After a game, sometimes I’ll pop in and they’ll still be here. “Oh, sorry, Dean, we’re leaving in a second.” I’ll say, “Guys, Gate D is open 24 hours. You stay as long as you want. I can always clean this tomorrow.” They like when I say stuff like that. And I mean that. It’s not bothering me. When I’m done in the clubhouse, if you’re still here, shut the door on the way out.

BN: And these guys are probably not high-demand guys anyhow.

DL: No. They’re umpires, not players.

BILL NOWLIN, known to none as “The Old Arbiter” since he has never worked a game behind the plate, still favors the balloon chest protector for its nostalgic aesthetics. Aside from a dozen years as a college professor, his primary life’s work was as a co-founder of Rounder Records (it got him inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame). He’s written or edited more than 50 books, mostly on baseball, and has been on the Board of Directors of SABR since the magic Red Sox year of 2004.

 

Author’s note

There were nine photographs of umpires on the walls of the Fenway Park umpires room. Knowing that there were 10 umpires in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, it was easy enough to “poll the photos” and see that Hank O’Day was the one who was missing. O’Day was named to the Hall of Fame in 2013. Apparently his induction had not prompted an upgrade to the room. A quick email to Mike Ivins of the Red Sox resulted in him contacting Susan Perrin of the Sox, and within a matter of weeks, a photograph of O’Day had been affixed to the wall.