Bat boy Adam Crognale is the Phillies’ newest All-Star after a fan vote
Crognale, 26, was voted into the game by fans as part of the “All-Star Ball Crew” and will work for the National League on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Adam Crognale, the Phillies’ bat boy who sprints wherever he goes and credits the team with helping him beat childhood cancer, is headed to the All-Star Game.
Crognale, 26, was voted into the game by fans as part of the “All-Star Ball Crew” along with Tigers bat boy Frankie Boyd. Crognale will work for the National League on Tuesday in Atlanta, while Boyd handles the American League.
Crognale grew up in Cherry Hill and graduated from Temple in 2021. This is his fifth season in the Phils’ dugout.
“He has the respect of everyone, just because of the way he goes about his business around us,” fellow All-Star Kyle Schwarber said last year. “He takes his job very seriously. He’s no-nonsense. No offense, there [are] some bat boys in the league who can get a little lost. He’s on top of everything.”
» READ MORE: Phillies batboy Adam Crognale beat childhood cancer. Now he spreads positivity in the dugout.
Crognale grew up a diehard Phillies fan who would choose weekends at Citizens Bank Park with his mom over trips to the Shore. He was diagnosed with lymphoma when he was 15, which forced him to be hospitalized in 2014 for most of the summer while undergoing chemotherapy.
He planned to be at the ballpark that July for Fireworks Night, but instead watched them erupt from his window at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The Phillies finished that season in last place, but Crognale watched every night.
“The Phillies really got me through it,” he said.
Crognale began working for the Phillies in 2019, selling 50-50 raffle tickets while studying journalism at Temple. He became a bat boy in 2021 and was told before a nationally televised game that he had better move quickly because everyone would be watching. So he sprinted after every bat, chugged to first for every sliding mitt, and darted to give new baseballs to the umpire. Running became his thing.
“I want to replicate what I’m feeling,” Crognale said. “I’ve decided ever since then to put my all into everything and run as fast as I can and show the passion I have, not just for baseball but the Phillies, and to show how grateful I am to be around these guys and make a difference.”
Crognale works primarily in the games at Citizens Bank Park, as bat boys do not typically travel. However, he did travel late in the 2023 season when the players asked whether their guy could accompany them on the road. The Phillies obliged, and they soon were headed to October. And next week, their guy is traveling to Atlanta for the All-Star Game.
» READ MORE: Trea Turner? Ranger Suárez? No, there were no real All-Star snubs for the Phillies, or anyone else
“Baseball is a grind,” said Phil Sheridan, the team’s manager of clubhouse services. “It can wear people down. But he’s always positive. He’s a fan, but he’s not a fan. He hates when we lose, and he loves when we win. He’s excited by it. He enjoys being a part of it. He doesn’t get a big head from it, but he loves to be a part of it in a way that most people never will.”
Despite playing only two seasons for the Phillies, Aaron Rowand left his mark. Literally. Twenty years ago Monday, Rowand smashed into the center-field fence and broke bones in his face to make a catch. And if that didn’t instantly boost his popularity with the fan base, his answer four days later to a question about why he would sacrifice his body certainly did. Rowand joins Phillies Extra to reminisce about “The Catch,” his role in helping to change the culture around the Phillies, and a lot more. Watch here.
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