In baseball, a young person who helps retrieve bats, equipment, and supplies for the players during games and practice.
From English 'bat' (the baseball tool) plus 'boy' (a young male person); the compound term emerged in American baseball culture in the 19th century.
Batboys hold one of baseball's most mythic entry-level jobs—dozens of batboys went on to become famous players, managers, or broadcasters, making it part of the sport's apprenticeship tradition.
Batboy encodes male default in sports roles; historically excluded girls/women from dugout roles through implicit gender coding despite no inherent reason for male-only assignment.
Use 'bat attendant' or 'equipment assistant' to avoid gendered role assumption. If historical context: 'traditionally male batboy role'.
["bat attendant","equipment assistant","dugout assistant"]
Women have successfully advocated for inclusion in professional baseball support roles, challenging decades of male-only convention.
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