{"id":96366,"date":"2021-05-28T14:15:34","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T19:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=96366"},"modified":"2021-05-28T14:15:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T19:15:34","slug":"hes-one-of-the-guys-how-a-longtime-cedar-rapids-bat-boy-became-part-of-the-kernels-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hes-one-of-the-guys-how-a-longtime-cedar-rapids-bat-boy-became-part-of-the-kernels-family\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He\u2019s one of the guys\u2019: How a longtime Cedar Rapids bat boy became part of the Kernels family"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ashton Pollard<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

Jon Teig grew up as a Cedar Rapids Kernels kid. He spent his summers at the ballpark, chose the stadium as the location of his birthday parties and was occasionally a guest bat boy for the team, an opportunity he landed through a friend of his mother\u2019s who was involved in the Kernels\u2019 host family program.<\/p>\n

When Teig was 13 years old, then general manager Jack Roeder invited him in for an interview. He was too young to make money at this point, but it didn\u2019t matter to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always told them, \u2018Jon would pay you to work here,\u2019\u201d said Teig\u2019s father, Bob.<\/p>\n

Once he turned 14 later that summer, the Kernels were allowed to pay him, which was a big lesson for Teig, known as Jon-Jon around the ballpark, at such a young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, like any of us, you work and there\u2019s a feeling of accomplishment,\u201d his dad said.<\/p>\n

But for Teig, the job was more than just a lesson in responsibility and a little summer spending money for a teenager.<\/p>\n

Teig has autism. He is very independent, as he lives on his own in Iowa City and drives to work each day to both his nearby job at Scheels, a sporting goods store, and his job at Veterans Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Jon\u2019s] big thing is some cognitive things,\u201d his father said. \u201cHis speech, some comprehension. Although, if you ask him about a Kernels game from 2012, he could tell you who hit a home run, probably. He just has a knack for those things. He\u2019s always loved sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the lessons that would be valuable to any teenager starting to work, Teig\u2019s social skills have been significantly improved by being around the team, his father says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has met players, and he\u2019s not in awe of these guys. He doesn\u2019t get autographs from these people because they\u2019re just his friends,\u201d Bob Teig said.<\/p>\n

According to Jon Teig\u2019s mom, Karen Wimmer, friends like the one who got him in the bat boy rotation, Jack Roeder, and Kernels players have been a collection of \u201cguardian angels\u201d watching over him, treating him just like any other person.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s learned from players that he\u2019s one of the guys. So, expect to be teased, expect to be punked, be the butt of the joke sometimes,\u201d Wimmer said.<\/p>\n

Teig\u2019s relationship with the team is not one-sided. He has positively impacted the lives of so many people in Cedar Rapids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think he gets along with everybody,\u201d said Tommy Watkins, who is now the first base coach for the Minnesota Twins but was previously the hitting coach for the Kernels. \u201cHe builds special relationships with everybody he comes into contact with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angels center fielder Mike Trout, who played for the Kernels when the team was the single-A affiliate of the Angels, is one of those friends. Teig even went out to visit Trout in Los Angeles in 2012. When Teig attended batting practice before the game, he was the talk of the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen batting practice was over, Trout saw Jon first,\u201d Wimmer said. \u201c[Trout] comes running in, running over to us. And then the whole infield comes in, and I hear the guy in the [tour] group next to us talking to somebody else. He says, \u2018Who\u2019s that guy? He knows everybody.\u2019 They were talking about Jon.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2015, Teig\u2019s fame was taken to another level when the team had a bobblehead night for him, and he was able to sign them for fans as any professional baseball player would do.<\/p>\n

While Teig is not alone in experiencing hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, the change in his routine has been especially difficult. The 2020 Minor League Baseball season was canceled, and there are no bat boys in Minor League Baseball until further notice for the 2021 season, which began a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he told me [this situation], I\u2019ve never heard him sound so sad,\u201d Wimmer said.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Teig has adjusted well and understands that safety is the top priority. When asked what he misses the most about not being allowed on the field during games, he said he is excited to rally the crowd again when the Kernels need a big inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet those players, get those bats and runs going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kernels general manager Scott Wilson, whose two sons have been Kernels bat boys as well, said he hopes Teig will be back on the field soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cA month, I\u2019m hoping. I\u2019m hoping MLB starts to reduce protocols. Most of the major league teams have hit the magic 85% vaccination that they wanted them to hit, then they promised us they would start to reduce protocols based on that,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

For now, count on Teig to enter Veterans Memorial Stadium the moment the gates open to fans and to be sitting in that front row cheering for the team. He is not interested in any other role at the park in the meantime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to be the bat boy,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashton Pollard is a sports reporter at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at <\/i>@ashtonpollard7.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ashton Pollard Medill Reports Jon Teig grew up as a Cedar Rapids Kernels kid. He spent his summers at the ballpark, chose the stadium as the location of his birthday parties and was occasionally a guest bat boy for the team, an opportunity he landed through a friend of his mother\u2019s who was involved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":778,"featured_media":96367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135,31,5092],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iowa-minor-league-baseball-2021","category-sports","category-spring-2021"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018He\u2019s one of the guys\u2019: How a longtime Cedar Rapids bat boy became part of the Kernels family - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/hes-one-of-the-guys-how-a-longtime-cedar-rapids-bat-boy-became-part-of-the-kernels-family\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018He\u2019s one of the guys\u2019: How a longtime Cedar Rapids bat boy became part of the Kernels family - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ashton Pollard Medill Reports Jon Teig grew up as a Cedar Rapids Kernels kid. 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