Most fans attending games at Bowman Field enjoy the games, the experience around them, and while attentive to the game on the field they are oblivious to what takes place before and after games in the Crosscutters clubhouse under the first base grandstand. That off-limits player’s sanctuary bears little resemblance to the opulence of Major League clubhouses that are seen of post-game TV interviews. While the space has improved over the years, it is close quarters for the players wearing the Crosscutters’ colors.

The Crosscutters’ Opening Day roster consisted of 32 players plus the coaching and training staffs. The responsibility for keeping the team’s home-away-from-home functional and orderly falls on the Clubhouse Manager, and he operates as a staff of one. Handling those chores this year is Joe Gallello experiencing his first year in Williamsport.

As the season began Williamsporter Tim Gehron, himself the Crosscutters Clubhouse Manager from 2011-2014 was assisting Gallello in preparing for the current season. Gehron’s experience included serving as the Clubhouse Manager, for the Philadelphia Phillies minor league teams during Florida Spring Training in 2013 & 2014.

Tim was kind enough to share a conversation to give readers of this weekly column a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in the Cutters’ clubhouse home. Describing the clubhouse manager as a staff of one, he stated, “There is never a dull moment. You’re on the go the whole time you are here. If you are not, something is not getting done.

“There is never a downtime. We are the steering wheel that steers the ship. The clubhouse guy is responsible for the daily operations of the Crosscutters, the visiting team, and the umpires. This includes food, uniform preparation, bat distribution, baseballs for the umpires, the list goes on. Basically, the day is from 5:00 a.m. until midnight during home games.

“First thing in the morning we get all the washers and dryers going. If the washers and dryers here aren’t operating 24/7, there is something wrong. Daily we have to wash uniforms for 35-40 people, player’s personal items, towels for both the home team and visitors, as well as the umpires’ items. Then the clubhouse area is vacuumed, and the showers and toilets have to be cleaned. Then we make daily trips to the grocery store to pick up whatever incidentals may be needed for the day — fruit, veggies, bread, peanut butter, jelly — whatever is on the strength coach’s need list. All this happens in the morning prior to the team’s arrival.

“Feeding players in the clubhouse is now a lot different than it used to be. These days they have a catered breakfast, lunch and dinner. Years ago, when I first started, the Phillies gave the Crosscutters $40.00 a day for me to buy peanut butter, jelly, bread, bananas, and apples. Other food was provided by outside vendors. That has changed significantly. The Phillies now give the clubhouse guy $150.00 a day to go and buy what is needed. They’ve gotten away from sugar products to very nutritional things like, beans, rice, and salads that supplement the catered meals that are provided.

“Each player is given one set of uniforms for home and one set for away. The manager and coaches typically get two sets. This means we wash every player’s uniform every day. The ones that have grass stains and clay stains have to be treated differently. We’ve learned through time that the best results are achieved when we use a power washer on them. We soak them and take them into the shower in our swimsuits and flip flops and power wash away.”

Seniority has its place when it comes to the numerical assigning of uniforms.

“Typically any player that was here the previous year, or any of the early-round draft picks from the current season will get first dibs on uniform numbers. After that, it is just a matter of who is next in line and what numbers we have available.”

The clubby is also responsible for supplying the umpires with game balls each day.

“We start with six dozen baseballs. The umpires come in an hour before the game to get the balls and rub them up. If during the games they are getting low on balls the clubby is responsible for getting the additional balls, rubbing them up and getting them to the umpire.”

In today’s baseball, at the Major League level, if balls hit the dirt, they are thrown out of the game.

“That’s up to the umpire, but here we try and discourage the umpire from doing that. The other thing is that after the third out of an inning, the player who has the ball will often throw it into the stands. We lose a lot more balls that way. Even though we start out with six dozen balls in most games, we will use eight to ten dozen depending on the weather and conditions.”

Once the game has ended, the clubby’s work is far from finished.

“That’s when all the fun begins. When the players come into the clubhouse, they eat, take their uniforms off and shower. At this point, the uniforms have to be separated and decided which ones need to be soaked. Then the process begins of getting the uniforms washed. Prior to leaving each night, the garbage has to be taken out, towels washed, and those uniforms that don’t need special attention are placed back in the lockers.”

Despite the presence of many Spanish-speaking players on the Crosscutters’ roster, the language barrier is not often a problem.

“I just tell them ‘soy el jefe,’ which means I’m the boss,” Gehron chuckled. “If that’s all I say, they listen. We get along despite the language barrier.”

It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it, and Gehron has passed along what he has experienced to Gallelo as he begins his rookie year in Williamsport.

“It has to be a labor of love,” Gehron stressed. “There’s that saying ‘just do it.’ Well, that is what this job is, just do it!”