Timmy Time! Beloit bat boy a ballpark favorite

BELOIT, Wisconsin -- Timothy Boatner Jr., batboy for the Beloit Sky Carp, says he's "just a chill kid, ready for fun. And dancing is one of the things I like to do." This approach to life has led to an unlikely ballpark phenomenon: Timmy Time.

When it's Timmy Time at the Sky Carp's home of ABC Supply Stadium, that simply means Boatner is dancing on the field. This exuberant burst of unchoreographed and totally unselfconscious body movement usually occurs during a late game inning break. Michael Jackson is Boatner's artist of choice, but he says he'll dance to just about anything that might happen to play over the PA system.

"I dance to Dominican music, Jamaican music, any song. You might catch me dancing to a country song," said Boatner. "I mean, country isn’t really my thing like that. But I just think, 'What am I going to dance to?' and then have the rhythm right then and there. I just execute it and that’s how it is. No routine, just what I'm doing in the moment."

Around here, we look forward to pitching changes. Why? It's Timmy Time! @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/PP2ZjLNSGI

— Beloit Sky Carp (@beloitskycarp) June 10, 2022

Boatner, 19, has spent his whole life in Beloit. He's always been a baseball fan, playing the sport throughout high school and regularly attending Beloit Snappers games at Pohlman Field. The Midwest League team, currently the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, relocated to brand-new ABC Supply Stadium in August of last season and rebranded as the Sky Carp prior to the 2022 campaign. Boatner's employment began in conjunction with the opening of the new ballpark, where he was hired to work as an usher.

"I was mainly on the concourse," said Boatner. "It wasn’t a big thing but they’d catch me dancing a couple times. One game, during a pitching change, I was dancing to Law and Order. Basically just the theme song. It wasn’t nothing special, just on the steps vibing. They caught me on camera doing that and everybody liked it. The next time it happened was when I was dancing to 'Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson and that’s what started getting my name out. They posted me on Facebook two days after the game."

.@beloitskycarp bat boy Timothy Boatner, Jr. has become a ballpark celebrity for his “Timmy Time” on-field dance routines. He’s happy to dance on the concourse as well. pic.twitter.com/KdJuH5jT7s

— Benjamin Hill (@bensbiz) June 29, 2022

When Boatner returned to ABC Supply Stadium at the start of the 2022 season, he was met with an unexpected request: Would you like to be the home team bat boy? Being a fan and player himself, he of course jumped at the opportunity.

"Getting into the job, you might get nervous. I think my biggest nerves was being around players," said Boatner. "But going down there and interacting with the players while doing your job is probably the best thing to happen to you. I mean, just the other day, Marcus Chiu, the Sky Carp’s first baseman, he got me and my brother [Trace] some shoes. Just asked our size, and yesterday night he gave us some shoes."

Boatner might be wearing those shoes while debuting his latest moves. His role as a batboy has allowed him to take Timmy Time to a whole new level, as it is now augmented by his full home team uniform and easy field access. His routines are projected on the videoboard, and often shared on social media after the game. Friends, family and the larger Beloit community have taken note.

"I’m famous now, all because I started dancing along one day," he said. "It feels good, it does. And I don’t have to be the best dancer. I'm just being me."