WORCESTER—WooSox fans are well aware that Smiley Ball is the team’s popular mascot and many know that he was fashioned after the iconic smiley face pin that was created by Worcester resident Harvey Ball.
But did you know that Harvey Ball’s son, Rich, works for the WooSox as an usher at Polar Park?
When Ball was asked if he considered himself to be Smiley Ball’s brother because they were both created by Harvey Ball, he laughed and said, “That’s too funny.”
WooSox president Charles Steinberg, on the other hand, liked the idea of calling them brothers.
“That’s a good one,” he said. “I hereby declare that Smiley Ball is one of the Ball brothers.”
Rich Ball, 66, of Worcester has two actual brothers, Charlie and Tom, and a sister, Jackie.
As an usher, Ball does a lot more than help fans find their seats.
“We’re there just to help people have a good experience,” he said. “A lot of kids, that’s their first ballgame. We constantly try to interact with them.”
Ball does such things as wave his arms to urge fans to sing and dance between innings. To sum it up, he makes sure the fans have smiles on their faces.
“The irony is not lost on me,” Steinberg said. “To know that Harvey Ball’s son is here to see not only the smiles, but the tributes to Harvey Ball with the smiley face on top of the foul poles, with Smiley Ball as our mascot, with the bench that is on Summit Street with his father’s picture, all of those elements blend together to enhance the sense of community that we try to foster at Polar Park.”
Ball is usually stationed in the section behind home plate and he loves it.
“The best part is we get to watch the games,” Ball said. “They want us to watch the games so we can interact more efficiently with the people. They want us to enjoy the game and to kind of rub off on the other people so they enjoy the game more if they see us.”
Harvey Ball opened his own advertising business in Worcester in 1959 and four years later the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, now known as the Hanover Insurance Group, hired him to create an image to boost company morale after a merger. Ball took only 10 minutes to devise a yellow circle pin with a wide smile and two eyes. But he never trademarked his creation, which Walmart and others went on to use in their marketing.
He earned a mere $45 off of it, but he often said he had no regrets and that he was pleased just to make the world a bit happier.
Ball died in 2001 at age 79.
When the WooSox moved from Pawtucket to Polar Park in 2021, they were determined to become ingrained in the fabric of Worcester. So for their mascot, they created Smiley Ball, a large yellow pin with a smile and eyes along with arms and legs. The mascot holds a bat and wears a blue WooSox cap. The team also developed a logo of a yellow smiley face wearing a red cap and red socks, and holding a baseball bat.
Ball and his wife, Roxanne, are among the team’s 50 or so ushers, all of whom wear yellow shirts with the smiley logo on them.
“It’s great,” Ball said. “I love wearing it. It’s kind of like a silent reminder to me of my dad. It’s a good feeling.”
“I think he’s really proud of his father and the work that he did,” Roxanne said, “and that the city of Worcester is recognizing it and that they incorporate it into Polar Park, I know he loves it.”
When Rich and Roxanne enter or leave Polar Park, they pass by the yellow metal bench beyond the outfield on Summit Street that was dedicated to Harvey Ball in late September of 2021. The bench has a smiley face, a photo of Harvey and a brief description of how he designed the smiley face.
“How cool is that?” Ball said.
Ball said his father would have loved the WooSox embracing his design of the smiley face and the fact that he works at Polar Park.
“I love just being part of my father’s legacy over at Polar Park,” Ball said. “When it comes to mascots, of course, Smiley is my favorite.”
The WooSox made sure that Smiley Ball was born on World Smile Day, another of Harvey Ball’s creations, on Oct. 2, 2020. Over the following few years, the WooSox added three other mascots: Woofster the Wonder Dog, Roberto the Rocket and Clara, the Heart of the Commonwealth. Woofster is Smiley Ball’s companion. Roberto is named after Worcester native Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry. Clara is shaped like a heart, dressed like a nurse and named after Clara Barton, the North Oxford native who founded the American Red Cross.
At games, Ball asks the children to name their favorite mascot.
“A lot of them do say Smiley and I say, ‘Yeah, that’s mine too,’” he said.
He often asks children if they’ve had their photos taken with Smiley Ball and if they haven’t he’ll radio Smiley Ball to come over.
Ball said he couldn’t remember having his photo taken with Smiley Ball before he posed with him for this story for the Worcester Guardian. And, he never tells the fans that his father designed the smiley face.
“Too humble, I guess,” he said. “My father was the same way. He was basically a quiet guy. I don’t tell anyone. I think there are a lot of people I work with (at Polar Park) who have no idea and I’m OK with that.”
Ball said whenever Steinberg sees him at the park, he stops and introduces him as Harvey Ball’s son to the people with him.
“That makes me feel really good,” Ball said. “It’s something that I can enjoy. I guess I’m blessed in that respect.”
Ball retired last July as director of assessments for the town of Ashland. This is the third season that he and Roxanne have ushered at WooSox games and for more than a decade they’ve ushered at DCU Center events, including Sharks and Railers games.
Baseball has been important to the Ball family for a long time. Ball remembers his father taking him to several Red Sox games at Fenway Park. The one that stands out is a 6-4 win over the Twins on the next-to-last day of the 1967 season that kept the Sox’s American League pennant hopes alive. They clinched their first pennant in 21 years the following day.
As a senior, Ball played outfield for the St. Peter-Marian High School baseball team that won the Division 1 state championship in 1977. Rich Gedman, former All-Star catcher with the Boston Red Sox and current WooSox player development hitting advisor, and J.P. Ricciardi, former executive with several Major League Baseball teams and current WooSox broadcaster, starred for that St. Peter-Marian team.
Rich and Roxanne’s son Matt played for the Jesse Burkett All-Stars who reached the U.S. championship game in the 2002 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Matt umpires college and Futures League baseball games. He’s also worked high school, legion and police vs. fire baseball games at Polar Park.
“It meant a lot to Matt,” Rich Ball said, “just to be able to call games and have his grandfather somewhat involved, indirectly I guess. My father meant a lot to Matt.”
Harvey Ball meant a lot to a lot of people by putting smiles on their faces. His son and the WooSox are making sure that continues to happen.
Bill Doyle has been a professional journalist for 47 years, most of them as a sports writer for the Telegram & Gazette. He covered the Boston Celtics for 25 years and has written extensively about golf, boxing and local high school and college sports. He also worked for the campus newspaper when he attended UMass-Amherst. He can be reached at billdoyle1515@gmail.com
