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One of my best buddies was a Giants batboy/clubbie in the '70s and '80s. He worked the umpire room off and on for three years. He said that he rubbed up the baseballs for every crew that came in. (He trained me.) A couple of the umpires monitored his work, but most of them just let him be. He was tipped by every umpire after every series, but the PU would tip him extra on the day of the game for rubbing up the baseballs.
So it's been the practice for at least 30 years. There may be a few that like to do it themselves, but I know that if I made six figures doing this gig, I'd be tipping a clubbie.
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