NEW YORK — A job that usually stays outside the box score has pushed one Queens native into the middle of an All-Star race.
On most nights at Yankee Stadium, the lineup, bullpen and manager’s decisions pull the loudest attention. Ball crew work happens in the margins, close to the foul lines and far from the box score.
The All-Star break usually belongs to rosters, prospects, rookies and stars. This time, one of the Yankees’ most visible support roles has its own race.
This week, that hidden lane moved into public voting.
Megan Bell, a Yankees ball girl from Flushing, has been selected as the club’s nominee for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Ball Crew. Fan voting will determine whether she earns a spot during All-Star Game festivities at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, where the 2026 MLB All-Star Game is scheduled for July 14.
Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 7. Fans will select two ball girls for the event.
For the New York Yankees, the nomination adds a local face to All-Star week. It does not affect Aaron Boone’s roster, the AL East race or the postseason picture. But it does highlight a Stadium role that has grown more visible as women have taken on jobs once seen almost exclusively through bat boys and clubhouse runners.
A Queens route to pinstripes
Bell’s path started long before she wore pinstripes.
She attended Francis Lewis High School in Queens and later played softball at Baruch College in Manhattan. Baruch lists her as a graduate student majoring in digital marketing. Her player bio also lists the Yankees as her favorite MLB team.
The athletic record fits the job. Bell played shortstop, third base and outfield at Baruch. She became a three-time CUNY Athletic Conference Softball All-Star from 2022-24. Baruch also identifies her as the school’s all-time stolen base record holder.
Her freshman season showed the same speed. CUNY Athletic Conference records credited her with a .443 average, 46 runs, 18 RBIs, nine doubles and 20 steals in 23 tries in 2022.
That year also changed her baseball life. The Yankees contacted local colleges while building a ball girl program for home games. Bell and three Baruch teammates tried out at Yankee Stadium. It was Bell’s first time on the field there.
The current nomination reached Bell during a normal workday at an HVAC company in Queens. The call came from the Bronx, where a part-time role had become an All-Star opportunity.
Bell said the news hit hard because of her lifelong connection to the club.
“Honestly, it was pretty surreal,” Bell said to MLB.com. “I was just absolutely elated. I grew up a Yankees fan my entire life, so to be able to represent the Yankees just means so much to me.”
Why the nomination matters
Bell’s story also speaks to a wider baseball path for girls who begin in baseball and then move to softball.
She has traced the start to age 6, when her older brother began playing baseball and she asked her mother why she could not play, too. The answer turned into T-ball, then years of softball.
Bell said the shift into softball came after third grade.
“So the next season, my mom signed me up for T-ball, and I played baseball up until the third grade. Then it was the story that every girl hears: ‘OK, it’s time to switch to softball.’”
That is why the Yankees nomination carries more than feel-good value. Bell’s work now puts her beside an MLB field in a place where young fans can see the path she once wondered about.
The job is faster than it looks
Ball crew work can look simple from the seats. Bell has learned that it is not.
At Yankee Stadium, foul balls move quickly and do not always bounce cleanly. Wall angles, spin and late movement can turn one swing into a difficult read. Bell has said she studies those angles the way an outfielder would.
She said the hardest part often begins after the ball hits the wall.
“Something I had to learn over time is, it’s how you read the ball off the bat,” she said. “Most of them are tailing, and when they’re tailing, they’re going to hit off the wall and the spin completely changes. The reaction time isn’t from when it hits the bat, it’s from when it hits off the wall. Honestly, it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
Her own highlights back that up. Bell has made several strong plays in pinstripes, including a backhanded stop on a DJ LeMahieu foul ball that drew YES Network replays. Her first fielded ball came on an Anthony Rizzo foul down the first-base line.
A fan vote with a local face
The Yankees often carry All-Star attention through stars, market size and national debate. Bell’s nomination gives the fan base a smaller, more personal campaign.
It also puts Queens inside the All-Star conversation. Bell is not chasing a lineup spot or pitching staff role. She is chasing a place in a job that many fans notice because it happens so close to the game.
Bell said young girls and parents have approached her at the Stadium. Those moments have shaped how she views the job.
“I always remember looking at the bat boys and thinking, ‘How did they get to be in the dugout?’” Bell said. “You never really saw girls around baseball too much. Now, a lot of girls might be too shy to talk to me, but their parents are like, ‘She thinks your job is super cool.’”
Her message to them is direct.
“I tell them, ‘In 10 years, you’re probably going to be sitting where I’m sitting right now.’”
The current state is clear. Bell is on the ballot. Yankees fans have until Tuesday night to vote. A Queens-raised ball girl now has a chance to carry a Bronx role onto MLB’s All-Star stage.
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