I Miss the Bullpen Cart

Remember how cool it was to see relief pitchers coming to the mound being driven by a golf cart with a team's logo on it? Why did this part of baseball ever end? I'll bet it had something to do with the groundskeepers at the stadiums always complaining about tire tracks on his finely manicured outfield.

One of the truely unique events in all of sports was watching a reliever come out of the bullpen in those carts while the crowd cheered either the player, the cart, or both. The demise of the bullpen car is one that doesn't seem to have bothered anyone, especially the groundscrews, but I believe we're missing out on a piece of baseball history and fun.

The bullpen ere began in MLB around 1950 when the Cleveland Indians brought out a car described in a local paper as "a little red auto" to bring relievers from the bullpen to the pitcher's mound. In 1951 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, White Sox reliever Marv Rotblatt became the first pitcher to use a cart in Chicago, which inspired a New York sports writer to write, "Chicago is going bush. Just like Cleveland." I'm sure that N.Y. writer was being totally objective as well. I mean an angry N.Y. sports writer? I don't buy it!

The bullpen car hit is zenith in the 1970's when most teams introduced the giant baseball around the cart with the team's logo on its side. Still other teams went in a different way using motorcycles, Datsun trucks and even a Chrylser LeBaron as their teams car.

Perhaps the coolest of all is what the White Sox did in the 50's. They used different carts for the home and visiting teams. The visiting team had to use a black Cadillac, supplied by a local funeral home, as their bullpen car. The bullpen car era officially ended at the close of the 1995 season when the Brewers, who used a Harley-Davidson with a sidecar for the pitcher to sit in, became the last team to stop using the little car.

While we may not be able to see them in MLB anymore, the bullpen car still exists in Japan where it is quite popular. Who knows, maybe one day some team will decide to bring back the bullpen carts. Until then, we still have the memories of seeing grown men being driven no more than 100 yards to the mound to get dropped off like a kid at the bus stop. Classic.