Paul Lukas of UniWatch wrote a tremendous article last week for ESPN about the history of the bullpen car.
He included links to these two amazing photos of the M's bullpen car--a tugboat that was tried and abandoned in the first two months of the 1982 season--in action.
I'm pretty sure the guy signing autographs is outfielder Al Cowens. The guy laughing near the "boat" is Gene Nelson, and the guy sitting on the boat and laughing, #39, is current Phillies color guy Larry Andersen. If you look in the stands, it looks like it's Cap Night.
I'm pretty sure this was taken on Saturday, April 17, 1982. You'll note that Jim Essian is catching, Mike Moore is pitching, and Larry Andersen is coming in in relief. That scenario happened twice in April 1982, but once on a Thursday--an unlikely night for Cap Night. If I'm right, and it is the 17th, this was only the second start of 22-year-old Moore's career, and he'd just allowed a home run to Dwayne Murphy, after Davey Lopes and Rickey Henderson worked a double steal, with Lopes stealing home and Henderson stealing second. That would explain the long faces.
Here's the box score and play-by-play of that game.
And here's what Lukas says about the M's bullpen tugboat--hilarious:
1982: The Mariners introduce a nautically themed bullpen conveyance called the Tugboat. It gets off to a rocky start on Opening Day when pitcher Bill Caudill steals the keys during pregame festivities, leaving the Tugboat stranded on the left-field line and delaying the start of the game. Things don't exactly improve over the next few days, as fan Lyle Huber later recalls: "The Mariners' pitchers refused to ride in the thing. I remember laughing hysterically as I watched Ed Vande Berg sprint in from the bullpen with the Tugboat racing along behind him. This lasted for about a week before they gave up."
4 comments:
I wish they’d bring the bullpen car back, it was one of the coolest things about baseball when it was still around. Think how awesome it would be to see Putz riding out of the pen in some tricked out hot rod that shoots giant flames up in the air before striking out the Angel side to clinch a playoff berth for the M’s.
Someone should really start a petition to bring back the bullpen car, the USS Mariner ship, and the trident logo. Granted, the tugboat was a little dorky, but dorky in a kitschy-cool kind of way. Maybe instead of a tugboat we could get a bullpen car modeled after a battleship or hydroplane. As long as it shoots flames or canons I don’t think any members of the current pen would have any problems with it.
Whoa--great minds think alike--I suggested this very thing in a P-I column earlier this year.
Plagiarism ahoy!
I must have unwittingly stolen the idea from you. Sorry dude.
Nevertheless, I’m firmly of the opinion that baseball needs to be infused with a little more excitement. If that means gimmicky props, bring on the gimmicky props. They never should have gotten rid of the USS Mariner in the first place and it’s a shame they didn’t incorporate some sort of nautically themed items into Safeco Field. Also, while they were around the trident uniforms were my favorite of any Seattle area sports team and some of the best in baseball. And pretty much anything besides a “Ride the Duck”-sponsored bullpen car would be deeply awesome.
More than acquiring a legit #2 starting pitcher or that famous “left-handed sock” these three changes need to happen. Anyone got Howard Lincoln’s cell number?
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