WASHINGTON — Baseball fans are bitterly divided over pitch clocks, the shift, universal adoption of the designated hitter. But who doesn’t love bullpen carts?
Maybe not everybody. But enough fans love them for more than 400 people to apply to drive the Nationals’ cart for the 2019 season, and the 21 candidates chosen to try out Tuesday morning at Nationals Park saw no downside to the return of a 1970s ballpark staple.
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“It just sounded like a fun opportunity and, if you were lucky enough to do it, to get to be on the field of a major league baseball stadium, be around the players, interacting with them in some way,’’ said Jay, from Loudoun County in the northern Virginia suburbs. (The team requested that full names not be published.)
He added that he has two young sons, and that, “Maybe getting to see me driving the cart out on the field would be really exciting for them as well as me.’’
For now, the Nationals are one of three teams that definitely will use the carts in 2019; all three — the Diamondbacks and Tigers are the others — had them available for relievers last season. The Mets teased a return of their cart last December when they brought reliever Jeurys Familia to the announcement of his signing in one, and at last year’s spring training a Red Sox official hinted that they might add one as well.
But having one hasn’t automatically led to using one. Some pitchers are reluctant to abandon the practice they’d known their entire baseball lives: walking, trotting or running in from the ‘pen on their own.
How much the carts are used at Nationals games remains to be seen, but the franchise liked the idea of bringing it back in 2018, and the reception it got from fans was enough to expand the use in 2019. They got responses to their advertisements for drivers from all over the country, said entertainment director Tom Davis, with some insisting they’d move to town to do it.
“I think a part of it, too, is that we’re one of three teams that does it,’’ Davis said, “so the idea that it’s starting to be embraced again is something that not just Nats fans, but fans in general, have kind of gotten behind. So the opportunity, once in a lifetime, to be that person, obviously shows with the amount of people that applied.’’
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At first glance, the tryout itself seemed more challenging than the actual job would demand: an obstacle course on the centerfield plaza, through a maze of traffic cones, an occasional mannequin in Nats gear, and around Teddy Roosevelt from the Racing Presidents mascots. They drove a fairly standard golf cart, with the actual game-day cart parked at the edge of the course easily in view as they turned the various corners.
At Nats Park for @Nationals bullpen cart driver tryouts. Ted from Davidsonville, Md. hits a turn while Teddy cheers him on. pic.twitter.com/iORqml0jpN
— David Steele (@David_C_Steele) February 26, 2019
“It’s a little confusing when you go out there, like, which way?” said Ann, from Sterling, Va., one of the early tryouts, decked out in a “Let Teddy Win” shirt from the early years of the franchise’s return. “But I had a really good time, and it was nice to see Teddy do a little dance for me.’’
Although everybody was timed (and the aforementioned Jay turned in the fastest run), team officials emphasized safety over speed, in light of the precious cargo being transported. In reality, Davis said, the drivers do have to be aware of whatever might be going on, from warmups to promotions, in the relatively straight line from bullpen to mound or dugout and back.
“I didn’t knock anything over; that’s great,’’ joked Ted, from the Annapolis suburb of Davidsonville, Md. “They said, ‘It’s not NASCAR, be careful.’”
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Ted, who retired two years ago from a federal government job within walking distance of the ballpark, showed up wearing Nationals gear — in his case, the jersey of his favorite player, former and current catcher Kurt Suzuki.
So far, so good, Davis said of the process of getting fans engaged in the on-field activity.
“It was, ‘How do we create something fun around this?’ and this is what we came up with,” he said. “Like anything, it’s not gonna be perfect the first time, but I think the response has been incredible.’’
And, by all accounts, everybody and everything involved came out of it safely, including the cart, the various guard rails and all team employees.
“You hit Teddy with the cart,’’ said Brian, of Washington, after his tryout, “I’m pretty sure you’ll get run out of this place pretty quickly.’’
