Most major league relief pitchers only pitch every two or three days. So how in the world are they expected to spend their time in the bullpen as they wait for their turn to take the mound? You would expect them to be studying mechanics; talking about game; hell, just chewing on sunflower seeds… not playing games like “fart bottle roulette,” or “pink eye.”
According to Deadspin’s Sean Newell, Rangers pitcher Derek Holland went on the radio Wednesday and — of many other things I’m sure — spoke about what he and his teammates do in the bullpen to stay busy. Among ways to keep themselves entertained include the two aforementioned games listed above.
“Basically, there are two games. One is called pink eye. That is when you just fart in somebody’s face and they can’t flinch. If they move, there is a penalty for it. This all came from Mark Lowe. ‘Fart Bottle Roulette’ is when you get a bunch of little water bottles, fart into one of them, put them in a bag, shuffle it, and than watch everybody’s reaction. Everybody opens a bottle one by one and it’s the most nerve-wracking thing every because you really don’t want that bottle.”
The next goal for every broadcaster, camera man and every fan with a camera phone should be to catch these shenanigans in action. Some of us look back on our juvenile years of primitive behavior usually surrounding some sort of bathroom humor. Those within MLB bullpens still live it.
Baseball. What a game.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports.
Photo Credit: Getty
