Baseball Trivia (General)/Bullpen Carts

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Expert: - 6/17/2011


Question
can you help me win a family arugment? I remember as a kid in the 60"s seeing a golf cart type of vehichle driving out relief pitchers from the bull pen. ( I was a Met fan) . My husband and son think I am crazy. What do you say? Any proof of this?

Answer
Hi Suzanne,

You are not crazy. MLB teams did use golf carts, and some teams used real cars to deliver pitchers to the mound. This practice began in the 1960s-70s, apparently, and drifted out of fashion in the 1990s. I could not find definitive information in my library, but the Net has several places that shed light on this. You are not the only one wondering about the subject.

The most authoritative account is here: http://bit.ly/lVM7Jr in a NY Times article.

See also:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2413530

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090922070437AAWUJEk

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060819145457AAmfLvp  

Baseball Trivia (General)

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Tom Schott

Expertise

I will deal with the major leagues only from 19th century to present. I`m good on baseball history, records, statistics, ballparks. I don't do off-the-field stuff. Please if you already know the answer to the question, please don't ask it. I don't want to play "stump the expert."

Experience

I've written on the subject, and I have substantial library of resources.

Organizations
SABR

Publications
Numerous encyclopedia, newspaper, magazine articles. One book, several book chapters.

Education/Credentials
Ph.D. in American history.

Awards and Honors
Bevy of writing awards.

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