Best Seat on the Bench

In the writing of Pen Men: Baseball’s Greatest Bullpen Stories Told by the Men Who Brought the Game Relief, Bob Cairns had the pleasure of spending time with some of the game’s great pranksters.

Now, don’t get him started on Moe Drabowski, but following very closely in his fun foot prints was Roger McDowell, the right-hander who, along with his lefty friend Jesse Orosco, anchored that famous Mets’ pen in the late 1980s.

Did they ride the Mets’ bench? Well, yes and no but both being a bit hyperactive, followed a game day schedule that always included a few stops.  So, there were restful innings there on the pine, just in case their Manager Davie Johnson happened to wonder what they were up to.

The way Roger tells it, the dynamic Duo spent a great deal of early game time in the locker room playing video games and eating cheeseburgers. Then, just to let their manager know that they were available, they made a bit of commotion on the bench, perhaps administering a hot foot on a sleeping benchwarmer, things like that.

Then around the seventh inning, they made their way out to the bullpen where they did everything from race electric cars to, in Wrigley Field, tossing buckets of waters on the Bleacher Creatures. It should be noted that for his efforts with the fans there Roger joined Eddie the Eagle as one of only two honorary members of the Wrigley Field Bleacher Bums Club. 

But it was in Dodger Stadium that Jesse Orosco found a seat on the ultimate bench.  It seems that there was a group of fans of Mexican descent, a fan club that sat overlooking the visiting teams bull pen whenever the Mets were in town. Orosco was Mexican-American so his fans were always there, waving flags and shouting, cheering their hero on.

Now, Roger tells the story of the Day his buddy Orosco found himself sitting on the ultimate bench, “There was this Porta-Jon, a bathroom there in the pen. The outside  was visible to all these fans. So, one day I waited until Jesse went in to take one. And while he was in there, I got his fans all worked up, ‘Who wants to see Jesse?’  Then ‘Jesse! Jesse! Jesse!’ man they are screaming chanting for him, and had no idea where he was until I go over and open the door on that John and there’s their hero, benched so to speak, taking one, reading a Sports Illustrated!”

Oh man, they went wild. He finally got over it but I swear he didn’t speak to me for a week after that one.”