Middle relievers rarely receive any recognition, but they play a critical role in a Major League Baseball team's success over the course of a long season. While baseball, like all sports, is ultimately measured in wins and losses, teams are often willing to sacrifice an individual loss to protect the long term strength of the club. In this area middle relievers are particularly important; when games get out of hand and a team falls behind early, a nice long relief stint (even in a lopsided loss) can save the rest of the bullpen arms and give the team a better chance at winning games going forward.
This blog isn't about sports strategy, though. We're here to talk about being a sports fan, and here middle relievers can play a surprisingly large role, too. This Saturday I went to the Yankees game versus the Kansas City Royals to see if A-Rod could hit his 600th career home run (see my previous post for more commentary). Rodriguez didn't make history on Saturday afternoon, and the game quickly devolved into Royal ass-kicking (pun intended) of the Yankees at the hands (or feet?) Kansas City. New York starter Sergio Mitre got shelled and was pulled with one out in the fifth inning, and with the score 7-2 at the time manager Joe Girardi elected to turn the ball over to little used Dustin Moseley to eat some innings.
It was around 100 degrees in New York on Saturday (the on-field temperature was recorded at 108), and we had 100-level seats that were completely exposed to the sun. We sat for hours in the sweltering heat, sweating profusely and constantly running up the stairs and into the concourse to buy $5 waters and steal a few minutes of shade. Leaving the game early wasn't an option with A-Rod guaranteed to get another couple of plate appearances - we would never be forgive ourselves if we left early and missed the historic long ball, though many fans took that chance and vacated their seats in the middle innings. So we resigned ourselves to 4+ hours of direct UV exposure and squinted to shield the sun and watch Moseley take the mound.
When the game started, I was most excited to see A-Rod. When the game ended, I couldn't have been more thankful that Dustin Moseley got in the game. The righty reliever got the final fourteen outs while allowing just one hit and one walk. He also struck out just one batter, allowing him work nearly five innings of relief on an extremely economical 53 pitches. A game that seemed destined to turn into an afternoon of long innings, time consuming pitching changes and a Chan Ho Park appearance became as enjoyable as a day game at Yankee Stadium in 100 degree heat can be. Moseley kept the Yankees in it to the end; while New York ended up losing 7-4, Moseley's performance gave his team a realistic chance to come back and tie it off Royals closer Joakim Soria in the ninth.
While the game wasn't exactly what I was hoping it would be, unsung hero Moseley saved the Yankee bullpen from being overworked and saved me from heatstroke and a really bad sunburn. Over the course of a long summer of baseball, you learn to appreciate the little things. Thank you, Dustin Moseley.
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