WASHINGTON — The Arizona Diamondbacks are going back to the future, and they’re bringing back the bullpen car.
This is actually happening.
Introducing the OnTrac Bullpen Cart! #GenerationDbacks pic.twitter.com/K0eTiED5f9
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 6, 2018
The team brought two golf cars and put big Diamondback helmets on top.
Major League Baseball is trying to find ways to speed up the game, but the Diamondbacks’ decision has to do with money, as well. Logistics company OnTrac is the cars’ sponsor.
The team’s CEO Derrick Hall told ESPN that the cars might speed up the game, and he expects that a lot of teams will follow suit and bring back the cars.
Bullpen cars were used to bring relief pitchers into the game from the bullpen to the pitcher’s mound. They eventually became passe in favor of having entrance songs played when new players come in.
The Cleveland Indians were the first team to use a bullpen car in 1950, according ESPN. But it was the Los Angeles Angels that first used a golf cart back in 1963.
By the 1970s and 1980s, all teams had switched from a car to a golf cart.
The Brewers were the last team to drive their relievers into the game. It was a Harley-Davidson, with the pitcher riding in the sidecar.
