The Orioles’ bullpen has found a way to turn the most ordinary parts of a game day into something a little more entertaining.
It starts before first pitch, when the relievers gather in the clubhouse, make sure everyone is present, and head out together toward the field. Most teams do that much. Baltimore takes it a step further by moving through the outfield in a single-file line, with the group twisting and turning behind the man in front.
There isn’t an official label for it.
“Follow-the-leader, snake, I don’t know,” right-hander Andrew Kittredge said. “We don’t really call it anything. We just do it.”
Kittredge said the whole thing began when he randomly started taking odd turns on the way to the bullpen, and the rest of the group simply followed along. Sometimes he leads, sometimes he doesn’t, but the pattern stays the same: right, then left, then whatever comes next.
Alex Hoppe, who came over from the Seattle Mariners in an August trade, said he had to figure it out the hard way. He didn’t want to ask questions when he was new, so he copied the others step for step.
“I didn’t know what the rules were,” he said. “They turned left, I turned left, and when they turned right, I turned right.”
For Hoppe, that kind of thing fits the group. He described Kittredge as someone who enjoys making people a little uncomfortable in a harmless way.
“You know Kitt, he likes to make people feel a bit awkward and stuff,” Hoppe said. “It’s part of him welcoming people in. Any way we can get a laugh, even if it’s at ourselves.”
Left-hander Josh Walker said the little routine does exactly what it’s supposed to do.
“Every game matters, and we’re all so locked in out there, but something like that takes some of the tension out of it, and we’re all loose and relaxed. It keeps the vibes up, I guess.
But he’s funny. Kitt’s a riot.”
Kittredge said the point was never to be a comedian. He just wanted to interrupt the sameness of the day.
“We walk out there every day. I just wanted to do something different to lighten the mood.”
That fits the life of a major league reliever, which can swing between long stretches of waiting and sudden bursts of pressure. Baltimore’s group has built in a few ways to keep things loose during the downtime.
After the outfield walk, each reliever takes a personalized ball and plays a version of bocce. The setup has evolved over time, too. What started as a ball marked with a player’s number has become more customized, with bullpen catcher Ben Carhart drawing on many of the baseballs.
“Because I’m Kitt, he drew a kitty cat on there,” Kittredge said. “It’s pretty cool.
He did a good job. Almost everyone has their own ball now.”
Right-hander Yennier Cano has been the best at the game, building a sizable lead in the competition. When his ball lands closest to the target ball, he gets another mark on the champion’s ball, which he keeps for the day until someone else takes over.
Kittredge said the whole setup matters because it helps the group stay connected while they wait for the game to come to them.
“Any time you can do something as a group, whether it’s as simple as a two-minute game or the way you walk to the bullpen, I don’t know, it just kind of brings guys together,” Kittredge said. “I feel like we’ve got a pretty tight group out there.
The game is long, and we’re kind of watching the first half of it, hopefully. For me, if I pay too close of attention to the game too early, I start getting nervous.
So we just try to keep it light. We just kind of try to keep our mind off the game as long as possible.”
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