The Reliever

It was the top of the 7th inning. The home team was down by two runs and the bases were loaded. It had been an up and down year for the home team. They had started the season off like gang busters, putting winning streaks together and making things look easy. Then all of a sudden, with about a quarter of the season left, things began to tank. Maybe all the arrogance began to catch up. Maybe the opposition had finally figured out the secret to knocking the home team down a notch. Whatever it was, winning was not quite as easy as it had once been. Blow out losses were becoming all too familiar and the fans were smelling blood in the water.

If the season ended today, the home team would not make the playoffs, but they were not yet mathematically out of it. All they had to do was win out--5 more games. They had put together many 5 game winning streaks earlier in the season, so the task didn't seem too far-fetched. But winning 5 in a row started with today's game and they were down by two in the top of the seventh inning.

While the team was struggling, the fans began clamoring for the brass to call up their star reliever from the minors. This reliever had been all-everything in college and had moved his way up through the minors with blazing speed. He was charismatic, confident and the fans adored him. He had a way of putting everyone at ease when he took the mound, no matter what the situation was. Although the reliever had no major league experience, the fans had made their desires known--call him up to save the season!

So, shortly before today's game, the front office called up the reliever. The fans turned out in record numbers in hopes they would get a chance to see the reliever work his magic. In the local press the reliever had jockeyed for this opportunity, promising the fans he could work his way out of any mess, including the downward spiral the home team was currently in. All the home team needed was new blood and a new style. All he needed was a chance.

The reliever was finally getting his chance. With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the 7th inning, the manager walked out to the mound and signaled for the lefty. The fans exploded in jubilee, high on the promises made by the reliever that he would be able to deliver the home team from any mess and resurrect them into a playoff contender. All he needed to do was get a strikeout, fly ball or grounder to end this inning and give the boys with the bats a chance to put some runs on the board. All he had to do was get one out to keep the game close.

The manager handed him the ball and told the reliever, "I'm depending on you to get us out of this mess. But even more so, all those fans in the stands are depending on you to deliver on your promises. You're getting your chance--now do something about it!"

The reliever took the ball, toed the rubber and to the tune of 40,000 fans cheering him on, delivered his first pitch. The batter put wood on the ball and lined a single up the middle plating a run. The crowd noise died down a little, but realizing the home team was only down by 3 runs and a grounder could still easily end the inning, they forgave the reliever and began cheering for him again. He toed the rubber, got the sign from the catcher and delivered his next pitch. As if he were able to read the reliever's mind, the batter stepped into the pitch and launched a double off the right field wall, plating 2 more runs.

The crowd grew eerily silent and then began grumbling a little. This was the guy who had promised he would deliver the team from it's downward spiral. He had convinced the multitudes that he was the answer to all the problems. Then he comes into the game and immediately turns a 2 run deficit into a 5 run deficit. This is not how this was supposed to go down. This is not the guy the fans wanted called up from the minors. The reliever thought he was ready for the big leagues, but apparently he wasn't.

Not to be fazed by the disappointment he had delivered so far, the reliever decided he would show what he was made of and blow a fastball right by this next batter. That would convince the fans they had vouched for the right guy. He toed the rubber with 2 outs, a man on third and a 5 run deficit. He repeatedly shook off signs from the catcher until the catcher gave up and gave him the sign to throw whatever pitch he wanted to throw. The windup--the pitch--the crack of wood hitting leather reverberated throughout the entire stadium. The white ball became a speck against the blue sky and sailed over the left field fence.

As the batter trotted around the bases, the crowd erupted, but this time in a chorus of boos. The reliever for whom they had incessantly campaigned to be brought up not only failed to live up to the hype, but had instantly turned into a monumental failure. Rather than keeping the game close so the rest of his teammates could do their jobs, he had put the home team in such a huge deficit that there was no way they could climb out of it in time to win this game. The 2 run deficit that was bad, but not quite daunting, had turned into an insurmountable mountain--a 7 run blowout.

As the boos continued, the fans began streaming out of the building, unable to tolerate this any longer. The manager plodded out to the mound and called for the righty. As he took the ball from the reliever, he gave the reliever an exasperated look and told him to hit the showers.

At the post game press conference, a reporter asked the reliever, "What happened out there? For months you have been telling every reporter who would listen to you that you were the answer to the home team's woes. You could salvage this season and put the home team back on the winning track. Instead you have destroyed any hope of this team reaching the playoffs. What do you have to say to all the fans who campaigned for your call up?"

The reliever looked into the cameras with fire in his eyes and said, "It's not my fault! I inherited this mess and I know I said I could pull us out of this tailspin, but the tailspin was greater than anyone could have imagined. None of this is my fault. I know the team called me up for precisely this situation, but if the starting pitcher had not loaded the bases, I could have gotten us out of the jam. It's all his fault, not mine! Things are always going to get worse before they get better and you can't blame me for that, even though I told you I would be able to turn things around immediately."

The fans at home, upon watching this press conference, banded together and began calling for the reliever to be cut from the organization. How dare he promise to do something, fail, and then blame it on his predecessor! Isn't a reliever's sole job to come in when the team is in a bind and get them out of the jam? Even more so when he spent months telling the fans he was capable of just such a feat, causing them to throw all their support behind him resulting in his meteoric rise to the big leagues. Otherwise, what's the point of calling in a reliever in the first place? If the fans had only known this popular reliever would point the finger and blame his failures on everyone else around him, they never would have begged and pleaded for his promotion. Now their only course of action is to band together once again and plead with the establishment to send this reliever packing. If he can't do the job he promised he would be able to do, there's no sense in paying him to do it.