Writer’s note: One Sixty-Two is a season-long series of blog posts connecting baseball’s major-league players to life’s universal themes. Just as there are 162 games in a season, so there will be 162 posts in this series. Let’s play some ball.
Day Five: Phil Coke, Detroit Tigers
We live in a specialized world, or so we’re told. Don’t learn a little bit about a lot; instead, learn a lot about a little. Be it technology, finance, writing, science, medicine – everyone’s looking for that edge, and they often find it by carving a niche.
In baseball, a position has developed over the past decade and a half that is so specialized it occupies a tiny cubbyhole in the realm of baseball. It’s a job that often requires no more than 10 minutes on the pitcher’s mound, about 80 times a year.
It’s called the left-handed relief specialist. Minimum salary: 400 grand.
No one’s saying it’s easy: Your 10 minutes might involve a faceoff against Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Adam Dunn, or Justin Morneau. You may walk onto the field with runners on second and third, one out, and the cleanup hitter at the plate. You’ll have to go from warmup tosses to blistering pressure in no time flat.
But if you toss some nasty sliders at that cleanup hitter, and get him chasing a few, your night will be done as soon as he’s back in the dugout. You’ll get a pat on the back, a right-handed pitcher will come on to face the next righty hitter, and you’ll be off to the showers.
Not a bad day’s work. And man, is it ever in demand. Every team has at least one. Take Jesse Orosco, for instance. The former Mets closer stood on the mound to face lefties for 24 years, retiring at the age of 46. No pitcher has ever appeared in as many games as Orosco. His record, however, will surely be broken by another lefty reliever soon enough.
It’s like having a job installing only doorknobs. As the carpenters, plumbers and electricians do their thing, they call you whenever a door is installed and in need of a knob. You show up, screw it into place, and leave. Ten minutes.
Last year, Phil Coke did his left-handed doorknob installer job so well that it earned him a World Series ring with the New York Yankees. This year, Coke is with the Detroit Tigers, and he’s already won three games for Detroit in the bullpen. Monday night, however, Coke offered evidence of what can happen when we glide outside of our niche.
The Texas Rangers have loaded the bases in a game that Detroit leads, 6-4, and the left-handed slugger Josh Hamilton stands at the plate. In comes Coke. And before you can finish biting your nails, a sweeping curve sends Hamilton down. Strike three.
And then … Detroit manager Jim Leyland decides to leave Coke in to face Vladimir Guerrero, a legendary right-handed hitter profiled on Day Three of this series. Suddenly, the doorknob guy has been asked to wire the bathroom lights. And, before you can say “single up the middle,” sparks are flying. Guerrero trots to first, two men score, and the game is tied.
The night ended well for Phil Coke, as Detroit came back to win in the ninth, and he even got the win. But the specialist had climbed outside his cubbyhole, and he’d taken a few lumps.
We know the moral: Next time, Phil, stick with what you know. After all, you’re only 27. Ten minutes a day for another 20 years, and you’ll be passing ol’ Jesse’s record. The doors are ready for you, sir.
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