Being a relief pitcher is a tough job. You're usually called on to clean up another pitchers' mess, and you are forced to spend games sitting in the bullpen with other relievers, far removed from the action of the game.
Marlins reliever Edward Mujica apparently couldn't stand the tedium during Saturday afternoon's tussle with the Chicago Cubs. He was caught resting his eyes in the second inning. "It's part of my routine," he joked after the game.
"It wasn't even five minutes," Mujica said of the nap. "I closed my eyes and I looked over and, 'That's it.' They got me right there."
Cubs color commentator Bob Brenly couldn't believe Mujica would sleep on the job, asking, "Can you imagine any other job in the world where you show up and sit down at your desk... and take a little nap for the first hour or so of work here?"
We're guessing Brenly, a lifelong baseball man, hasn't had too many real jobs. Otherwise he would know more about the groggy thrill of sneaking in a powernap while hiding in a storage closet.
But on Sunday, Mujica was ready for the TV cameras. He wrote "Cameraman, please do not disturb," on a handmade sign and planned on hanging it around his neck should he need a catnap during the Marlins' series finale against the Cubs.
Mujica had to scrap the sign when the Marlins were unable to hold onto an early lead, though. Though they eventually won 7-5, Mujica apparently did not want to be caught joking around while the team was locked up in a tight game.
Mujica pitched one inning of relief on Sunday, earning the win as the Marlins scored three runs following his scoreless seventh inning.
David Hill is a Miami native and cofounder of Marlins Diehards, the only Florida Marlins blog with perspective on the eccentricities of Marlins fandom.
