Why Does PETA Want Baseball To Rename it’s ‘Bullpen’ To This?
There is a great deal of pun intended when I tell you that this next story is...bullcrap.
The bullpen. It's a staple of the game of baseball. Every baseball team has a starting pitcher, but most games, the starting pitcher cannot last the full nine innings. Once it appears like the starter is about to exit the game, the call is made to the bullpen. Out of a group of relief pitchers, all of whom call the bullpen home during the game, and single reliever stands up, and begins to ready themselves to come into the game.
Call to the bullpen. Action in the bullpen. Warming up in the bullpen. It's a term that's synonymous with baseball, and most importantly, not offensive to anybody.
Oh wait, I stand corrected. Somehow, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have a problem with the name "bullpen."
No really, I'm serious. Stop laughing. It's a serious matter!
In a press release sent out by the organization late last week, PETA petitioned for baseball to change the "outdated" term bullpen to something new. Something fresh. Something that rolls off of the tongue.
A term like...arm barn?
Well, that's enough internet for me today. Seriously, PETA didn't have anything more important to take care of last week?
Look, we live in a very socially-conscious world in 2021, and for the most part, that mindset has lead to a great deal of positive change being started. Society has started to take steps toward equality and understanding in the areas of race, gender, sexuality and beyond, and while there is a great deal of work to be done to bring all sides together as one, strides have definitely been made.
With all of that being said, WHY is this an issue that needs to be addressed? I'm sorry, but this feels like creating a problem simply to create a problem. If a relief pitcher has ever demeaned or belittled by sitting in a "bullpen" during a baseball game, then I am terribly sorry to hear that. I also don't believe that this hypothetical person exists.
Want more? Here's more from PETA on why they're fighting the good fight:
“Words matter, and baseball ‘bullpens’ devalue talented players and mock the misery of sensitive animals,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.
Well, at least people online are being reasonable about it online!
Leave us alone, PETA!