Remembering Mets History: The Mets Bullpen Cart

What fan from the sixties, seventies & the early eighties, can forget the old bullpen carts. The vehicles were shaped like baseballs, with a cap on top as the roof. 

When a relief pitcher was brought into a game, he would get driven from the bullpen, by stadium personnel, along the foul lines on the dirt in foul territory, to the pitcher's mound area near the dugouts. 

There he would exit, leave his jacket with the driver & proceed to walk to the mound. The vision of the Mets great reliever, Tug McGraw (one of baseball's best firemen in the early 1970's) immediately, comes to mind .

The Mets bullpen cart was the first of it's kind. Other teams had started the practice of driving a pitcher to the mound back in the 1950's. In the huge Cleveland Municipal Stadium, a red car was used to transport the Indians' pitchers. 

In Chicago, the White Sox became the first team to use it for relief pitchers. 

Later, the early sixties, the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to actually use a golf cart. 

In 1967, the Mets were the first organization to put a team cap, on the roof of the vehicle. They used it at Shea Stadium, where it could be seen parked in the bullpen.

The Mets used in from the late sixties into the late seventies & by the 1980's it was only used for occasional promotional events.

The actual Mets cart, was a 1967 electric powered Presidente Cart. It was battery operated with a steering wheel on the drivers left side. The cart was shaped like an actual baseball, complete with red stitching on the sides of the front of the cart. 

Inside, the seats were white cushioned, designed to look like bases. The floor area was green representing grass on the baseball field. 

The front had two bats supporting the Mets cap  which sat atop as the roof, complete with the Mets orange NY logo on it, classic stuff!

On April 1st 2015, the original 1967 Mets bullpen cart was auctioned off by Sotheby's. It was expected to sell in the range of $25,000, instead it sold for an Amazing $112,500.

Over the last few years it seems the bullpen carts are making a comeback on the field in MLB.