![]() ![]() TWENTY-FOUR YEARS before Félix Bautista introduced "O Fortuna" to the baseball world, another colossal man used it for his appearance on the grandest stage of them all. And what is a showman without a grand entrance? The final three outs of a game are a show, and the closer is the showman. In a game that relies on relief pitching more than ever - more than 41% of innings pitched this season have come from the bullpen - the closer is the star. "Man, I just enjoy when I go out there and see all the lights flashing like that." "Having my own now is super special and something that I cherish," Bautista said. This season, he marveled at "Narco," the trumpet-heavy theme adopted by New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz, evolving into a full-scale production. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Bautista watched Metallica's "Enter Sandman" welcome the greatest closer in baseball history, Mariano Rivera. Together, the spectacle would portend the doom Bautista intended to bring for opposing hitters. They'd accompany it with the lights at the stadium flashing on and off in mesmerizing fashion. Soon after the deadline, the content team had a pitch for their new closer: What if, upon his entrance, the tune of Omar's whistle would blare through the Camden Yards speakers? Better yet, what if it were followed by the haunting music of "O Fortuna," the medieval poem set to music by German composer Carl Orff? O Fortuna is Latin for "Oh fate," an appropriate lament for hitters set to face Bautista. ![]() "So, like I tell everyone all the time, that pitch has become my lethal weapon." ![]() "It's interesting because even though hitters know that it's coming, they still can't touch it," Bautista said with a laugh. All it took was six notes for the streets to clear and frightened bystanders to bleat: "Omar comin'!" Bautista inspired similar dread, particularly with his splitter, which induces misses on 54.5% of the swings batters take. When Omar prowled the streets of Baltimore, he often whistled the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell," a nursery rhyme comically antithetical to his mission of robbing drug dealers. In Bautista, the content team found the perfect avatar for Omar - beacon of justice, deliverer of pain. Just one thing was missing.Ī pitcher of Bautista's skill and stature could not simply swing open the bullpen door at Camden Yards and stroll 350 feet to the mound, aided by the murmur of the crowd. He brought to the role all the tools necessary to dominate the ninth inning. Taking over for Lopez was Felix Bautista, a 6-foot-8, 280-pound leviathan nicknamed "The Mountain." Bautista, a 27-year-old right-handed rookie, had spent the season's first four months embarrassing hitters with a fastball that regularly topped 100 mph and a split-fingered fastball that dove as if it wanted to bore a hole in the dirt. WILLIAMS died in September 2021, members of the Baltimore Orioles creative content team vowed to find a way to pay homage to the actor who had brought to life Omar Little, the iconic character from the Baltimore-set television show "The Wire." In early August, after the Orioles traded closer Jorge Lopez to the Minnesota Twins, the opportunity finally presented itself. The Undertaker, 'The Wire' and Timmy Trumpet: How closers became MLB's ultimate showmen You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]()
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