What's the Best Job in All of Sports?

All of us have dreamed of being a professional athlete at some point in our life, whether it to be a professional basketball, football or baseball player. I got to thinking last week, out of all the sports, what is the best job to have? Is it the 6^th man off the bench in the NBA – someone who doesn’t have to start every game but can come in and do his thing for 25-30 minutes a game or is it the kicker in the NFL – who can sit on the end of the bench most of the game and only be called on to kick extra points or a field goal late in the game. Hell, when I played college football the kickers did absolutely NOTHING during practice. They would kick into a net for a half hour and then call it a day. You have your enforcers in the NHL who put on the ice strictly to blast the opponent and strike fear in every forwards eyes, but none of those are the best job in sports. The best job in sports goes to the closer in Major League Baseball.

When I used to go to Tigers games when I lived back in the Midwest, their closer wouldn’t even come out of the clubhouse until the 3^rd or 4^th inning. Must be nice, huh? The other guys are out on the field busting their hump while you are still in the clubhouse hitting the snooze button. Then once you’re out in the ‘pen, you can sit out there and spit seeds or pack a huge dip for a few more innings, before you even have to get loose to pitch the 9^th. And on some nights when your team is blowing the other team out or you’re going to lose, you may not even pitch! Talk about the best job in the world! Making millions to pitch one inning!

The closer is the most important player on a major league baseball team. A closer is a one-inning specialist who can make or a break a season with one pitch. Just think about being a closer: as I said above they are a one-inning specialist. One inning. How much money has Mariano Rivera made in his lifetime and he pitches one inning on any given night. Rivera also has 413 career saves, 4 championship rings and a World Series MVP. Imagine being Trevor Hoffman and running out of the bullpen every night with “Hell Bells” blaring over the stadium speakers – talk about a rush! And like Rivera, Hoffman pitches one inning.

I really wish I had more on my fastball, but the fact of the matter is that my fastball wouldn’t even get pulled over for speeding on the highway.  I guess I’ll leave being a big league closer to my dreams.