Pen Pals
MOORHEAD, Minn. --- A bullpen's conversations are much like the cliché, "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
Ex big leaguers have written stories about lingo in the pen that have colorful titles such as Stories I Couldn't Tell Until My Mother Died and The Bullpen Gospels.
The attitude surrounding a Division III bullpen may be rated PG-13 in comparison to The Show but the Concordia baseball team is opening the doors to the pen on Twitter with the handle @CobberBullpen – something that has not yet been done.
The Golden Gophers football team is a step ahead of the game. With 3,972 followers and counting, the Gopher Specialists (@MinnSpecialists) Twitter is hilarious. They made up an award for NFL bound punter Peter Mortell titled "Holder of the Year". It went viral and the Minnesota Football account pushed out a "Holder of My Heart" tweet on Valentine's Day. They've got it down.
The Cobber Bullpen isn't far behind. For starters, the Gophers account has thousands of followers and has been running longer – not to mention they have been on Jeopardy.
The Cobbers have something going for them – coaches that have "Twitter game". The Cobber Sports Info office won't say if the "Twitter game" is good or bad, but Bucky Burgau and Chris Coste are on the social media website.
Burgau has been tweeting at student-athletes for a couple of years. A member since 2012, he has pushed out over 2,250 tweets to over 750 faithful followers. Burgau's tweets have ranged from the constant promotion of Cobber Athletics to his take on pop culture, as well as heart-warming tweets about his grandchildren and life lessons for all.
Coste is new to the game. He's heard about the tweets for over a year and decided on the Florida trip to join the party. He's a bit of a rookie, but he's used to that.
The coaches interact with the feed. They banter back and forth. Inside jokes, game updates and the shared love of baseball all come out through one medium.
It all started in 2015 with senior hurler Sam Mattson. Mattson wasn't having control issues, but he was beaning guys left and right. The account started with the hashtag #DidMattsonBeanAnyoneToday and it took off from there.
The account has 146 tweets. 172 followers. However, people have noticed the tomfoolery in the pen.
Fargo-Moorhead radio personality Jack Michaels is an honorary member of the bullpen. He brings the fellas Pringles when he makes his way to Bucky Burgau Field.
Michaels is a baseball man hanging with baseball guys.
For the guys on the team, they don't care about the reach of the account. It's all about having fun with each other.
Senior Tim Carlson, a new addition to the pen, commented, "It's a comfortability thing. We've been playing with each other for four years now it helps keep the mood light with the jokative group of guys that we are. It keeps the coaches loose," Carlson chuckled. "And they reply so it's a lot of fun for all of us.
The accounts' operators wish to remain anonymous. That's how these accounts are run. Besides, half of you reading this right now don't even know who the real CobberSID is - or his name.
@CobberBullpen will continue on even after this season. The torch will be passed. Auditions are ongoing amongst the underclassmen and the current operators believe the pen will be left in good hands.
Look past the ridiculousness of the account's content and you'll see the deeper bond that comes with being a member of the pen.
It's a connection between three generations – Burgau, Coste and current players.
It's a group of guys that share a common love for a stitched together ball of cork wrapped in yarn.
Together, all they do is dice, run and take hacks.
Written by Sports Information Intern Austin Hawkins