Big League
Saint Louis alum Brandon League has been blowing away big league batters as the Seattle Mariners’ ‘closer,’ and is one of the pieces they’re building the future of the franchise upon
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Aardsma was shut down late last year with an injury, League was tabbed for the role and has yet to relinquish it.
“It was sad to leave my friends who I came up with, and Toronto was a great city, but they had a lot of opportunities here (in Seattle) in the bullpen, and being on the West Coast, you couldn’t ask for anything more,” says League, who makes his offseason home in California.
As of Sept. 15, League ranked third in the American League with 34 saves, and held an impressive 2.72 earned run average. After opening the season by converting his first nine save chances, he endured a few rough outings, but bounced back to save 14 more games in as many tries from May 17 through July 4. His performance led to a spot on the A.L. all-star team, and with Shane Victorino of Philadelphia making the National League squad, it marked the first time two Hawaii products had earned the prestigious honor in the same season.
“That was a shock,” says League of the all-star nod. “I was never focused on making the all-star team, I was more concerned about my (closer) role. That was just really time consuming. But on the Sunday when they announced the allstar team, I was working out and (manager)
Eric Wedge called me into his office to congratulate me, and I was blown away by the honor. I was totally baffled. It shows that hard work pays off. If you go about your business the right way, other people will notice it. What a great honor and experience.”
While other major league closers have developed a following through eccentric behavior or by pushing the envelope with their antics (see San Francisco’s Brian Wilson and his cult of “Fear the Beard” followers), League remains a humble family man the Mariners’ staff, including everyone from team brass to ushers and elevator operators, gushes about his wife and two daughters. When he enters a game to pitch, the Safeco Field sound system blasts Duality by hard rocker group Slipknot the same song used years ago by B.J. Ryan, Toronto’s closer when League was starting his career.
And, while League’s entrance music may not be original, his presence at his home ballpark is announced through a unique theatrical prelude portrayed on the stadium’s graphics boards that pulsate along with the music and declare it “Brandon League Time.” Large gray tiki figures spew blue flames as his theme music blares, and League makes his trot in from the bullpen in left field to the pitcher’s mound. The flames signify the heat League brings, as he displayed in a recent game with a fastball that routinely touched 98 mph.
“It’s kind of an ode to him,” says League of Ryan’s entrance song. “He taught me a lot about the game, about pitching and the way he went about his business. I learned a lot from him.”
Later that evening, League is brought in to face the New York Yankees, one of the most talented teams in baseball, and rich in tradition and history. New York holds a 3-2 advantage in the top of the ninth inning, and Wedge has tabbed League to keep the deficit to a minimum so the home team can have a shot at rallying for a win. After striking out Yankees’ slugger Mark Teixeira to start the frame, League allows a single to hot-hitting Robinson Cano. But League induces ensuing hitter Jesus Montero to ground into an inning-ending double play, and as he does on most occasions, completes the task at hand.
But the Mariners can’t muster a comeback in the home half of the inning as future hall of famer Mariano Rivera shuts down the Seattle offense to secure the New York victory. It just so happens to be Rivera’s 600th career save, a mark that elevates the hurler’s status as one of the game’s top closers to ever toe the rubber to an even higher degree. League can only sit on the bench and watch as the Yankees spill out of their dugout and congratulate Rivera as the majority of the crowd that happens to be chock-full of New York fans gives him a standing ovation.
As League and his teammates shuffle back into the clubhouse, and look ahead to tomorrow when they will do it all over again, his day is finally coming to a close. It’s just after 10:15 p.m., and following some postgame treatment and ice for his arm, League will clock out, so to say, and head home with his family.
Just another day at the office for Brandon League.
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