The Under Review - Issue 4 | Summer 2021

29
Retaliation
BRYAN ERWIN
“Townie, you’re up,” the Blue Jays’ bullpen coach said.
Ryan Townsend threw one last fastball to the bullpen catcher, whose name he did not yet know, then
stepped off the mound. The view from the Blue Jays’ bullpen was similar to the one from the visitors’ side,
but just different enough to be slightly disorienting. He had a lot to learn about Toronto and Toronto about
him. For instance, no one ever called him “Townie”.
Before he stepped through the bullpen gate, Ryan took a breath to steel himself. There were going to be
boos, perhaps ones as merciless as he heard the previous night, when Ryan was a member of the
Minnesota Twins.
He’d thrown at Arturo Stone, the Blue Jays’ star outfielder, triggering a bench clearing brawl. The only
grievous injury in the fight was to Ryan’s jersey, which was de-buttoned near his navel. Shortly after his
ejection, Ryan learned the Twins had traded him. Worse, they’d sent him to the team he’d just finished
exchanging punches with.
Now he was in a Blue Jays jersey, which didn’t feel right. Maybe it was that he’d never worn a professional
uniform unrelated to the Twins; maybe it was the insultingly high number 84 on the back. That was the
kind of number assigned to a spring training non-roster invitee, not a five year veteran like Ryan.
Granted, he had not been good that season. After multiple years as a successful setup man for Minnesota,
his slider had lost its snap. He blew leads in three consecutive appearances in April and hadn’t sniffed a
competitive game since. He became the mop-up guy, the person who came in when the Twins faced an
insurmountable deficit and didn’t want to waste one of the good arms in their bullpen.
ISSUE 4 | SUMMER 2021