Two years ago, closer AJ Ramos thoughtfully purchased his father a new leather recliner. He felt it was the least he could do, being that the arms on the old one were shredded as if attacked by a herd of cats, the result of his father's gripping them for dear life while watching his son's nightly high-wire act.
Yes, the ninth-inning pressure is unbearable and the stakes immense. But forget, for a moment, the closers themselves.
How about what the poor loved ones of these hardball specialists endure?
Cleveland's Cody Allen says his father, Craig, gets "nervous as a cat" when manager Terry Francona hands Cody the ball with the game on the line, to the point where the closer's wife, Mallory, several times has had to talk him down from the high branches, telling him: "Craig, you've gotta relax.