In baseball, the area where relief pitchers warm up and wait to enter the game; also used to mean any group of replacements ready to be used.
Originated in baseball in the late 1800s; 'bull' may refer to a Bull Durham tobacco advertisement that once stood behind that area in Cincinnati, or simply reference the animals' pen where they were kept.
The term 'bullpen' reveals fascinating baseball history—before baseball standardized relief pitchers, games were chaotic, but creating a dedicated warming area revolutionized strategy and eventually led to specialization that changed the entire sport's structure.
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